Lenovo has been recognized as a leading technology vendor in the 2020 Canalys EMEA Channel Leadership Matrix, retaining its status as a ‘champion’.
A vendor’s position in the Canalys Leadership Matrix is based on channel partner feedback to the Canalys Vendor Benchmark, combined with a detailed assessment of their recent channel activities and future prospects by Canalys analysts. ‘Champions’ demonstrate the highest levels of partner support and engagement and have also seen the greatest improvement in partner sentiment, as measured by the Vendor Benchmark.
While competitors have faced difficulties due to ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, component supply shortages resulting from strong demand, and the after-effects of the pandemic, Lenovo’s supply chain excellence has been a key differentiator for partners in 2020. To chart a path through unprecedented challenges, Lenovo has leveraged its core competencies of operational excellence and a ‘global sourcing, local delivery’ approach.
Even with short-term impact on production and supply at the height of the pandemic, Lenovo was able to minimize the impact, owing to a global footprint of over 30 manufacturing sites, which helped rebalance production. Flexibility proved critical, where the situation was fast-changing day by day. Lenovo’s suppliers, partners and teams worldwide united in their efforts to help customers gain access to the solutions they urgently needed, while ensuring safety remained the foremost priority.
Lenovo’s ‘champion’ status is also reflective of its commitment to the channel. Across EMEA, over 90% of the company’s total sales are through its channel partners, one of the highest indirect shares among its peers. Lenovo has invested heavily in improving ease of doing business through Velocity, a global project to automate and digitize processes.
In mid-2020, Lenovo launched a unified partner portal for its data center and PC partners, known as the Lenovo Partner Hub. Powered by advanced analytics, the integrated portal serves as a one-stop shop to better enable channel partners to grow their business at significantly greater speed and consistency. The Lenovo Partner Hub provides a single access point to tools, resources and intelligent, personalized information that is most relevant to the partner’s needs, geographic markets and past history.
In the 2020 Canalys EMEA Channel Leadership Matrix, Lenovo rated highly across benchmark metrics such as ‘ease of doing business’, usefulness of portals and electronic tools’ and ‘effectiveness of account management’.
Recognizing the growing importance of its SMB and mid-market partners, over the past year, Lenovo has invested heavily lead generation to support run-rate growth partners within the segment. Lenovo believes that in order to maintain its ‘champion’ status and offer channel partners a differentiated experience among competitors, ongoing investments in its channel business model to further simplify processes and leverage digital tools will be critical.
