"Turbonomic has pivoted their sales model. They've moved to a channel model. They're using our sales reps now to position strategic deals, and it makes a big difference in terms of targeting strategic accounts," van den Bedem said.

At Puppet, which has raised $86 million in funding, the company is rapidly moving toward "partner centricity" in its sales approach and culture, said vice president of global partner sales and programs John Schwan. Puppet is currently seeing less than 35 percent of its sales going through partners, but "our goal is to increase that dramatically this fiscal year," Schwan said.

At the start of Puppet's current fiscal year on Feb. 1, the company introduced a new segmented sales model that designates corporate accounts as partner-only. The firm also recently rolled out a new partner portal with comprehensive information on working with Puppet, online training resources, and improved deal registration.

And Puppet is adding to its channel team, with plans to expand it from four people to 14 by the end of the current fiscal year.

"I always prefer working with a channel partner," said Puppet CEO Sanjay Mirchandani, who formerly held executive positions at VMware and Microsoft. "In my experience over 30 years, it's a more-leveraged, smarter way to work."

Chicago-based Ahead, No. 100 on the CRN 2017 SP500, is one of the solution providers in Puppet's Platinum partner tier. Puppet has "really seen the value [of channel partnerships] and really pushed a lot of resources and cooperation our way," said Dan Wittenberg, senior technical architect at Ahead.

"Not only do our sales guys get extra help in the field, but for any of the emerging new technologies, they help us develop proof-of-concepts and work with us and our customers," Wittenberg said. "We act as an extension of their company—they're not just having us go out on their behalf."

At Kovarus, another Puppet Platinum partner, Melander said that Puppet's IT automation offering is a "critical enabling technology" for digital transformation at end customers. "It's a tool that customers can use to become more like a software company," he said.

Puppet is just one of the many emerging technologies that Kovarus has vetted within its lab in San Ramon.

"It feels kind of like the Cambrian explosion of technology," Melander said of the current wave of technologies coming out, referring to the time in Earth's history when life forms became more varied and plentiful. "In our lab environment, we've got a team of people that are just constantly churning through this stuff, and seeing where the good technology is."