Every year around this time, I get asked the same question by partners, suppliers, and industry stalwarts: “What’s actually going to matter in the channel this year?”
After spending the last decade+ of my life deep in partner conversations, customer strategy sessions, and more whiteboard discussions than I can count, I’ve identified a few themes as no longer “emerging” but rather present and accounted for.
Here are the four macro trends we at Summit believe will define channel success in 2026 and, more importantly, where trusted advisors should focus their time if they want to grow, stay relevant, and increase profitability.
1. More Than One Trick: Diversification of the Product Mix
If there’s one hill I’m willing to die on in 2026, it’s this: The era of the single-product partner is officially over.
Historically, most trusted advisors built their businesses around one, possibly two, core offerings. Internet circuits. Connectivity. UCaaS. CCaaS. And for a long time, that worked just fine.
But the most successful partners we see today are selling across the stack.
Cybersecurity. Infrastructure. Cloud. AI. Data center services. Bare metal. All of the services that piece together to help solve real problems for their customers, in addition to connectivity and not instead of it.
At Summit, we like to say: follow the wire.
That internet circuit you sold? It terminates somewhere. And where it terminates (data centers, cloud environments, virtualized infrastructure)—that’s where the next opportunity lives. Selling an internet circuit naturally leads to conversations about infrastructure, workloads, performance, security, and cost. The only requirement is asking the right questions.
The partners who win in 2026 and beyond will be the ones willing to get a little uncomfortable, learn a new product line, open a new door, and stop leaving wallet share on the table. Comfort is great. Growth, however, lives on the other side of it.
2. AI Isn’t the Product, It’s the Conversation
Let’s state the obvious: AI is hot.
Also obvious: most companies have no idea what to actually do with it.
We’re having AI conversations every single day. But here’s the reality: those conversations rarely end with selling the exact AI solution that started them. And that’s okay.
AI, in the channel, is less about the tool and more about the business outcome.
Most organizations lack a clear AI roadmap. They aren’t monetizing it or operationalizing it. But they do have business problems: inefficiency, data sprawl, performance challenges, cost overruns, security gaps.
AI is a powerful way to start the conversation because it opens the door. It gives you air cover to ask smarter questions about goals, data, infrastructure readiness, and long-term strategy. Often, the solution pivots toward infrastructure, cloud optimization, or security services that may not wear an “AI” label but absolutely enable it.
My advice for 2026: don’t chase every shiny AI object. Instead, focus on the few solutions you can confidently speak to, ask meaningful questions, and build opportunities you can actually execute.
3. The Great Cloud Reality Check: Rebalance, Repatriate, Repeat
If you’ve heard me speak anytime in the last two years, you’ve heard these words: cloud repatriation.
In 2026, that conversation is only accelerating.
Whether you call it cloud repatriation or exiting cloud, the name doesn’t matter. Companies are waking up to the fact that their hyperscale cloud spend is out of control. What was supposed to be cheaper and more efficient has turned into unpredictable invoices and underperforming workloads. And most organizations don’t have the tools or expertise to fix it themselves.
That’s where the trusted advisor wins.
At Summit, we’re helping partners move workloads out of hyperscalers and into more predictable environments: private cloud, bare metal, dedicated servers, and optimized hybrid architecture. These solutions offer deterministic performance, cost transparency, and (here’s the kicker) 30–40% savings.
And as a possibly more important shift, partners now get paid on these deals. Where hyperscale cloud often cut the channel out, cloud repatriation puts partners back in the deal. This is net-new infrastructure revenue for the channel ecosystem, and it’s going to be one of the biggest growth engines of 2026.
4. Marketing Isn’t Optional Anymore: The Rise of Joint GTM
Here’s a quick exercise: open LinkedIn and scroll for 30 seconds.
Your competition is marketing. Aggressively.
In 2026, joint partner and supplier marketing becomes a necessity and not just a “nice to have.” Partners are realizing that differentiation isn’t just about what you sell, it’s about how well you tell your story.
For smaller partner agencies, especially one-to-five-seller shops, this is where suppliers matter more than ever. Strong suppliers don’t just provide solutions, they provide go-to-market support.
At Summit, we’re investing heavily in joint marketing initiatives with our partners in order to help them tell better stories, create demand, open conversations around AI, cloud rebalancing, and infrastructure diversification. The goal is to help valued partners punch above their weight and close more business.
The partners who embrace this in 2026 will look bigger, more credible, and more sophisticated than their size suggests. And perception, as we all know, matters.
Final Thought
The channel in 2026 will reward partners who are curious, diversified, outcome-focused, and visible. The tools and demand are there. The only question left is whether you’re willing to evolve with it.
At Summit, we’re betting that the partners who do will define the next generation of trusted advisors. If you’re not a Summit Partner yet, I’d love to invite you to set up a call with me and discuss how we can work together. And if you are, please reach out if you want to strategize or geek out on anything infrastructure, cloud, security, and beyond.
Good Selling,
Eric