CRN Vendor Report 2021: The scores are in
Over the last six months, you have been rating your five key vendors across four core services categories. Here’s a sneak peek at the findings
Over the last six months, UK channel partners have been rating their top vendors on four aspects of their performance... and the results are now in.
Back bigger and better, the CRN Vendor Report 2021 probes how 45 top vendors are really viewed by the resellers, MSPs and other front-line channel partners who sell, install and manage their technology every day.
The results are based on the scores CRN's audience awarded across four core categories, namely Technology Leadership, Channel Strategy and Account Management, Margins, Leads and Incentives, and Training and Accreditation.
They believe their products sell by themselves
We also invited respondents to leave frank, anonymous written feedback, and a selection of the most glowing/eyewatering comments can be found here and here, respectively.
If you were one of the 335 qualified respondents to take this year's report, you will be receiving your complementary copy of the Executive Summary of the CRN Vendor Report 2021 soon. CRN Essential subscribers can also view the Executive Summary here.
For more information on how to obtain the full version of this paid-for report, please contact [email protected].
The scores are up
This year, the average (mean) score across the 45 vendors and four core categories stood at 6.6, up from 6.3 in 2019.
Across the 45 vendors, the core services average ranged from 8.8 to 4.1. The highest score in any category was 9.4 and the lowest 3.6.
Although that's a sizeable range, even the top-performing vendors evidently have room for significant improvement across all categories.
Although we are not in a position to divulge the rankings, here we pick out four vendors whose performance stood out. Can you guess their identity?
The Indifferent Giant
Ranking 39th overall, this vendor giant was portrayed as arrogant, high-handed and ambivalent towards the channel by a large cross-section of respondents. Although it aced the Technology Leadership category, it failed to trouble the leaderboard elsewhere, ranking third bottom for Margins, Leads and Incentives with a 4.5 average. It did, however, fare marginally better than in 2019.
"[Their] incentives are very weak when compared to their competitors as they believe their products sell by themselves," testified the director at a large reseller.
The High Climber
Having suffered a mauling in the 2019 Vendor Report, this security vendor was lavished with high scores and widespread acclaim this time around. It finished fourth overall - in contrast to its bottom-five finish two years ago - with partners variously lauding its innovative technology, responsive staff and easy-to-access training.
"The team is super responsive, and we have regular face time with senior leaders and peer forums to discuss the channel, the leadership and what we feel it needs to change," said one sales employee at large partner.
The Star Performer
If this security specialist's Vendor Report performance were to be set to a Bond Theme, it would be Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better. Bagging some of the highest scores - and most rapturous feedback - in Vendor Report history, it was widely lauded for its responsive approach to tech development, generous margins and amenable staff.
They "always keep us informed and are ready to help out," said the boss of one small MSP.
The Curate's Egg
In one of the most up-and-down performances in the report, this vendor giant ranked inside the top four for both Technology Leadership and Training and Accreditation.
But concerns that it is abandoning the SMB partners that helped build its fortunes saw it finish mid-table in the channel strategy and margin-related categories. It's "getting big and not caring too much about who got them there", the boss of a sub-£1m-revenue reseller opined.
For more information please contact [email protected].