Research firm Canalys today said 12 technology vendors have achieved “Champion” status in the latest Canalys Leadership Matrix for EMEA, more than doubling the number from February this year.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Dell EMC, ESET, Fortinet, HPE, HP, NetApp and Sophos become Champions for the first time in 2018. Fujitsu, Lenovo, Palo Alto Networks and Veeam retained their Champion crowns.
Canalys prepares the Leadership Matrix based on partner feedback from Canalys’ unique Vendor Benchmark tool with an assessment by Canalys analysts of each vendor’s momentum in the channel. This is based on their investments, strategy improvements and execution.
Dell EMC, HPE, HP and Lenovo – four of the top six most important vendors in terms of channel revenue in EMEA – have all contributed to substantial growth for the channel over the last 12 months.
Four of the 12 Champions are security vendors, highlighting the opportunity that IT security is creating for partners.
“These results reflect the increased importance that technology vendors are placing on their partner relationships in the era of digital and hybrid IT,” said Alastair Edwards, Chief Analyst at Canalys. “Vendors are becoming more selective in these relationships, while partners are pursuing more diverse, differentiated business models.
Canalys said “Growers”, including Acer, Adobe, APC, Apple, Citrix, Juniper Networks, IBM, Veritas and VMware, have benefited from their investments in operational improvements, simpler processes and more attractive financial incentives, as well as stronger commitment to their channel partners.