In the technology industry, ten years is a whole era. Zebra Technologies is just celebrating the anniversary of its PartnerConnect programme, which provides a good opportunity to look at how the business collaboration model has evolved in the digital age. What started in 2016 as an attempt to integrate dispersed partners is today a powerful network of more than 10,000 players worldwide, from resellers to innovative software developers.
From the beginning, the programme has relied on a channel-first strategy, i.e. growth through the success of its partners. Throughout this decade, Zebra has not only delivered hardware, but built the framework for the entire ecosystem, introducing specialisations in areas such as RFID, vision systems and AI-based automation. The success of this strategy is confirmed not only by the numbers, but also by industry accolades.
Today, in IT, a product alone, even the best, is not enough. Real value is created where technology meets industry-specific expertise – whether in logistics or healthcare. Zebra understood that it could not solve every customer problem on the front line alone. Instead, it created a platform that allows partners to overbuild their own high-margin services on the foundation of their technology.
“Partners play a key role in how we solve problems and deliver value to our customers by offering solutions that digitise, automate and deploy intelligence into frontline operations,” says Greg Williams, VP Channel EMEA at Zebra Technologies Corporation. “The PartnerConnect programme reinforces our channel-first strategy and the development of an ecosystem that meets the needs of today’s customers and AI-driven transformation.”
When choosing technology providers, it is worth paying attention to whether they offer only tools or an entire environment to support data development and integration. It seems reasonable to look for partners that invest in long-term relationships and specialisations, as these are the ones that guarantee that the implemented solution will not get old after one season. It is also worth considering a greater focus on solutions that provide real-time data insights, as these, combined with the right software, build a real competitive advantage in the modern market. A good direction is to bet on ecosystems that promote the exchange of competencies – working with a specialised integrator often yields better results than trying to implement universal solutions on your own.