EMEA channel chiefs on how to incorporate sustainability in a partner programme

CRN asked vendors how they are promoting sustainability with channel partners

Vendors across EMEA are ramping up their efforts to integrate sustainability into their channel partner programmes and operations.

From dedicated sustainability teams and employee resource groups to collaborative partner communities and carbon offset projects, seven of this year's CRN EMEA Channel Chiefs share the steps they are taking to reduce their environmental footprint and promote sustainable business practices throughout their ecosystems.

As sustainability becomes a crucial consideration for businesses worldwide, here's what they told us.

ConnectWise

ConnectWise said it is actively integrating sustainability into its channel programme through its PitchIT Accelerator Programme.

Launched in 2018, this programme invests in and supports its vendor partners within the ConnectWise ecosystem, benefitting IT providers.

"The annual PitchIT Accelerator Programme, now in its 5th year, focuses on nurturing growth for startup integration partners dedicated to the MSP space," says Sam Callagham, VP of sales for EMEA at ConnectWise.

"Selected companies receive extensive assistance through a 16-week business transformation course led by industry experts. This course covers essential areas such as sales, marketing, branding, messaging, and product security, while also providing guidance on crafting effective pitches.

"ConnectWise further collaborates with the chosen vendors through co-marketing initiatives, conducting webinars within the MSP space to enhance awareness, refine pitches, and share expertise with partners.

"Additionally, the programme offers vendors the opportunity to showcase their integrations on the ConnectWise Marketplace, increasing visibility among partners."

Callagham said that the top three finalists are paired with a coach who helps them fine-tune their pitch, and they have the chance to present their ideas live at IT Nation Connect.

As an incentive, ConnectWise awards $100,000 in grant money to the top two finishers, with $70,000 for the first-place winner and $30,000 for the second-place winner.

"It's important to note that these grants are not investments but financial support to aid the winners' endeavours.

"Applying to the programme incurs no cost, and if accepted, there are no participation fees. ConnectWise is dedicated to fostering innovation and sustainability within the channel by providing valuable resources and opportunities to emerging companies."

CrowdStrike

Five years ago CrowdStrike formed a dedicated squad for the mission of sustainability, explains John Taylor, VP of EMEA channel and alliances.

"In 2019 we created a dedicated Green Team, a sustainability-focused employee resource group and allocated resources to channel programmes that aim to educate, inspire and empower our people around sustainability and to identify, recommend and help implement specific practices and solutions to help CrowdStrike operate in more environmentally sustainable ways.

"We have also partnered with ClimeCo to identify, purchase and retire a variety of high-quality, certified carbon offset projects across the globe ranging from rainforest conservation to landfill methane removal efforts to minimise our carbon footprint."

Lenovo

Ralf Jordan, VP channel EMEA for Lenovo outlines Lenovo 360, a global channel framework with sustainability embedded throughout the three pillars of enable, connect and grow.

"We have created sales and marketing content, available through Lenovo Partner Hub, to enable our partners to position sustainability with strength," Jordan explains.

"Partners get rewarded for sustainability sales through Lenovo 360 incentives and those sales contribute to a partners Lenovo 360 tier status. Sustainability services are integrated into Lenovo 360 lifecycle services competence and accreditation, with a new Lenovo 360 sustainability competence and accreditation launching early next year.

"The Lenovo 360 Circle is where we connect partners through a dedicated action-based peer to peer community with 17 founding members and currently 133 worldwide."

He says the Lenovo 360 circle aims to advance global ESG progress, promote corporate citizenship, and accelerate the shift to more sustainable business models across our value chain.

"Our three pillars to success are: 1. Business transformation: to mitigate our environmental impact, the industry must transition to new sustainable business models shifting from a product-centric to a service-led approach.

"2. Collaborative leadership: Sustainability is still complex, and collaboration is a necessity. Together, we must adopt a holistic value chain approach, turning our shared dependencies into strengths.

"3. Championing the UN's Agenda: As a community, we will act as role models in supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set by United Nations.

"We're building a community founded on both individual and collective learning, breaking down barriers and fostering collaboration.

"To ensure our community framework aligns with all parties, we collaborated closely with our founding partners and three key requests came out from our discussions: Make it easy to adopt and scalable, help us to raise awareness and educate our employees and our customers and work together on developing new sustainable solutions."

Jordan explains that including those recommendations, Lenovo have created a cross-industry blueprint aligned with the UNGC engagement process for both private and public organisations.

"It follows a staged approach to seamlessly integrate the topic into a company's strategy.

"As a community member, partners have access to: A community of sustainability experts through our community forums and focus groups, sustainability learning and development paths, sustainability accelerators such as sustainability assessment tools, sustainability metrics to answer RFPs as well as to support for their own ESG reporting and leading sustainable solutions to promote responsible consumption."

Palo Alto

Patricia Murphy VP EMEA & LATAM ecosystems, strategic alliances and channel at Palo Alto says the company's approach focuses on sustainable operations, value-chain, and ecosystem.

"We are future-focused to protect our digital way of life, so we must also commit to bold climate action.

"One way is through our Scope 3 product use to reduce tonnes CO2e per $USD gross profit by 40 per cent (39.8 per cent compounded 7 per cent/year) from a 2021 baseline by end of 2027.

"What this means is that we need to have end-users run our products with clean energy to reach this goal and we need our channel partners to work with us on advocating for this as well as tracking results.

"Palo Alto Networks calls on all ecosystem partners to: Measure their carbon footprint, set science-based targets and RE100 goals and collaborate with us to make progress on each other's SBTs and RE100 goals."

VAST Data

"Organisations around the world are facing two significant challenges: a rapid increase in the amount of data they're required to manage and compute on, and a growing emphasis on sustainable business practices led by policymakers and stakeholders," says Michael Richmond international channel director at VAST Data.

"We've made a concerted effort to bring real sustainability data to the table to help partners understand the implications of data systems architecture.

"Compared to legacy systems, VAST cuts electricity consumption by nearly 400,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, eliminating approximately 283 metric tons of annual CO2 production per 5PB deployed.

"VAST's approach to crucial areas such as energy efficiency and e-waste reduction empowers our channel partners to answer the call to today's energy-conscious enterprises with a guaranteed solution to provide best-in-class infrastructure efficiency and longevity."

8x8

Emily Masterton, director of EMEA channel sales at 8x8 explains how the company incorporates sustainability into all aspects of its business functions by measuring, target setting, continuously monitoring and evaluating data.

"We have recently introduced an ESG assessment for new suppliers and partners of 8x8, this will expand to assessing our existing providers and giving us further insight into our scope 3 emissions.

"Whilst we do not ask for any formal certification from our channel partners, our procurement process is rigorous and ensures all providers are compliant with environmental law and ESG obligations."

Epicor Software

Paul Flannery, VP channel sales at Epicor Software says Epicor is working with partners to inform customers how the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions can help to achieve and fulfil some of their sustainability goal.

"E.g. by using less paper, having more efficient practices, and even moving to the Cloud can play a vital role in empowering businesses to diversify their capabilities with minimal disruption and lower on-site energy consumption for more sustainable and cost-effective solutions."