Partner relationship management solution market

Partner relationship management (PRM) solution is application software used to improve the business process to reach customers through indirect sales channels including brokers, resellers, distributors, agents, and other service partners. PRM solution is used to outline strategies and methodology for managing relationships among vendors and their channel partners. Furthermore, PRM solutions facilitate organizations to restructure and personalize business processes throughout their distribution network. This is done by integrating numerous functionalities, including partner adoption, partner on-boarding, partner training, business plans, partner program management, channel marketing, certification management, business strategy, and channel sales.

The global partner relationship management (PRM) solution market is estimated to be valued at US$ 12,755 million in 2021 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 18% over the forecast period (2021-2028).

Recent Developments:

In April 2021, ZINFI Technologies, has expanded its partner relationship management platform capability with automated partner onboarding management capabilities.

In April 2020, ZINFI Technologies, has launched, integrated account based channel marketing solution, for an organization that are engaged in selling through channel.

In February 2019, Impartner has acquired through Channel Marketing Automation business, from partner automation solution provider, TIE Kinetix.

Statistics:

Figure 1. Global Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Solution Market Value (US$ Mn), by Region, 2020

North America held dominant position in the global OTT content market in 2020, accounting for 37.9% share in terms of Value, followed by APEJ and Western Europe, respectively.

Market Dynamics- Drivers

Rising need for automated sales process is expected to drive growth of the global partner relationship management (PRM) solution market during the forecast period. PRM software brings a novel revolution in sales channel management, in order to automate sales processes. Conventional sales process requires a massive workforce since it is a disparate system. The manual process cannot be accessed by all partners and it is relatively challenging to reach all customers for the delivery of novel promotional activities. Hence, enterprises are shifting towards partner relationship management solution to automate the sales and marketing process. Thus, these factors are expected to drive growth of the market during the forecast period. For instance, Kaspersky Lab, a Russian multinational IT security company, has implemented Relayware’s partner relationship management solution for CRM integration, sales, and marketing automation.

Increasing partner channel revenue is expected to propel the global partner relationship management (PRM) solution market growth over the forecast period. Increasing return on investment (ROI) is major factor driving growth of the market. PRM platform facilitates companies to ensure that all partners have accessibility to all services, which in turn, helps to drive business. Moreover, this platform provides visibility to partner performance, enhances partner access to sales and support material, accelerates time-to-revenue, augments close rate, and helps partners to sell products more efficiently. As a result of this, partner performance enhances, which leads to increased ROI.

Market Opportunities

Custom-made PRM solutions to cater to various industry verticals can provide business opportunities. The PRM solutions represent a vast potential opportunity as it finds application across diversified industries and verticals, including BFSI, IT & telecommunication, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. Of the above, the BFSI and IT & telecommunication verticals are early adopters of PRM solutions. Healthcare and manufacturing, and oil & gas verticals represent vast revenue potential for PRM solution providers. Hence, PRM solutions vendors such as Salesforce.com can focus on developing a customized solution to cater to the specific needs of companies in these verticals.

CRM unable to manage a partner’s relationship can pose excellent growth opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) application is incapable to handle all the partner relationship management functions such as deal registration, partners program, incentive programs, and business planning. It majorly focuses on a customer-centric approach. Hence, CRM solution providers have to focus on PRM functions to improve the overall performance of the enterprises.

Market Trends

The majority of PRM solution vendors are focused on offering cost-efficient solutions including cloud-based applications. Furthermore, cloud-based PRM applications can be installed easily and accessed via the internet and do not involve any installation charges. Building a separate partner portal is expensive and time-consuming and also requires experienced IT staff. Hence, the majority of enterprises are shifting towards cloud-based PRM solutions.

Increasing venture capital funding is one of the major trends in the global partner relationship (PRM) solution market. Start-ups are gaining traction in the market and witnessing consistent revenue growth and are also expanding the customer base through innovative offerings and services. For instance, Relayware a U.S.-based PRM solution provider offers multi-functional PRM solutions through a single sign in via the internet to handle partner relationships on a real-time basis.

Figure 2. Global Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Solution Market Share, By Industry, 2020

Key Takeaways of the Graph:

• The BFSI segment held dominant position in the market and accounted for 30.2% share in the global Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Solution market in 2020. The segment is expected to reach US$ 9810.6 million in 2028. This is owing to increasing penetration of banking services across the globe.
• In 2020, the Partner Systems of Record and Business Planning segment accounted for the largest share of 27.9% in the global Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Solution market and is expected to be valued US$ 933.8 million by 2028.

Market Dynamics- Restraints

Inadequate performance of PRM solutions is expected to hamper the global partner relationship management (PRM) market growth over the forecast period. PRM software is incapable of performing all the partners’ engagement functions including business planning, lead management, partner portal management, partner program management, etc. Furthermore, the global market is fragmented due to the presence of large numbers of vendors with each offering different solutions, which focus on one function and/or only some of them. Moreover, some vendors are offering comprehensive PRM solutions although these do not manage functions efficiently due to software integration.

Dearth of technical expertise is expected to restrain growth of the global partner relationship (PRM) solution market during the forecast period. Low technical expertise among partners is a major factor hampering the adoption of PRM solutions currently. While installing the PRM system, an enterprise needs to understand partners’ expertise level to use advanced PRM solutions. If the partners do not have knowledge about advanced PRM solutions, then investing in a PRM solution will not result in an appropriate RoI.

Competitive Section

Key players operating in the global partner relationship management (PRM) solution market are Salesforce.com, Inc., LogicBay Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Allbound Inc., International Business Machines Corp, Impartner Software, ZINFI Technologies, Inc., Zyme Solutions, PartnerPath, Blackhawk Engagement Solutions, Inc., The Planet Group, Allbound Inc., and Channeltivity, LLC.

Key Developments

1. Key companies in the market are involved in product launches, in order to enhance the product portfolio. For instance, in July 2019, Saleforce.com Inc. introduced new features for its partner relationship management (PRM) product, which is built on Sales Cloud Platform.
2. Major players are focused on product development, in order to gain a compatible edge in the market. For instance, in October 2019, Allbound Inc. launched FUSE, a digital ecosystem for the manufacturing industry.