The 2025 Ecosystem Compass Report by Bridge Partners and Partnership Leaders uncovered some striking differences between the best and the rest—particularly in how top-performing companies approach strategic alignment, marketplace participation, and multi-partner collaboration.
Businesses reap rewards commensurate with their investments
Data from more than 5,000 partner programs shows businesses investing in their ecosystems are seeing faster growth, greater customer retention, and stronger market positioning. Our Director of Partner GTM, Penny Byron, contributed to the reporting and followed up in a recent webinar, explaining which specific areas of investment yield the strongest results. If you missed the webinar and haven’t seen the report, you can download the executive summary here.
Align Partnerships with Long-Term Corporate Strategy
High-growth companies are playing the long game. If you want to ensure the critical success factor of executive buy-in and investment, aligning your partnership strategy to short- and long-term, company-validated goals creates a more embedded revenue alignment and promises a more sustained impact. And partnership leaders are catching on: 73% of respondents report their partnership goals now align with company strategy, a notable improvement from past misalignment, highlighting partnerships’ growing role in business strategy.
TIP: Prioritize fewer, deeper partnerships that support three-to-five-year business goals rather than chasing short-term revenue spikes.
Take Cisco, for example. Instead of spreading resources thin across a wide partner network, Cisco restructured its partner program around managed services and lifecycle practices. The result? A more predictable, recurring revenue stream that aligns directly with its broader corporate strategy of value creation and customer outcomes.
“This strategic approach highlights Cisco’s commitment to deepening relationships with select partners capable of delivering comprehensive, customer-aligned solutions, rather than maintaining a wide, less-focused partner network,” explains Byron.
Leverage Data to Drive Partner Investment & Engagement
Companies that analyze which partners influence revenue can make smarter, data-backed decisions to fuel co-sell success and strategic growth.
The Ecosystem Compass Report makes it clear: 68% of companies report higher close rates when partners are involved, and 26% say partner-influenced deals outperform industry averages. Even more significantly, 64% state that more than half of their new customers come through partner-influenced or co-sold deals.
Without these insights, companies risk underinvesting in the right partners and missing out on scalable revenue opportunities. By tracking not just partner-sourced revenue, but partner-influenced pipeline and deal acceleration, businesses can make data-backed investment decisions, refine their co-sell motions, and build a partner strategy that fuels long-term growth.
Maximize Marketplace Growth with Solution Bundling & Co-Sell Strategies
“Marketplaces, including AWS Marketplace and Microsoft Azure Marketplace, allow partners to sell value-added professional services—such as implementation, support, and adoption—alongside software products,” explains Byron.
For companies looking to stay ahead, she further emphasizes that marketplaces are no longer just about visibility—they’re about growth, differentiation, and profitability. Marketplaces, projected to drive over $40 billion in revenue by 2025, are evolving from transactional platforms into strategic growth engines and reshaping how partners collaborate and sell.
But the real shift isn’t just in scale—it’s in how businesses are using them. Customers aren’t looking for isolated solutions; they’re engaging multiple partners in transactions, pushing vendors to create bundled, high-value solutions that go beyond a one-and-done purchase.
The fastest way to accelerate sales? Stop selling alone. With 4+ partners in a single transaction, the marketplace graduates from a sales channel to a bona fide revenue multiplier. To meet this demand, platform providers like AWS and Microsoft are rapidly evolving. AWS Partner Connections makes it easier for partners to collaborate and co-sell, while Microsoft’s Multiparty Private Offers (MPOs) let multiple vendors package their solutions into a single, seamless deal.
Activate Partnerships with a Strong Joint Value Proposition and Execution Plan
The growing complexity of the partner landscape naturally brings expanded partner management. It can often feel overwhelming--in fact, a joke in our report launch webinar with Partnership Leaders and SAP revealed partner leaders live on “coffee and anxiety.” Don’t fret, it’s also the best time to remember the foundations of an effective partnership: clear joint value messaging, collaborative co-selling strategies, and structured engagement plans, all tactics proven to accelerate value.
TIP: A strong joint value proposition (JVP) helps partners differentiate themselves, align on go-to-market motions, and drive real business impact.
And alignment is one thing, activation is another. 26% say partner-influenced deals outperform industry averages with the strongest performance when both sides are actively involved in pipeline development and deal execution. Cisco clearly understood the value this brings by restructuring its partner program to focus on managed services and lifecycle practices to ensure partners were deeply integrated into customer solutions rather than regarded as just resellers. This shift will lead to more predictable, recurring revenue and stronger partner engagement, reinforcing the value of long-term execution plans.
Invest in a Partner Ecosystem That Delivers Today, and Tomorrow
Want to learn more? Stay tuned for our webinar on February 25th with Partnership Leaders, where we’ll dive deeper into partner ecosystem strategies for 2025.
At Bridge Partners, we help enterprises cut through complexity by designing partner strategies that work with the market, not against it. Our playbook? We specialize in navigating these complexities by offering tailored partner strategies, AI-driven solutions, and digital engagement models to help organizations thrive.
About the author
Marisa Lather
Marisa Lather is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Bridge Partners. Known as @MarketerMarisa, she is a data-driven design thinker who specializes in creating aesthetic brand experiences that delight. Recently named as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Marketing & Advertising, she is actively engaged in the national marketing community, blogs about modern business, personal development, marketing, and speaks at conferences around the country.
