Partner Marketing Visionaries Summit 2025: Charting Partner-Led Growth

Partner-led growth is no longer a niche strategy for B2B technology companies—it’s a critical driver of success. As businesses increasingly recognize the value of their partner ecosystems, partner marketing has emerged as a pivotal function shaping the industry’s future. What does that mean for the future of partner marketing?

In this keynote session, Canalys, part of Omdia Chief Analyst and partner marketing expert Jay McBain will share:

- How partner-led growth has transformed businesses
- Key trends shaping the future of partner marketing
- The top challenges partner marketers will face
- Strategies to thrive in 2025 as a partner marketer

Developing a successful partnership starts with the foundation of a shared vision of success, a documented go-to-market game plan, and a commitment to ongoing alignment and collaboration. Whether you're an early-career partner marketer creating a playbook from scratch or a seasoned partner marketer looking to level up, this session is for you.

Tyler Briggs (Director of Partner Marketing, Box) and Tyillere Hansen (Director of Cloud Partner Marketing, Dynatrace) have built a mutually beneficial partnership between their companies. Listen in as they share their advice on building and nurturing long-lasting partnerships, including:

- Key steps to take when embarking on a new partnership
- The fundamental elements of an impactful joint go-to-market plan
- How to build momentum and adapt to change
- Tips for setting clear goals and measuring success

According to McKinsey, by 2030, ecosystems will account for one-third of total global revenue. Undeniably, partner ecosystems are critical to business success. But recruiting new partners, engaging your channel, and retaining partners is a mammoth undertaking, especially in today’s crowded technology landscape.

Join us as Andrew Kisslo (SVP, Global Partner Marketing, SAP) sits down with Tricia Atchison (VP, Global Partner & Americas Marketing, Equinix), Kate Canestrari (VP, Global Partner Ecosystem Marketing, RedHat) and Meaghan Moore (VP, Global Partner Marketing, ServiceNow) to talk about creating sustainable, long-term growth with your channel. You’ll walk away with actionable guidance on:

- Developing a partner-first mindset that attracts the right partners
- Cultivating partner interest and growing your channel sustainably
- Capturing partner mindshare with effective engagement tactics
- Retaining partners through authentic relationships and fair incentives

According to Canalys, part of Omdia, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) are growing at an astounding 20-30% rate, eclipsing the overall tech industry’s growth rate of 6.2%. The Age of the Marketplace is clearly here: there has never been a more urgent time for organizations to adopt a strategy for partnering with companies like AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.

Ready to lean in, but wondering where to start and how to succeed? Join Aimee Catalano (Sr. Director, Global Partner Marketing, Google Cloud), Kristin Heisner (Sr. Director, Global Partner Marketing, Commvault), and Tara Foster (Global Partner Marketing Director-AWS, SoftwareOne) as they discuss:

- Advice for choosing the best-fit CSPs for your solutions
- What CSPs expect from their partners
- How to stand out in a crowded ecosystem
- Best practices for creating sustainable growth

Effective content marketing is more important than ever. Why? Because 63% of buyers are building vendor shortlists based on digital content alone. To successfully build pipeline, partner marketers must fuel their campaigns with impactful content that engages, educates, and influences buyers.

Listen in as Informa TechTarget’s Anita Covelli shares key findings from our 2024 Media Consumption survey and discusses what they mean for partner marketers with Gauri Chawla (SVP, Global Alliances, Stibo Systems) and Dina O’Mara (Global Partner Marketing Director, Intel). We’ll explore:

- Where tech buyers spend the most time researching solutions
- Which types of content buyers value most when building a shortlist
- When it makes sense to invest in independent expert content
- How to create joint content that resonates with buyers

According to recent research, 81% of buyers have already picked a favorite vendor before they talk to sellers. To make the short list, it’s critical for partner marketers to engage the buying group early in their research journey and continuously influence the decisions they make.

In this session, partner marketing experts Natascha Lee (Head of Global Partner & Alliance Marketing, Cloudera), Tricia Blade (Head of Partner Marketing, Deputy) and Lena Wiegering (Sr. Director, Partner & Events Marketing, Dataminr) discuss emerging innovations in demand generation that will help you hit your pipeline targets. They’ll share:

- Emerging channels and tactics to consider adding to your mix
- Creative ways to improve conversion and build better pipeline
- Top tools and strategies for elevating demand generation tactics
- Examples of innovative through- and with-partner campaigns

To succeed, partner and channel leaders need to effectively support their partners throughout their journey – from onboarding and enablement to co-marketing and co-selling to ongoing management and continuous engagement.

Ready to accelerate partner-led growth? TechTarget Partner Marketing Services and leading channel analyst firm Canalys, part of Omdia recently joined forces as part of Informa TechTarget. In this session, Informa TechTarget’s Anita Covelli and Steven Kiernan will:

- Walk through the partner journey and common challenges at each stage
- Share insights into partner transformation and what partners want from vendors
- Explore how we can help you build effective GTM strategies and quality pipeline

Over the past year, we've noticed a shift in the way that B2B technology companies think about partner-led growth. What was once a niche part of organizations is now quickly becoming one of the top areas of focus in overall business strategies.

But what does this increased focus mean for partner marketers? Join us as we dig into this question with leading partner marketing experts Anna Lawler (VP, Global Partner Marketing, Dynatrace), Joe Gabriel (Sr. Director, Partner Marketing, Qlik) and Mark Murphy (Partner Marketing Executive). We’ll explore:

- The opportunity that partner-led growth presents for partner marketers
- How the role of partner marketer has evolved and the skills you need to succeed
- Advice to help you seize the day and make a bigger impact
- Tips for capturing executive attention and securing organizational support