EXPERT COLUMN
By Ben Leitch, Director, Digital Content Manager, Intelligent Global Media
In this column, we’ ll be discussing the latest tech trends that are getting everyone talking. If you’ d like to get in touch, email ben. leitch @ intelligentglobalmedia. com
THE HYPERSCALERS HAVE UPDATED THEIR PARTNER INCENTIVES... AGAIN
Over the past month, Microsoft, AWS and Google Cloud have all rolled out fresh updates to their partner‐programme incentives. On the surface, these changes are framed as progress: new AI‐focused rebates, expanded cloud‐migration accelerators, updated competencies and revamped specialisations designed to‘ empower’ partners in the next phase of cloud and AI adoption. But beneath the glossy announcements lies a growing frustration across the channel that the hyperscalers are changing the rules faster than partners can adapt.
In the past year alone, partners have had to navigate multiple rounds of incentive restructuring, new certification requirements, shifting rebate thresholds and increasingly complex consumption‐based targets. The latest updates continue that trend, with all three major cloud providers tying more of their incentives directly to AI usage, cloud consumption and managed‐service performance.
For many partners, the pace of change has become operationally disruptive. Forecasting revenue is harder when incentive structures can shift with little notice. A rebate that made a deal profitable last quarter might not exist today. MSPs and VARs are being forced to re‐engineer their sales strategies, retrain staff and re‐evaluate their service portfolios at a speed that simply isn’ t sustainable for smaller or mid‐sized firms.
Then there’ s the AI factor. Hyperscalers are aggressively pushing AI consumption incentives, but customer readiness varies wildly. Many organisations are still in the exploratory phase, experimenting with pilots rather than committing to large‐scale deployments. Partners feel caught in the middle, pressured to drive AI adoption even when the business case isn’ t fully formed. It’ s a classic mismatch between vendor ambition and market reality.
Certification requirements are another pain point. Each hyperscaler has introduced new AI, security and FinOps specialisations, often with steep training costs and time commitments. Larger partners can absorb this; smaller partners cannot. The result is a widening capability gap that risks creating a two‐tier channel ecosystem.
And perhaps the most significant frustration of all is that the risk is quietly shifting from hyperscalers to partners. Cloud providers increasingly expect partners to take on more responsibility for
customer success, cost optimisation, security posture and ongoing consumption growth. Partners are being asked to do more, deliver more and guarantee more, without the financial upside to match.
None of this is accidental. Hyperscalers are laser‐focused on AI and consumption growth. They want partners who can deliver predictable, scalable, high‐value workloads. The incentive changes reflect that strategy. But the channel is right to question whether the balance of power and profit is becoming too skewed.
The channel doesn’ t need constant reinvention. It needs stability, clarity and incentives that reward long‐term value, not short‐term consumption spikes.
The irony is that partners remain the hyperscalers’ most valuable growth engine. They are the ones educating customers, managing migrations, delivering support and building the trust that drives long‐term cloud adoption. The channel doesn’ t need constant reinvention. It needs stability, clarity and incentives that reward long‐term value, not short‐term consumption spikes. Until hyperscalers recognise that, the frustration will only grow. •
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