A channel partner is a company that partners with a manufacturer or producer to market and sell the manufacturer's products, services, or technologies. This is usually done through a co-branding

Co-branding

Co-branding refers to several different marketing arrangements:Co-branding, also called brand partnership, is when two companies form an alliance to work together, creating marketing synergy...

 relationship. Channel partners may be distributors, vendors, retailers, consultants, systems integrators (SI), technology deployment consultancies, and value-added reseller

Value-added reseller

A value-added reseller is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution...

s (VARs) and other such organizations.

Managed Services Channel Partner

The Managed Services

Managed services

Managed services is the practice of transferring day-to-day related management responsibility as a strategic method for improved effective and efficient operations inclusive of Production Support and lifecycle build/maintenance activities...

 Channel Program (MSCP) defines managed services based on market and industry best practice

Best practice

A best practice is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark...

s, validates a provider’s managed service against those standards, and offers escalating rewards tied to the value delivered.

Outsourcing Channel Partner

The Outsourcing Channel Program is designed for partners who are taking over management of customer assets for multiple years across multiple technologies, either at the customer site or at another location like a remote data center

Data center

A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems...

.

Referral Partner

The Referral Partner is any individual, usually a professional consultant, existing customer, or sales professional, who can refer new customers to the manufacturer in any number of ways. Increasingly, companies are taking advantage of this type of partner as more and more individuals find work independently consulting and referring manufacturer solutions to their clients—which in essence provides a low cost way for manufacturers to manage their sales efforts.

Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Software

With the increased reliance on the channel to drive sales efforts, technology has emerged to help support these efforts. Partner Relationship Management (PRM) is the term most widely used to refer to this type of technology. There are a number of solutions available, including Partnerpedia.