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Forrester Infographic Provides Overview of Expanding Ranks of Channel Software Providers

Forrester Research has published an infographic offering a fairly comprehensive view of the companies providing channel software today. The 106 companies, ranging from large enterprise software vendors to start-up providers of point-solutions, are grouped into six major categories supporting:

  • Partner relationship management (PRM)
  • Through-channel marketing automation (TCMA)
  • Channel incentives and program
  • Channel data management (CDM)
  • Partner enablement and onboarding
  • Channel finance, pricing, and inventory

According to Jay McBain, Forrester’s Principal Analyst, Global Channels, the overall size of the channel software market is $1.32 billion.

The infographic and description of the companies that McBain provided in a November blog follow deep dives into two of the channel software categories.

Partner Relationship Management

Earlier in the month, Forrester provided a detailed review of partner relationship management software. Pointing to a general upheaval of the traditional channel landscape, Forrester noted that the “PRM market is growing because B2B channel professionals are seeing a sharp increase in the variety of partner types.” New shadow channels come with different business models, and channel pros need to manage them more like influencers, advocates, and alliances than traditional resellers, the report continued.

Investments in PRM solutions are expected rise significantly in the next five years. McBain forecast that the PRM software market will grow to $679 million by 2023, a CAGR of 14.2%. An additional $971 million will be generated by 2023 in downstream technology services in this ecosystem.

Through-Channel Marketing Automation

This past Spring, Forrester said the market for TCMA solutions will grow to $1.18 billion by 2023, a CAGR of 25.2%. Channel technology companies will generate another $1.3 billion in related services. In addition, thousands of digital marketing agencies will grow to generate $2 billion in related TMCA services over the same period.

TCMA software, said McBain, “represents the next big opportunity to drive demand, to generate leads, and to basically embolden a large set of external sellers in a way that channel marketers have never done in the past.”

Having “exhausted most of the direct tactics by now,” McBain told CMR, demand generation professionals are recognizing the opportunity to amplify marketing messages through partner networks. With 75% of world trade going through third parties, marketing teams that have historically focused on building brands to support direct sales are shifting more or their attention to channel partner programs.

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