Become a student of your customers’ markets

IT managers are no longer simply looking for “someone to buy from” – they’re looking for a true partner who understands their changing business needs.

Many channel partners have in-depth technical expertise, but in order to succeed in today’s open source world, they’ll also need the ability to serve as business consultants. To do this, they’ll need to become students of their customers’ markets, perhaps even going so far as to establish units devoted to specific verticals. If they do not have these skills in place, they’ll need to establish them in order to meet the demands of their customers. This is certainly an investment, but one that will pay off in the long run.