The Emergence of Solution-Oriented Partnerships & How Customers are Adapting

By Jesse Grindeland - Vice President, Global Channels & Alliances

August 19, 2025 7 Minute Read

The days of procurement and value-added resellers (VARs) thriving purely on transactional efficiency are numbered. Customers today aren’t just buying products—they’re seeking solutions to complex problems and partners to bridge their skill gaps. The traditional model, where VARs and vendors made millions by focusing on transaction speed and volume, is being disrupted. Businesses now demand strategic partnerships that deliver tailored solutions, expertise, and long-term value. So, how are VARs and vendors adapting to this shift, and what does the future hold for both? Let’s explore.

The Shift from Transactions to Solutions

The procurement landscape has fundamentally changed. Organizations no longer view IT purchasing as a simple transaction to secure hardware, software, or services at the lowest cost. Instead, they face mounting challenges—digital transformation, cybersecurity threats, cloud migrations, and talent shortages—that require holistic solutions. Customers want partners who understand their business, align with their strategic goals, and fill critical skill gaps.

This shift is driven by several factors:

• Complexity of Technology: Modern IT environments are intricate, blending cloud, AI, IoT, and cybersecurity. Customers need guidance to navigate this complexity, not just a product catalog.
• Skill Shortages: Many organizations lack in-house expertise to implement and manage advanced technologies, pushing them to seek partners who can act as an extension of their teams.
• Outcome-Based Expectations: Businesses are prioritizing measurable outcomes—improved efficiency, enhanced security, or faster time-to-market—over mere cost savings.
• Subscription and As-a-Service Models: The rise of SaaS, IaaS, and managed services has shifted focus from one-time purchases to ongoing partnerships.

The traditional transactional VAR, focused on pushing boxes and maximizing margins, is struggling to stay relevant in this environment. Customers are no longer impressed by partners who prioritize deal velocity over value.

How VARs Are Transitioning

To survive and thrive, VARs are reinventing themselves as trusted advisors and solution providers. Here’s how they’re adapting:

• Building Expertise and Specialization: VARs are investing heavily in technical expertise, certifications, and industry-specific knowledge. Instead of being generalists, many are specializing in niches like cybersecurity, cloud architecture, or AI integration. For example, VARs like CDW and Insight are expanding their professional services divisions, offering consulting, implementation, and managed services to address skill gaps.
• Embracing Managed Services: The shift to as-a-service models has prompted VARs to offer managed IT services, such as managed security or cloud management. This allows them to provide ongoing support, reducing the burden on customers’ internal teams and creating recurring revenue streams.
• Focusing on Customer Success: Progressive VARs are adopting a customer-success mindset, prioritizing long-term relationships over one-off sales. They’re hiring customer success managers to ensure clients achieve their desired outcomes, whether it’s optimizing a cloud environment or securing a supply chain.
• Partnering with Vendors for Solutions: VARs are collaborating more closely with vendors to co-create solutions tailored to specific industries or use cases. For instance, a VAR might work with a vendor like Microsoft or Cisco to design a bespoke cybersecurity solution for a healthcare client, combining software, hardware, and consulting.
• Leveraging Data and Analytics: To deliver value, VARs are using data analytics to provide insights into customer environments. By analyzing usage patterns or performance metrics, they can recommend optimizations, predict issues, and proactively address skill gaps.

