All In The Wiring: Why Channel Performance Needs A Cable Harness

Data is huge and forever on the increase. It’s a blindingly obvious statement to make. There are many stats out there from ones I can’t relate to like “we will generate 40 zettabytes (ZB) by 2020” (1) to ones that I can get my head around such as “users upload 400 hours of new [YouTube] video each minute of every day” (2).

Unsurprisingly, IT channels have not escaped this phenomenon. Managing channel data is big business, with companies like Zyme, ModelN and others reminding us of the volume of sales through the channel that generates patchy, inconsistent reporting. Rightly, they major on the connection between poor, untimely sales data and issues that have real impact on the channel. By way of illustration, Zyme estimates that lack of accurate sales data can mean overpayment to channel partners by as much as 30% in some cases (3). ModelN, in a great White Paper (4) point to evidence from Gartner of the opportunity from good channel data management “Indirect sales channels can increase revenue by 5% to 10% through process improvements…”.

Yet for me, this doesn’t go far enough. Take ModelN’s definition of channel data management. “Channel Data Management (CDM) is the process of collecting point of sale (POS), inventory and sales-in data from all your channel partners and transforming that data into channel intelligence that allows you to easily view channel sales data”. I absolutely agree with the outcome and the importance of channel sales data. I don’t believe it’s the whole picture though.

In our own client conversations with vendors, we hear the same complaint regularly. There are more than enough systems generating data on partners. PRM, MDF, Deal Registration, sales reporting, content management, training and certification, marketing asset storage and campaign generation. All provide detailed reporting that leaves a gap. It seems there is nothing that can make sense of the data coming from these systems in a consolidated single view that enables management of outcomes. What’s missing is a cable harness around channel performance.

The humble cable harness (or wiring loom if you prefer) is, according to the helpful definition on Wikipedia (5) , “an assembly of electrical cables or wires bound together by straps, cable ties, cable lacing, sleeves, electrical tape, conduit, a weave of extruded string, or a combination thereof.” Reading on, what becomes clear is that these harnesses, or looms, are designed, prepared and assembled to precise requirements. More than simply binding together loose collections of wires, a harness offers many advantages. The process will take those wires and cut and combine them in a way that optimizes space and reduces installation time through standardization, protects against damage in operation and reduces the risk of an electrical ‘short’.

So how can we take this principle and apply it to managing channel performance? After all, we’re already neck-deep in data ‘wiring’. We don’t need more of it.

At bChannels, we’ve adopted a four segment model that provides such a cable harness for channel performance. We focus on just four areas that matter to managing and growing your channel (including sales performance, of course). For any data to be usable it must fit one of these four areas.

Figure 1: bChannels Channel Performance Management Model

Further, we believe that channel organisations can rationalize the number of metrics that they use to manage outcomes. We’d suggest that there are just four metrics for each area that matter. A total of 16 metrics (or wires, if you prefer) that can be used to drive all of the outcomes to manage and grow your channel business. Anything more and you’ve got loose wires that aren’t in the harness and will only tangle and confuse the picture.

Of course once you have your harness, its then about what you do with it. Back to ModelN. They make an excellent point. When it comes to channel data management, it’s about taking that data and “transforming that data into channel intelligence”. For bChannels that’s about using the harness of 16 wires to create segmentation and performance dashboards that provide measurement over time. We recommend one dashboard by area. Channel sales needs a performance view based on ‘today and tomorrow’. Marketing tends to take both a short and long term view, seeking to understand not just who utilising funds is but who is influencing and changing the conversation with partners and customers. Getting a view specific to each need is vital.

bChannels exists to inspire, guide and grow our customers’ partner networks. We believe in keeping channel performance simple. It’s about metrics that matter to outcomes. Start off right with a tidy ‘harness’ and you won’t go far wrong. Read more at http://www.bchannels.com/inspire

1. http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/just-how-much-data-is-out-there.html

2. https://blog.microfocus.com/how-much-data-is-created-on-the-internet-each-day/

3. http://www.zyme.com/about/news/flawed-channel-data-management-may-result-in-partner-overpayments

4. http://www.modeln.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ebk_Best_Practices_for_Channel_Data_Management.pdf

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_harness

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