As IT buyers look to partners for specialized, end-to-end technology outcomes, co-selling is moving from an occasional strategy to the new go-to-market standard.
Deals involving two or more channel firms collaborating to deliver customer projects have become commonplace, according to Omdia, a Channel Dive sister company. In 2026, 37% of partners said they “almost always” co-partner, up from 10% in 2022. Customers reported working with an average of 6.3 trusted partners to fulfill IT requirements. Co-selling has become a key way to win larger contracts, Omdia found in a report published last month..
The old IT generalist model has reached saturation, Devan Adams, principal analyst for channel research at Omdia, said in the report. Customers are using AI tools to conduct research before buying decisions, while prioritizing more comprehensive outcomes, Adams wrote. They expect partners to deliver broad, measurable results across cloud, AI, cybersecurity, managed services and vertical-specific requirements.
A single partner often lacks the resources to deliver every piece of a complex project.
“Partners are increasingly building virtual teams to combine complementary assets to win and deliver larger, end-to-end deals,” Adams said. “In high-growth areas like AI and cloud, and verticals like healthcare and manufacturing that demand niche expertise, one partner typically cannot credibly deliver everything.”
Co-selling has matured from “sporadic gap-filling” to strategically formed go-to-market motions, Omdia found through interviews with managed service providers, technology services distributors and technology advisors.
The main drivers included a need to integrate complementary technologies and services and fill skill and resource gaps, as well the promise of cementing larger, end-to-end contracts. Co-selling can also speed up deals, expand a partner’s market and geographic reach and introduce cost-sharing as additional incentives, Omdia found.
Larger deals, faster closings
The financial case for co-selling has become clearer According to Rachel Brindley, senior research director for channels at Omdia. In a February report, Brindley noted that more than two-thirds of 36% of channel partners said co-selling with a vendor increased the size of deals and led to higher closing rates.
The momentum around channel co-selling is reflected not just in how partners are banding together, but also in how vendors are approaching indirect sales initiatives. Co-sell motions are changing quickly as vendors look to advance their programs for systems integrators service partners and independent software vendors, Brindley said. Cloud providers including AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud, are setting the standard, while other hardware and software vendors are focusing on complete solution co-selling partnerships, per the report.
Vendor co-sales partnerships are also gaining traction. Nearly half of partners regularly co-sell with vendors, up from 35% in 2023, according to an April Omdia report.
“Alliances and collaborative GTM motions are becoming more important,” analysts Sharon Hiu and Lisa Lawson said in the report.
Co-selling works best in structured arrangements. Partners need to make sure technologies and services are complementary, not overlapping, that contractual terms are clearly documented and that legal and compliance requirements are met.
As for where partners find one another for co-selling, LinkedIn leads the pack, followed by IT vendor recommendations, word-of-mouth referrals and distributor networks, Adams said. Third-party associations that work with technology advisors — including Technology Channel Sales Professionals and Technology Advisor Alliance — are also helpful in “fostering connections and orchestrating match-making referrals,” Adams added.
“These organizations are reliable referral sources for future alliances and are instrumental due to their trusted networks and hosting face-to-face events that build relationships for successful collaborations,” he said.
