Beyond the Horizon: The Unstoppable Currents Shaping the Channel in 2026

April 2026 marks 10 years of Zebra’s award-winning PartnerConnect programme. The anniversary comes at a pivotal moment for the channel, not least with AI turning more frontline tasks into intelligent operations performed and overseen by an increasingly informed and connected frontline workforce.  AI is fast becoming a baseline for solution development, value creation for customers, and how the channel operates and engages with industries across hardware, software, services, and consulting.

Our channel has grown, both in number and in maturity. We’ve added specialist tracks over the years, to better reflect the range of expertise in the channel. And with growth comes the need to shift towards curating ecosystems based on individual customer and solution needs. Technology advances have increased customer choice, and with it new types of complexity, making simplification more important.   

An AI-Powered Assistant For Our Partners

How we engage with our ecosystem is evolving and the need to remove friction and create more real-time, self-serve access to critical information is becoming more the norm. That’s why Zebra launched its AI-powered zPartner Assistant. It enables our PartnerConnect ecosystem to swiftly locate important resources, such as the latest product information, marketing materials, and enablement programme updates. Our partners can rapidly create customer proposals and presentations, which significantly reduces research and preparation time, streamlines partner workflows, and elevates the partner experience. It also means Zebra’s channel teams can reorientate more time towards other strategic and growth initiatives.  

What remains constant is the people focus. Whether that’s channel partner summits, advisory boards, roadshows, pitstops, a catch-up over lunch, or the efforts of dedicated channel managers day in, day out to help us build the next chapter.

Expanding Beyond Traditional Partnerships

The channel landscape continues to diversify, requiring organisations to rethink how they build and manage partnerships. Success now hinges on creating robust ecosystems that go beyond traditional resellers to include independent software vendors (ISVs), alliances, consulting partners, network providers and other specialized collaborators. These collaborative networks bring together diverse expertise to deliver greater value to customers by addressing complex and evolving needs.

However, with this diversification comes the need for greater strategic focus. Organisations must prioritise understanding which ecosystem players align most closely with their key use cases and business priorities. By identifying partners whose capabilities complement their strategic goals, companies can maximize the impact of these collaborations. This means being more selective in engagements, focusing on quality over quantity, and ensuring that partnerships drive measurable outcomes.

In this evolving landscape, successful ecosystems will not be defined by the number of partners but by the strength of alignment, the relevance of expertise, and the ability to co-create solutions that deliver tangible value. This strategic approach to ecosystem building will allow organizations to remain agile, innovative, and customer-centric in an increasingly competitive market.

Unified Hardware-Software Solutions

Customers increasingly demand integrated solutions that seamlessly combine hardware, software, and services. According to Channel Insights, on average there are seven products as part of a solution and five different partners involved in the customers’ buying journey. The ability to offer comprehensive, tailored packages simplifies procurement and enhances usability, positioning providers as strategic partners. This shift requires a deeper commitment to solution-oriented thinking and customer-centric innovation and the ability to develop multi-partner ecosystems.

Deeper Industry Expertise

To stay competitive, channel partners must evolve into trusted advisors. This means understanding specific industry challenges such as labor shortages, compliance needs, and digital transformation, and proactively identifying opportunities for automation, AI, and innovation. Guiding customers toward untapped possibilities will define the most successful partnerships.

Customer Experience

Simplification is key. Customers expect an increasingly frictionless selling motion and seamless experience across the entire value chain, from product selection to post-sale support. To build customer loyalty, vendors should focus on being easy to work with by investing in digital self-service tools, making information readily accessible, and streamlining processes and communication channels to ensure customers' needs are met swiftly and seamlessly.

The customer buyer base is changing. A great share of the buyer base are millennials, and a growing percentage of Gen Z are entering the workforce. The channel needs to evolve its offers to meet generational change. Things like being able to request a quote and buy online, and AI assistants to help navigate solutions and support customer engagement are fast becoming a baseline.

AI Integration and Transformation

AI continues to reshape the channel. From enhancing operational efficiency to driving customer insights, AI is a cornerstone of solution development. Vendors and partners must stay ahead of this curve by integrating AI into their offerings and educating customers on its potential to address workforce gaps, boost productivity, and improve decision-making. Having a clear vision of what transformation looks like, and the strategy and culture to make it happen will be essential.

Early adoption and collaboration in AI-driven projects will unlock new revenue streams. Vendors must develop tools and resources to enable software partners to design, develop, and deploy on their platforms. Industries, from logistics to manufacturing and retail are looking to digitise physical working environments and workflows and take that situational and workflow data to improve how work gets done. Being able to articulate the benefits of on-device AI and how developers can use models and templates will position partners as true advisors.  

Sustainability as a Core Expectation

Sustainability is not just a preference but an expectation. Channel players - vendors, resellers, and integrators - must demonstrate tangible commitments to eco-friendly practices. From recycling programs to green product designs, aligning with sustainability goals strengthens customer trust and market relevance. Recognizing leaders in this space can inspire broader adoption across the ecosystem.

As we mark the first 10 years of PartnerConnect, a note of thanks is in order, and we look forward to shaping the next 10 years of how we make work better every day.