How Vendors Are Adapting

Vendors, too, are rethinking their go-to-market strategies to align with this solution-oriented world by:

• Shifting to Ecosystem Selling: Vendors are moving away from product-centric sales to ecosystem-based approaches. They’re bundling hardware, software, and services into integrated solutions that address specific business challenges, such as zero-trust security or hybrid cloud deployments.
• Investing in Partner Enablement: Vendors are empowering VARs with training, tools, and resources to become solution providers, equipping VARs with the skills to deliver complex solutions.
• Expanding Direct-to-Customer Engagement: Some vendors are complementing their VAR relationships with direct customer engagement through consulting arms or managed services. For example, Persistent and Accenture combine vendor products with their own professional services to deliver end-to-end solutions.
• Focusing on Recurring Revenue Models: Vendors are shifting from one-time hardware or software sales to subscription-based models, such as licensing for cloud services or software-defined infrastructure. This aligns their interests with their customers’ long-term success.
• Emphasizing Co-Innovation: Vendors are increasingly co-innovating with customers and VARs, developing custom solutions through proof-of-concept labs or innovation hubs. This collaborative approach ensures solutions are tailored to specific needs.

The Future of VARs and Vendors

The future of VARs and vendors lies in their ability to evolve into strategic partners who deliver measurable value. Here’s what that future will look like:

• For VARs
  • Hyper-Specialization: VARs will increasingly focus on niche markets or technologies, becoming go-to experts in areas like AI, edge computing, or industry-specific compliance.
  • Managed Services Dominance: The line between VARs and managed service providers (MSPs) will continue to blur, with VARs offering end-to-end solutions that include procurement, implementation, and ongoing management.
  • Data-Driven Differentiation: VARs that leverage AI and analytics to provide predictive insights and proactive support will stand out.
  • Consolidation and Collaboration: Smaller VARs may merge or form alliances to compete with larger players, pooling resources to offer comprehensive solutions.

• For Vendors
  • Solution-Centric Portfolios: Vendors continue to shift toward integrated solutions that combine hardware, software, and services, reducing the need for customers to piece together disparate products.
  • Stronger Partner Ecosystems: Vendors will rely on VARs and other partners to deliver localized expertise, but they’ll also invest in direct-to-customer channels for high-touch engagements.
  • AI and Automation: Vendors will embed AI and automation into their offerings, enabling VARs to deliver smarter, more efficient solutions.

Challenges and Opportunities

The transition isn’t without challenges. VARs must overcome margin pressures, as solution-oriented models often require significant upfront investment in skills and infrastructure. Smaller VARs may struggle to compete with global players unless they carve out a niche. Vendors, meanwhile, must balance direct customer engagement with maintaining strong partner ecosystems to avoid channel conflicts.

Yet, the opportunities are immense. VARs that successfully pivot to solution providers can build deeper, stickier customer relationships, driving recurring revenue and higher margins. Vendors that empower their partners and deliver innovative, outcome-focused solutions will capture greater market share in a world where customers value expertise over transactions.

So customers, what is your answer?  

Customers who have invested heavily in traditional procurement models face a pivotal moment as the landscape shifts toward solution-oriented partnerships and strategic value over transactional efficiency. To adapt to this new reality and maximize the value of their investments, customers should consider the following strategies:

1. Reassess Procurement Priorities

• Shift Focus to Outcomes: Move away from prioritizing cost savings and transactional speed. Instead, evaluate vendors and VARs based on their ability to deliver measurable business outcomes, such as improved operational efficiency, enhanced security, or accelerated digital transformation.
• Incorporate Skill Gap Analysis: Identify internal skill shortages (e.g., cloud management, cybersecurity expertise) and prioritize partners who can provide consulting, training, or managed services to bridge these gaps.
• Align with Strategic Goals: Ensure procurement strategies align with long-term business objectives, such as scalability, innovation, or sustainability, rather than short-term cost reductions.

2. Leverage Existing Investments

• Optimize Current Contracts: Review existing vendor and VAR contracts to identify opportunities for adding value-added services, such as managed services or consulting, without overhauling agreements.
• Repurpose Procurement Tools: Use existing procurement platforms to track and evaluate solution-oriented metrics, such as partner performance, service-level agreements (SLAs), or ROI from implemented solutions.
• Integrate Data Analytics: If investments have been made in procurement software, enhance these tools with analytics to assess vendor contributions to business outcomes, not just transaction efficiency.

