CRN Asia Breakfast Briefing: Partners desire stronger enablement from vendors in AI era

“Partners are important to vendors — they know that they are. But they want to see more action — they want to actually see the vendors going with them to get the most out of deals.”

Channel partners across ASEAN want greater enablement and training from vendors, especially as AI becomes a revenue sorting mechanism in the region. This was the key takeaway shared at CRN Asia’s latest breakfast briefing in Singapore.

Executives from the tech vendor channel ecosystem gathered at the Four Seasons hotel in Singapore this week to discuss the region’s top trends from IPED research and CRN Asia as well as insights into what partners really want.

While AI remains a core driver for businesses here, cybersecurity remains a critical part of transformation agendas — even more so as AI adoption scales rapidly. This has led to the increase in demand for managed service providers (MSPs) in the region, as partners work with vendors to allay customers’ security concerns.

There is also a trend of customers returning to the cloud to better manage their data and thus ensure greater flexibility with shifting strategies.

“More partners are seeing a demand for AI from customers,” said Aaron Raj, CRN Asia’s editor.

“But the obvious challenge is how can they actually give AI to customers? It's not just a buzzword — customers know what they want from AI, but partners feel that they are not really capable yet of delivering.”

“In conversation with partners at our XChange Asia summit, we found that while AI is top of mind, partners are still not really ready to give customers what they want. They want more enablement.”

“They feel that it’s not just about getting training, looking at programs, and getting certifications. It’s more than that — they want more hands on experience.”

Partners in Singapore seem to have greater enablement opportunities, but peers across the region, including tier-2 partners in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, have voiced a desire for more training and guidance from vendors.

Less talk, more action

Additionally, partners are seeking simplified partner programs.

“There’s been a lot of changes to partner programs over the last few months, with vendors announcing big changes to how partners get incentives, certifications and achieve tier statuses,” said Raj. “They want more clarity on that. They want to know what exactly is happening and how they can make the most of it and that it’s not just words on paper.”

Beyond the incentives and opportunities to grow the business, partners simply want predictable and sustainable margins. Most are looking for ways to unlock recurring revenue and ensure services alignment.

Partners here are also keen to make the most out of deals within the SMB market, as they present a big revenue opportunity. Small and medium businesses also tend to make faster decisions than large enterprises, especially in terms of procuring solutions, as well as deployment.

And while the region pushes for AI adoption and transformation initiatives, partners are grappling with how to best meet the needs of businesses in this fragmented market.

“No doubt customers want digitalization, but how partners do the deals are very different in different countries in the region,” shared Raj. “So, they want clearer understanding on how they can make the most of it.

“They want to see more action. Yes, partners are important to vendors — they know that they are. But they want to see more action — they want to actually see the vendors going with them to get the most out of those deals.”