About iChannel Group
iChannel delivers outsourced business development and interim management. We help companies find new markets, either geographically or through new routes to market. The iChannel Group was founded to help companies find and establish new markets. Questions our clients face are amongst others:
- Is our partner business proposition compelling?
- We need to expand geographically but we don’t have the expertise in house?
- Can we leverage our skills and infrastructure by entering new markets?
- What new routes to market can we uncover and what can we expect on this path?
- Have we optimally leveraged the channel we sell through?
- Should we build a partner network to enter this new market?
- What can we do to better help and support our partnerbase?
- How can we simplify our business, and the route to market?
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime
Mark TwainHappy Clients
Many happy clients. from around the world.
When we refocused our business to be more channel-centric, we engaged iChannel. iChannel has in short time accomplished a mind shift in our team. Our team is now fully focused on the channel. iChannel helped with hands-on local partner and vendor connections as well as enablement. Our engagement with iChannel has exceeded our expectations and we would recommend them to anyone seeking growth through new market entry and channel development.
Frank Schoutissen, International Managing Director, SVP Channel FPX
iChannel is a very strong business development consultancy and on top of that, they have great experience in making start-ups a success. They have supported us very well when we opened a new office in San Francisco by guiding our young start-up managers. They helped them to make the business development plans; made sure they planned enough time to develop the business, joined them in business visits and kept on chasing them to keep the momentum when client contacts were built! They are great coaches to people who want to become more successful in business development!”.
Karin Lieshout, Managing Director, Skim Group (International Customer Insights Agency)
iChannel helped us get onto the map in EMEA. They built a partner and customer ecosystem in the region. This amongst others helped us secure Private Equity funding to unlock the potential of our company.
Julie West, President, Wennsoft
Bart is a ‘cerebral sales guy’, which is a rare combination. He thinks things through, and executes with intuition.
Robert Kenney, EVP Sales & Marketing, OnProcess
iChannel has helped us identify new routes to market through a partner channel we had not considered before. In addition, they have helped us transition from a perpetual to an annuity-based licensing model. They have proven to quickly learn and appreciate the complexities of the niche market we address.”
Twan Korthorst, CEO, Phoenix Software - Photonic Chip Design Software
Our Services
When you’re embarking on an expansion plan that calls for new offices or sales channels, you need someone who’d been there and done that. Someone who can help you interpret all the confusing signs and signals along the way, and who knows the variables that will affect your path along the way. We’ve done work on the ground in more than 15 countries and scores of cities, for business development and sales functions in the Software and related industries. And we do it all with the objectivity that comes from decades of combined experience.
iChannel can help you to make the decision to launch in the Asia, the Americas, Middle East and or Africa. We can determine the best sales strategy and required organization. We can help you adjust and refine your messaging and value proposition to appeal to target audiences. Use our strong international network to find partners and prospects around the world.
What to expect:
- Feasibility assessment of your international market strategy, using business modelling tools (Strategyzer©) to help predict bottle necks and success factors.
- Sales and Marketing strategy and detailed execution plan for the new geography
- Messaging and value proposition that works for local target audiences created in co-operation with the client and local associations and influencers
- Selection, introduction and recruitment of partners when needed
- Contact with local prospects and partners through our strong network
iChannel provides an assessment of your current Sales and Channel alignment and integration through surveys and interviews, creating insight into how well-aligned your sales and Channel teams are. Based on this assessment, iChannel can determine collaboration models and processes together with improvement programs and potential quick wins. All the services are provided in a repeatable framework for implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement.
What to expect:
- Clear insight into current Sales and Channel alignment and integration
- Environment for Sales and Channel based on respect and mutual understanding
- Better use of sales and Channel knowledge and intelligence
- Aligned selling and buying process
- Improvements in engagement and collaboration
As we say at iChannel, ‘the channel delivers market capillarity‘. What we mean by this is that if you want to truly be accessible and have any chance of winning in a market you need to be able to penetrate all pockets and ‘crevasses’ of the market. This is where a channel strategy comes into play. No business can afford a sales force on its books that can access all crevasses’ of the market. And without and channel strategy that pans Enterprise and Midmarket you will never have a truly committed channel. The above is clear to most companies successful in software today. But the new complexity is in the cloud.
