Canalys recognizes 2024 vendor Champions in the Mainland China Cloud Channel Leadership Matrix

Three vendors have been crowned Champions in the 2024 Mainland China Cloud Channel Leadership Matrix: AWS, Huawei Cloud and Alibaba Cloud.

Canalys recently published its 2024 Mainland China Cloud Channel Leadership Matrix, adding to its series of Leadership Matrix reports designed to highlight the top vendors in key areas of the channel ecosystem. This latest Leadership Matrix revealed three vendors that demonstrated not only the highest levels of excellence in channel management and market performance in the cloud but also ongoing momentum.

Defining Champions and vendor inclusion in the Canalys Mainland China Cloud Channel Leadership Matrix

Canalys assessed the seven leading cloud vendors in Mainland China, with eligibility based on meeting predetermined annual revenue criteria. A vendor’s position in the Canalys Mainland China Cloud Channel Leadership Matrix is based on channel partner feedback, industry leadership in Mainland China’s cloud market and Canalys analyst assessment.

Champions in the Mainland China Cloud Channel Leadership Matrix have demonstrated the highest levels of excellence in driving the channel ecosystem forward in the cloud over the last 12 months with their industry peers, while also progressing their own corporate business strategies. Besides the three Champions, other vendors were classified as Contenders (with strength in industry leadership and channel strategies), Scalers (with lower leadership, but strong momentum to drive the industry forward) or Foundation (vendors that fall behind in supporting partners with advancing their partner programs).

Market competition levels reinforce the importance of partner enablement

Over the past year, Mainland China’s cloud infrastructure services market has encountered significant challenges, including market saturation, shrinking enterprise IT budgets and escalating price wars. These factors have collectively impeded growth in cloud consumption. In response, cloud vendors are shifting away from one-off deals and are instead emphasizing more sustainable business models. These models include results-based selling, which ties sales to specific outcomes or performance, consumption-based models that charge based on use and services that add value to end customers. These strategies are designed to foster consistent revenue growth in a highly competitive environment.

In addition to adjusting their business strategies, cloud vendors are increasingly concentrating on developing and maturing the cloud channel ecosystem. This ecosystem is vital for addressing customers’ complex needs and seizing new growth opportunities, particularly in the highly fragmented Mainland Chinese market. Vendors that successfully navigate and support these partners in Mainland China with customized programs and strategic investments are likely to distinguish themselves and thrive in this competitive landscape. This includes creating programs that recognize and adapt to the diverse and growing needs of different partners, ensuring partner profitability amid economic challenges, and enhancing partners’ skills and capabilities to meet changing customer demands.

As partners increasingly integrate their own services with vendor offerings to deliver comprehensive solutions – rather than simply reselling products – they are becoming more selective in choosing vendor partnerships. They are seeking alliances that provide strategic value and align with their business transformations.

Congratulations to AWS, Huawei Cloud and Alibaba Cloud for retaining their status as Mainland China Cloud Channel Champions. Champion vendors have introduced several successful channel programs to help partners seize current and future growth opportunities. Key elements of these programs include:

• Streamlined partner programs: Creating clear partner tracks with distinct support and benefits.
• Enhanced partner capabilities: Developing tools and resources to strengthen partner skills and capabilities.
• Opportunities for collaboration: Providing opportunities for co-creation, co-marketing and co-delivery with vendors and promoting partner-to-partner collaboration.
• Support for diverse business models: Developing new frameworks to accommodate various partner business models.
• Localized strategies and support: Implementing channel strategies and support tailored to different markets.
• Increased financial incentives: Offering better financial incentives to boost partner profitability and growth.

Over the next year, retaining a Champion position in the Mainland China Cloud Channel Leadership Matrix will become increasingly tough. With the advance of generative AI, cloud vendors are continuously expanding their functionalities to address market demands. Key to maintaining a competitive edge is assisting partners in keeping pace with market trends while making timely adjustments to or introducing new partner programs to foster their growth. Partners will increasingly prefer to collaborate with vendors that prioritize cooperative selling and delivery, and that rapidly develop and optimize more advanced and profitable cloud services based on emerging technologies.