Dive Brief:
- U.S. partners are shifting to services and delivery, as IT sales and procurement concentrate among hyperscalers and platform vendors. Since 2022, channel revenues have grown by 27%, while the size of the direct-sales market has surged by 97%, according to a recent report from Omdia, a Channel Dive sister company.
- “The channel is moving away from pure resale motions and is instead moving steadily toward delivery services and outcome-oriented engagement,” according to Noah Dantes, research manager at Omdia. “AI and cybersecurity are two big drivers. The partners that are succeeding in this environment are growing their services offerings and not relying on resale to drive business growth.”
- The U.S. remains the world’s largest IT market, representing 41% of global IT spending. But it accounts for just 11.5% of all partners globally by count, making for a top-heavy market where the largest, big-name partners capture most of the revenue, Omdia’s analysis found.
Dive Insight:
Direct sales are surging as hyperscalers such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft pour hundreds of billions of dollars into massive AI infrastructure buildouts. An initial wave of cloud migration has passed and many companies have turned to the channel to manage existing infrastructure.
Dantes said consulting firm Accenture, currently among the world’s most profitable partners, is a case study for the shift to services.
“During the pandemic, Accenture was making their money from consulting and systems integration,” Dantes said. “As of 2026, half of their revenue comes from managed services.”
Large clients are looking for post-modernization IT services from their partners. As a result, service providers and systems integrators have three times the market share by count in the U.S. compared to globally, Omdia found.
Worldwide, U.S. partners are dominating global rankings. Almost 400 American partners have made Omdia’s Global Partner 1000 index — the most of any country. Among the top U.S. partners are channel giants such as IBM Consulting, Cognizant, CDW and World Wide Technology.
Seven of the world’s top 15 distributors are headquartered in the U.S., including TD Synnex, Ingram Micro and Arrow. Just 46 North American-headquartered distributors accounted for 53.1% of global distribution revenue, per the report.
Despite massive growth, the U.S. channel ecosystem is facing major headwinds, driven by geopolitical challenges, including margin pressures from tariffs and inflation, rising cyberattacks and legal risks, and a talent shortage exacerbated by H-1B visa restrictions.
AI is also changing the way clients look at partners. Companies implementing AI tools are looking for ways to maximize efficiency and justify AI costs, Dantes said.
“Everyone is buying AI right now, but the ROI has not fully emerged for most companies,” he said. “Partners are the critical layer there.”
Looking forward, Dantes said the winning strategy for partners is to expand their service offerings and even become technical experts for specific products.
“It's about working with your vendors and deepening the relationships you have with a select few, rather than offering many like a traditional reseller would,” he said.
