10 places available - one on one with our Founders.See founding partner details
Partner Compass · Strategy

Vendor Strategy as a Service.
Delivered personally.

An 18-question Health Check across six domains. PPPC scoring on every vendor and distributor relationship. Four-quadrant strategic classification. A 12-month roadmap to move you up the Lighthouse Partner Ladder - with the vendors that matter most.

How it works

Four phases. Twelve weeks. One vendor strategy.

Phase 1Weeks 1-2
Diagnose

Health Check across six domains. Vendor portfolio audit. Existing programme scorecard. Output: a single, scored view of where you sit on the Lighthouse Ladder per vendor.

Phase 2Weeks 3-4
Classify

PPPC scoring on every vendor and distributor relationship. Four-quadrant placement: True North, Strong West, East Reach, EOL. Output: portfolio map with strategic intent per vendor.

Phase 3Weeks 5-6
Roadmap

12-month execution plan. MDF claim calendar. Deal registration cadence. Tier-advancement targets per priority vendor. Output: signed-off vendor strategy.

Phase 4Weeks 7-12
Activate

Quarterly business reviews. Vendor relationship orchestration. Optional Cotillion onboarding for the vendors where automation moves the needle. Output: measurable tier movement.

Six domains

We score what most partners never measure.

Each domain has three weighted questions, each scored against industry benchmarks from ZINFI, Channelnomics, Canalys, and Omdia. The output is a single PPPC score per vendor - and a quadrant placement that tells you what to do about it.

  • Vendor portfolio composition
  • MDF utilisation and rebate stacking
  • Deal registration discipline
  • Programme tier positioning
  • Co-marketing and case study velocity
  • Distributor relationship leverage
The framework

The framework behind every vendor decision.

Stop running 60 vendors on hope. Plot them on Stack Fit × Market Fit, score them against the same rubric every quarter, and trigger a disposition pathway: Invest, Sustain, Bridge, or Retire. This is the playbook we run inside Partner Compass engagements - explore each artefact below.

Vendor Classification Framework

Plot every vendor on two axes.

Select a vendor on the matrix to view its classification, scores, and the disposition pathway it triggers.

00112233445566778899MF = 6SF = 6STRONG WEST→ SustainTRUE NORTH↑ InvestHEADING SOUTH↓ RetireEAST REACH→ BridgeMARKET FIT →STACK FIT →OKTACrowdStrikeDattoPalo AltoVeeamWebrootSonicWallLegacy BDRCoreviewFreshdeskBigPandaOld BackupDepr. MonitorEOL FirewallLegacy AV
True North - InvestStrong West - SustainEast Reach - BridgeHeading South - Retire Inherited / Legacy
Fractional vendor alliance

Two halves of a job most partners never fill.

The operations half runs as automated workflows across every vendor you carry - registration, claims, credentials, deadlines. The judgment half is a named person who runs the reviews, the negotiations and the portfolio calls. Built for VARs, SIs and MSPs carrying more vendors than headcount.

The operations half
Automated workflows

Registration, claims, credentials and deadlines tracked continuously, per vendor, across the whole portfolio - running on the automation stack you already have, or ours.

The judgment half
Fractional alliance manager

A named human who runs your vendor reviews, negotiates the exceptions and signs off the portfolio calls. Every vendor-facing artefact is human-signed.

Lead offers
Deal registration discipline

Every qualified deal registered within 24 hours, across every vendor, with approval tracking and protection-window management.

~27 → ~2 min
Deal-reg admin. A target we're proving with our design partners - not a hard claim.
Money left on the table

Rebate thresholds monitored, MDF surfaced and claimed, proof-of-performance packaged, deadlines consolidated into one calendar.

$50k-$200k+
Surfaced by the Phase 1 audit. Up to 60% of MDF goes unused every quarter (ZINFI).
Compliance and credential assurance

Certification expiry, programme requirements, key-person risk and programme changes - in plain English, before they bite.

Silent failure
Programme-tier demotion, lapsed protection, clawed-back funding.
Relationship offers
Vendor business reviews, delivered

QBRs with your top 3-5 vendors, off workflow-assembled data packs - pipeline contribution, registration velocity, cert coverage, campaign ROI. Vendors respond to data, not requests.

Vendor portfolio strategy

Quarterly review against the framework above - PPPC scoring, Stack Fit × Market Fit placement, and a disposition call per vendor. You sign it off.

Negotiation and escalation

Margin and rebate bands, MDF exceptions, programme concessions, rejection disputes - handled by a named human with current data.

Growth offersAttach later: Co-sell activation · MDF campaign execution · Enablement coordination. Once registration discipline is running.
By the size of your business
$1-20M revenue
The whole missing function

The job doesn't exist today; the owner absorbs 8-15 hrs/week of admin and the strategy never happens.

$20-100M revenue
Portfolio extension and ops relief

Your alliance manager covers one vendor well - we cover the rest, and give them their week back.

500+ staff
Ops-layer replacement

Your partner managers shouldn't be reconciling deal registrations. Every portal, every programme, one audit trail.

FAQ

Common questions about Partner Compass

Founding Partners

10 places. One on one with our Founders.

Founding Partners get the engagement at the inaugural rate - and a permanent seat on the methodology advisory group as it evolves. After the first ten, Partner Compass moves to the standard pricing tier and is delivered by certified practitioners.

  • Delivered by the Founders
    Not certified practitioners — the people who built the methodology.
  • Locked-in Founding rate
    Preferential pricing across every future Partner Compass engagement.
  • Advisory group seat
    Permanent input on how the methodology evolves.