8. Powerful pair’s “painful” partner programme ploy
Let’s face it, partner programme stories rarely set the pulses racing.
But 2025 produced a rare exception to this rule as Microsoft and Cisco inflicted short-term pain on their partners by completely overhauling how they reward them.
Both are eager to pay partners less at the point of transaction, and more for the value they add throughout the customer lifecycle (Microsoft through its recent EA rebate slash and CSP changes and Cisco through its impending 360 programme).
The channel’s two biggest vendors are far from alone on this, with analyst Omdia recently saying that over 400 other vendors have moved money from resell margins to fund other partner activities before, during, or after the transaction by introducing points-based programmes.
This transition has been far from painless, with Insight alone saying Microsoft’s and Google’s fee shake-ups will hit gross profits to the tune of $70m in 2025. The change was also said to be instrumental in the blockbuster merger of Microsoft partners SoftwareOne and Crayon in July.
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen in October, Softcat CEO Graham Charlton revealed that the LSE-listed reseller has taken a circa £4m hit from Microsoft’s EA fee slash this year, but was quick to add that it has made up this shortfall by switching its attention to CSP.
Cisco partners have also given a mixed reception to Cisco 360, which is set to go live on 25 January 2026.
Not all are convinced they will be better off.
“I totally understand why they’re doing it. I would do it. So we are embracing it. I think it’s going to cause a bit of pain, but we all feel it’s the right thing and are generally fully behind it,” Rob Quickenden, CTO of Cisco partner Cisilion, told IT Channel Oxygen in November.
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