In a world where ecosystems are increasingly becoming the driving force of growth, partnerships can no longer be treated as a secondary go-to-market motion. In the recent APAC Partnership Insights 2025 session we co-hosted, we explored what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next for ecosystem-led growth in our region.
What emerged was a clear-eyed view of the challenges and opportunities facing GTM leaders, partner teams, and revenue operators across APAC.
Here are seven critical takeaways that every business investing in partnerships needs to understand.
And what's great is that these are backed by voices from Microsoft, ChannelBoost, and our own team at Hockey Stick Advisory.
Here’s a stat we believe more organisations should internalise:
“The benchmark data we see in the US is about 30% of revenue driven from partnerships. That includes resellers, co-sell, referrals and it doesn’t matter the motion.”
For many APAC companies, that figure feels ambitious. Some are at 10%, aiming for 20%. Others are already at 30% and pushing toward 40%. But wherever you fall, the message is clear: ecosystem-led growth matters. It’s quantifiable and scalable.
But only if you design for it. Which brings us to...
As Rob Stone from ChannelBoost noted, the days of “spray and pray” are over.
“You’re going in there with a scalpel… You’ve got proximity. That’s really fantastic, particularly for more complex businesses.”
Today’s buyers don’t want to be sold to. They want to buy through trust, proximity, and relevance. That’s why marketplaces and self-service motions are exploding, and why broad, shallow partner programs fall flat.
Here’s what we’ve realised: precision is the new scale.
The most effective programs now prioritise depth, alignment, and collaborative value with a few right-fit partners.
Rob also challenged the idea that a partner program must be fully built before it’s activated:
“I’d rather just get out there, work really closely with a tight bunch of partners and understand in the field… what’s working.”
This is true across all industries today: speed matters.
The market moves quickly, and your assumptions might already be outdated. The most valuable insights come from co-building in market, not whiteboarding behind closed doors.
That means iteration beats over-planning. Your first five to ten partners are your testing ground, so build with them. From there, learn and adjust.
It’s not enough to build a strong partner motion. You also need your internal teams to support it.
Sinead Fitzgerald (Microsoft) shared a powerful example. Their sellers weren’t supporting marketplace deals, simply because they weren’t getting paid for them.
“Sellers were not being paid in the same way that partnerships were selling.”
So Microsoft restructured its compensation model. Now, every seller has a marketplace-billed sales target. If they don’t hit it, they don’t receive their bonus. Simple as that.
We believe this approach has always worked, but in partnerships, it’s more compelling than ever. Incentives drive behaviour. If your comp model ignores partner revenue, your sales team will too.
Successful partnerships start with a clear, shared understanding of what success looks like for both parties.
That includes:
Without that mutual value clarity, partners get stuck.
Make sure your enablement isn't generic. It must be tied to your joint motion, not just your product sheet.
Throughout the discussion, it was clear that attribution and tracking remain key challenges for GTM teams across APAC.
For many organisations, the answer is still unclear.
The distinction between partner-sourced and partner-influenced revenue is often poorly defined or inconsistently applied.
ROI measurement is patchy at best, leaving leadership without a clear view of what’s working.
Tools and systems may be in place, but they’re not always integrated, maintained or aligned to strategic goals.
Here’s the thing: Partner Ops is critical infrastructure. That’s always been true, but never more so than today, when technology is evolving quickly and roles are constantly shifting.
If you can’t prove the impact of partnerships internally, you won’t get the buy-in to scale them externally.
This insight bookended the session. If you want 30% of your revenue to come from partnerships, start by designing the systems, compensation models, partner mix, and enablement plans that will actually make that possible.
You don’t scale partner-sourced revenue by accident. You scale it through intent, infrastructure, and iteration.
So what now? Here’s what your business should reflect on:
Are we tracking it? Are we measuring both sourced and influenced pipeline?
If you don’t have the number, that’s your first red flag.
If partnerships and marketplace motions are competing with direct sales targets, expect resistance.
Fixing this requires changes to how success is defined and rewarded internally.
Is it clear who the offer is for, how it’s different, and how we win together?
A vague partner pitch or generic enablement kit won’t cut it.
Have we spent months building a program without activating it?
Work with a small number of high-fit partners now. Test, learn, adapt.
You cannot scale what you cannot track.
Strong attribution, clear reporting, and operational clarity are essential.
There are many learnings but one great things is that it's evident that ambition is there. The market signals are loud.
But most companies are still under-leveraging what partnerships can do. And now, through the report, we've seen that it's the systems and alignment that are the issue.
And proudly, here at Hockey Stick Advisory, we take on the challenge of setting this up for many companies.