PRM

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Impartner, a pure-play global leader in SaaS-based channel management solutions, announced a $50 million funding round last week, suggesting a bright future for channel management sales.

The significant investment comes after Impartner said it experienced “rapid year-over-year growth.” The latest round brings the partner relationship management (PRM) and through channel marketing automation (TCMA) vendor’s total funding to $113 million.

Brighton Park Capital, a growth stage venture capital firm that invests in innovative technology, led the latest funding round.

Other investors that participated in Impartner’s most recent funding include Savant Growth, Emergence and Golub Capital. The overall goal is to accelerate Impartner’s “aggressive roadmap, bolstering sales and marketing resources.”

“Technologies that enable companies to optimize the partner experience, automate the operational basics of their channel and accelerate indirect revenue, are table stakes for running a channel effectively,” Brighton Park Partner Jeff Machlin said in a statement. “Impartner is a proven leader in the space, delivering a unique turnkey solution that enhances revenue, decreases costs, and most importantly provides the visibility and analytics that companies need to maximize their channel investment.”

“Building and scaling a direct sales organization is expensive and increasingly difficult,” stated Savant Growth Founder and Managing Partner​ Eric Filipek, who led the original acquisition of Treehouse, now Impartner.

Forrester PRM Wave Leader

Imartner was named a Leader in the 4Q 2020 Forrester Wave for partner relationship management., behind only Salesforce. Other leaders included ZINFI, Zift, and Oracle.

The Forrester report, by Jay McBain and other Forrester analysts, noted that “improved automation, lead-to-revenue, and business intelligence will dictate which providers will lead the pack. Vendors that can provide advanced business rules, workflows, and channel intelligence position themselves to successfully deliver seamless support for the partner journey and improved partner experience to their customers.”

Impartner, they said, “has scaled up its global functionality and support considerably and is an adaptable and a flexible enterprise-class platform that can integrate into the largest and most complex environments.”

Customers want “more robust incentive features and more what-if scenarios in its business intelligence (BI) functionality. Customers are also asking for additional coselling and channel sales enablement — specifically around guided selling approaches to help vendors increase their win rates.”

The analysts concluded that Impartner is a good fit for midsize to large technology and manufacturing customers that have invested in Salesforce CRM or Microsoft Dynamics “and are looking for a fully integrated, easy-to-implement, and full-featured PRM solution.”

Also read: Top Vendor Risk Management (VRM) Software 2021

Impartner’s Growth Plans

Impartner’s global customer base is growing rapidly, so the funding comes when scalability and money are more important than ever. The $50 million funding that Impartner received comes right after it released a number of new products, among them:

  • Impartner PX Partner Experience: A fast, modernized and consumerized interface that accelerates indirect sales
  • Journey Builder: A solution that helps companies design the ideal customer journey for clients
  • Program Compliance Manager (PCM): A solution to help companies deal with a prominent issue facing channel chiefs, which is managing program compliance

Considering these products came before this most recent funding, the future for Impartner looks bright. Whether it’s additional product solutions or more aggressive global expansion, Impartner will likely continue to maintain its position as a leader in its industry.

Impartner offers its solutions to a range of companies, ranging from the smallest to the largest enterprises. Honeywell, Qualtrics and Vertiv are some of Impartner’s best-known clients.

The company boasts its customer success stories on its website, so any clients looking for solutions from Impartner can get a taste of what the company offers by viewing these case studies, many of which come from big-name companies.

Channel Management Drives Success

Channel management plays a significant role in the success of worldwide enterprises.

Every company needs to prioritize channel management to satisfy its customers’ needs, support distribution partners and manage vendor relationships.

Many companies worldwide need feasible channel management solutions, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period when Impartner has achieved significant traction.

Companies are desperate to improve their operational efficiency and outperform their competitors in saturated markets, so Impartner’s solutions will remain valuable.

Its products will likely be in higher demand as time goes on and more companies recognize the benefits of these robust solutions.

The hospitality industry is known for using channel management tools to drive revenue while lowering costs. For example, the hotel industry is booming since more people are traveling right now. Travel sites like Expedia and Hotels.com are becoming more important. Corporations need to leverage channel management solutions to manage similar partner sites effectively.

Impartner’s funding success is a good sign for the health of the channel management sector, both for the company and its competitors. As the world returns to business as usual and the channel continues to evolve, PRM will have a strong outlook for some time to come.

Further reading: BitTitan: Enabling the Proactive MSP