Once your firm establishes itself in an industry and builds a customer base, you can begin to build a list of services and integration partners you can recommend to your new clients, providing them with the added value of experience. This is attention a software publisher may not have the time or resources for, but is vital for customer success, and provides your firm -- and possibly others -- with the opportunity to grow and thrive.

If you're tied to just one or two major publishers, it’s smart to understand what their goals are so you can help support their market strategies. Providing the highest quality support and implementation services both distinguishes our business and supports our software partner’s strategy to make their customers successful.

Whether software is delivered on-premises or via the cloud, there are many opportunities to add value as a VAR or reseller by expanding your firm’s industry expertise and technical development and by supporting your software partners' strategies and goals. I don’t see VARs and channel partners as being part of a dying breed. I see more opportunity than ever for them.