We help our clients (either channel companies or software vendors) with:
- Changing sales and marketing teams behaviors to enable cloud solutions success
- Finding new partners that will be able to move along into the cloud
- Helping partners move into the cloud by helping with channel incentive and marketing programs
- Help get clear what value the cloud or hybrid models bring to customers and partners.
iChannel interim managers frequently have had extensive earlier experience in marketing, consulting and operations or sales. The skill set and experience usually consist of a mixture of the following:
- marketing
- legal
- strategy
- finance
- proposal management
- sales experience
Technology is an essential requirement for competing in today’s marketplace. However, it’s also a difficult problem to master. When properly used, technology can be a crucial tool to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your business, but if poorly invested in or implemented, it can suck up your resources and give little in the way of return. iChannel Group has decades of experience helping businesses like yours manage these complex problems. We know how to help you make the best investment in technology and how to implement it successfully. To learn more about how we can help, please call +31404021101 or email iChannel Group today.
The winners in corporate M&A are both bold and disciplined. Research shows that active acquirers earn consistently higher shareholder returns than those that stay on the sidelines. And companies that regularly and systematically do the most deals perform best of all.
If only companies were as easy to buy as basic commodities. Then it would be clear where to look for potential candidates. The attributes that distinguish one operation from another would be readily apparent. And you wouldn’t need to convince the target company’s owners and management team that a transaction with you is worth their consideration.
But that’s not how it works with M&A. So it pays to be efficient right from the start. A methodical approach to target identification, can put you on the path to a successful expansion of your business portfolio.
How We Help
After completing many projects over the years, iChannel Group has built up significant target screening expertise. Among other things, we can help you:- Evaluate market and geographic segments for untapped business opportunities
- Review and screen relevant markets in detail
- Identify potential targets for acquisition based on existing strategic objectives
- Make initial deal introductions and support early-phase activities
Your Benefits
- A larger universe of potential M&A candidates
- Target companies that may not be on the radar of any other acquirer
- Impartial guidance on the profile of an optimal target for your business
Examples of Our Work
- A leading systems integrator had developed a solution and services for manufacturing and had asked us to assess the manufacturing market and find potential acquisition targets across a number of European countries. We proposed and executed a two-phased approach. First we completed a market sizing research. That included prioritizing market opportunities by country and then proceeded with target screens in selected markets. After identifying key acquisition targets we support and coached both sides to a successful majority investment by our client.
- A software publisher had acquired a specialized software solution new to its business and its partner ecosystem. iChannel was retained to support the integration of this acquisition. iChannel helped build up product and market knowledge in the new parent company. In parallel we recruited, trained and activated partners to help go to market with this new solution.
There's an old adage that locals know best. So while it's technically possible to start your business in China without any assistance, hiring a local consultant can seriously ease the process. iChannel can help you decide on your business structure, organize and file your paperwork, act as your representative while you’re not in China, build and activate a local partner base and generally guide you through the process of getting your business registered.
Our Work
- iChannel lead consultant in acquisition of Quinso BV majority share by Orbis AG.
- LLR Partners invests in WennSoft
- Wennsoft hires iChannel’s Bart van der Horst to drive and execute European expansion
- iChannel advisory services can be subsidized for up 50% by the Dutch government
- Skim Group opens up in San Francisco, iChannel delivers advisory and coaching services
- Canalys opens office in Palo Alto, California, Bart van der Horst is appointed as President, Managing Director
- Corporate Software re-invents software resell through Software Asset Management offering
- OnProcess’ Bart van der Horst guest lectures to VU Amsterdam business analysis students
- Onprocess expands EMEA presence with operations centre in Sofia, Bulgaria
- Corporate Software opens offices in Spain, Switzerland and Sweden
- Andreessen Horowitz bets big on Github
- iChannel’s Bart van der Horst speaks at GigaOM Structure on the state of the cloud in Europe
- GigaOM publishes whitepaper on how to channel a cloud by Bart van der Horst
Partners
Connect with Us
- (1) Ekkersrijt 7101, PO Box 193, 5690AD Son, The Netherlands
- (2) 昆明茭菱路88号创意英国棕榈泉园3栋1单元402室
- (3) 88 Jiaoling Lu, Think UK Residential Area, ZongLuQuan Yuan, Building 3, Unit 1, Rm 402, Kunming
- +31622536026
- [email protected]channelgroup.com
- www.ichannelgroup.com