Channel Research Report 2025

Mastering the maze

Accelerating the channel’s journey to cloud success

Introduction

Cloud has evolved from a disruptor to core driver of business growth. Customers are adopting cloud to innovate faster, scale efficiently, and control costs. They’re not just moving workloads; they’re looking for smarter, more strategic ways to solve challenges and deliver value.

But complex vendor programs, unclear pricing models, and lack of in-house expertise makes it difficult for businesses to get the most out of cloud. And with hybrid being the customer approach of choice, these complexities are only exacerbated.

What does this mean for IT channel partners?

This shift means levelling up. To meet rising expectations, channel partners need to bolster their cloud expertise, refine their services, and adapt their business model to support the full cloud lifecycle.

Our 2025 Channel Research Report digs into this critical moment, exploring the key drivers behind cloud adoption, the challenges partners face, and the opportunities they must seize to remain competitive.

Whether helping customers optimise cloud spending, secure hybrid environments, or navigate hyperscaler marketplaces, this report provides valuable insights for partners to be future ready and lead in the dynamic cloud environment.

To uncover these insights, we conducted a survey across:

~900

Medium-to-large MSPs/MSSPs, VARs, and SIs

In eight

key markets

UK, Germany, France, South Africa, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand

Key findings: Partners' vision for cloud success

Partners know the direction the industry is heading, and they’re already aligning their strategies accordingly. Our survey showed that 85% of partners see building a cloud practice as important. Many have already begun their journeys, but their stages of progress vary:

started on-prem but now support most of their customers through cloud solutions

are “born in the cloud”, fully focused on cloud delivery

are largely on-prem but have begun developing cloud offerings

plan to start delivering cloud solutions in the future

See full results

Of course, opportunity comes with its challenges. Many partners face barriers when scaling their cloud capabilities. Our survey showed us that:

0%

of partners say their customers are looking for specialised cloud skills, but 43% of partners feel they lack the technical cloud skills needed

See full results
0%

of partners struggle to make the most of vendor programs

See full results
0%

find cloud pricing models hard to understand

See full results
0%

are seeking training and enablement from distribution

See full results

Ultimately, partners recognise the potential in the cloud space, but their skills and knowledge gaps are holding them back from maximising those opportunities.

Next section:

Steady migrations

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