Trading Partner relationships are the foundation of your channel. Distributors, resellers, end customers… accurately identifying, classifying and assigning your channel information is, in turn, the foundation of optimizing channel 
processes. Given the importance of these relationships, some companies have chosen to create their own internally-focused view of their channel and partners. In essence creating a silo of channel information and interactions. But silos don’t just keep things in, they keep things out as well. That’s OK if all you want to do is store the information because your channel is static, like grain.
I doubt that applies to most of your channels however. Partners and customers change daily, your channel product mix changes, you decide to enter new markets or retire old ones…Channels are dynamic and fluid, and you need to manage channel relationship information in the same way.
So why limit yourself to the partners in your channel silo today? Rather than a silo, you need a shared registry of channel trading partners from around the globe. This registry should include enriched information about the partners and customers you already have, as well as those you may want to engage in the future. It should provide the opportunity for you to benefit from the activities of a wide variety of other global channel participants. It should be dynamic and fluid and greater than the sum of the information from those using it. So forget about silos…look instead for a shared warehouse with lots of loading docks and global traffic…a place where your channel partner relationship information grows and changes with your business.