3. Build Strategic Partnerships

• Seek Solution-Oriented VARs: Transition relationships with VARs from transactional to consultative. Look for partners with deep expertise in your industry or technology stack who can act as advisors, not just resellers.
• Engage Vendors Directly for Co-Innovation: Work with vendors to co-create tailored solutions that address specific challenges, leveraging their innovation hubs or proof-of-concept programs.
• Foster Long-Term Relationships: Prioritize partners committed to customer success, with dedicated account managers or success teams to ensure ongoing value delivery.

4. Upskill Internal Teams

• Invest in Training: Use some of the budget previously allocated to procurement processes to train internal teams on emerging technologies (e.g., cloud, AI, cybersecurity). This reduces reliance on external partners for basic tasks while enhancing collaboration on complex projects.
• Hire or Contract Specialists: Where in-house expertise is lacking, consider hiring specialists or engaging managed service providers (MSPs) through your VAR to fill skill gaps without disrupting existing procurement frameworks.

5. Adopt Flexible Procurement Models

• Embrace As-a-Service Models: Shift from capital-intensive purchases to subscription-based or as-a-service models (e.g., SaaS, IaaS) that align with the solution-driven market and provide scalability.
• Negotiate Outcome-Based Contracts: Structure agreements with vendors and VARs to include performance-based metrics, tying payments to deliverables like system uptime, security improvements, or successful project milestones.
• Pilot New Approaches: Test solution-oriented procurement with smaller projects to evaluate partners’ ability to deliver value before committing to large-scale changes.

6. Streamline Vendor and VAR Relationships

• Consolidate Partnerships: Reduce the number of vendors and VARs to focus on a smaller group of strategic partners who can deliver comprehensive solutions. This simplifies management and strengthens collaboration.
• Demand Transparency: Require partners to provide clear roadmaps, service commitments, and data-driven insights to ensure alignment with your business needs.
• Evaluate Partner Ecosystems: Choose VARs and vendors with strong ecosystems, as they can integrate multiple technologies and services to create cohesive solutions.

7. Prepare for Cultural and Operational Change

• Educate Stakeholders: Train procurement teams and leadership on the benefits of solution-oriented partnerships to gain buy-in for the shift away from traditional models.
• Update KPIs: Redefine success metrics for procurement teams to focus on strategic impact (e.g., innovation enablement, risk reduction) rather than transaction volume or cost savings.
• Foster Collaboration: Encourage cross-functional collaboration between procurement, IT, and business units to ensure solutions address holistic needs.

8. Monitor and Iterate

• Track Partner Performance: Use data to monitor how well vendors and VARs deliver on promised outcomes, adjusting partnerships as needed.
• Stay Informed on Market Trends: Keep abreast of industry shifts (e.g., AI advancements, sustainability requirements) to ensure procurement strategies remain relevant.
• Iterate Gradually: Transition incrementally by piloting solution-oriented approaches in specific areas before fully restructuring procurement processes.

Challenges to Anticipate

• Resistance to Change: Procurement teams accustomed to transactional models may resist the shift to strategic partnerships. Clear communication and training can mitigate this.
• Higher Upfront Costs: Solution-oriented partnerships may involve higher initial costs for consulting or managed services, but these often yield greater long-term value.
• Vendor Lock-In Risks: Long-term partnerships can lead to dependency. Mitigate this by negotiating flexible contracts and maintaining multiple strategic partners.

The Opportunity

For customers with heavy investments in procurement, this new reality is a chance to transform procurement from a cost center into a strategic enabler. By leveraging existing infrastructure, building stronger partnerships, and aligning with business outcomes, customers can maximize the value of their investments while addressing skill gaps and driving innovation. The key is to view vendors and VARs not as suppliers, but as collaborators in achieving long-term success.

By proactively adapting to this solution-driven world, customers can turn their procurement investments into a competitive advantage, positioning themselves for resilience and growth in an increasingly complex technological landscape.

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