Not all partnerships succeed, but every partnership leader wants to be a driver of Partner impact.
In the Investible Partnerships™ podcast, Des Russell dives into the daily battle for partner success that every partnership leader faces , as they try to maximize their relevance and value in partnerships. Des, through conversations with industry and business leaders dives into the thinking, tools and tenants partnership leaders are using to stop being constrained by a handful of partners to grow with and instead scale their impact with more investible partnerships.
Your Partner Model Was Built for a Different Era with Alex Smith
The traditional partner model was built for a very different era of technology and go-to-market execution.
If you lead partnerships, channels, or ecosystem strategy, you’re likely seeing the shift firsthand. Modern partner ecosystems are evolving rapidly, yet many organisations are still trying to run them on assumptions designed for a previous era.
For years, channel programs were built around resale. Partners sold products, vendors drove demand, and distributors helped scale reach. That model worked well when technology was simpler and go-to-market motions were easier to define.
Today, the structure of the technology ecosystem looks very different.
Partner ecosystems are expanding, marketplaces are accelerating new buying motions, and artificial intelligence is reshaping how customers adopt, deploy, and operate technology. As a result, the role partners play in the technology value chain is changing quickly.
In this episode of the Investible Partnerships™ Podcast, Des Russell speaks with Alex Smith from the Futurum Group about how partner models have evolved across major industry shifts, from the client-server era and traditional channel resale, through the rise of cloud platforms, to today’s ecosystem-led and AI-driven go-to-market models.
Together they explore:
• Why the traditional resale-driven partner model no longer explains how value is created
• How marketplaces are changing procurement while increasing the need for partner expertise
• Why simply signing more partners rarely solves ecosystem growth challenges
• How the growing complexity of ecosystems is forcing organisations to rethink partner roles
• What Futurum Group describes as the next generation of “frontier partners,” and how AI may reshape partner operating models
26 Nov 2025
From Strategy to Scale: Emma Davidson on Helping Partners Win in the Marketplace Era
In this episode of the Investible Partnerships™ Podcast, host Des Russell sits down with Emma Davidson, VP of Cloud at NEXTGEN, to explore how marketplaces are reshaping the way partners, distributors, and vendors drive growth.
Emma shares her journey from agency life to leading one of the fastest-growing cloud businesses in ANZ — and why she believes marketplaces aren’t just a new channel, but a complete reinvention of how technology is sold and scaled.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why marketplaces are more than a procurement mechanism — they’re a new go-to-market model.
The biggest challenges partners face when adopting marketplace strategies (and how to overcome them).
The 3-step playbook for partners to get marketplace-ready: strategy, listing, and seller enablement.
What “operationalising” marketplace success really looks like.
The leadership mindset needed to guide teams through change in a digital-first ecosystem.
Emma also reveals how NEXTGEN is helping partners bridge the gap between ambition and execution , building capability, accelerating CPPO enablement, and creating demand through smarter go-to-market motion.
If you’re a vendor, distributor, or partner leader trying to make sense of the marketplace opportunity, this conversation gives you both the strategy and the steps to take action.
Listen now to learn how to move from strategy to scale in the marketplace era.
18 Aug 2025
Beyond the Portal: How to Build a Partner-First Tech Stack That Actually Drives Engagement with Trevor Burnett
Most partner tech stacks track activity but activity isn’t engagement, and it definitely isn’t impact.
In this episode of Investible Partnerships™, Des Russell is joined by Trevor Burnett, VP of Product Marketing at Impartner, to explore how modern partner teams are moving beyond legacy PRMs and portals. They’re building modular, AI-powered stacks that are frictionless, data-smart, and actually used by partners.
If you’re trying to scale partner impact without adding complexity, this episode is packed with insights on what’s working and what’s not.
You’ll learn:
Why buying tools ≠ building a strategy — and how to fix the disconnect
Where AI and automation are already delivering value in partner ops
How to clean and structure your data for scalable partner insights
What targeted, relevant partner engagement really looks like
Why the future of partner tech is embedded, invisible and far more powerful
Whether you're shaping partner strategy, managing ecosystem ops, or rolling out a new PRM, this is your playbook for building a partner tech stack that enables action, not just administration.
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