In the following article learn: How Elioplus helped our client, IRI, a great Cybersecurity Vendor to recruit 30+ Channel Partners that SELL in 100 Days.
- The Starting Point: A Channel Program With No Engine
- Why They Chose Elioplus
- What the 100-Day Recruitment Looked Like
- Week 1: Targeting and Email Template Setup
- Weeks 2–7: Outreach Execution
- Weeks 8–14: Onboarding and Pipeline Activation
- What Drove the Speed
- The Broader Pattern
- What This Means for Your Channel Program
- FAQs
Most cybersecurity vendors don’t struggle to build a great product. They struggle to scale distribution. Direct sales hit a ceiling, and building a channel from scratch feels like a full-time job before the first partner agreement is signed.
Here’s how our cybersecurity vendor client, IRI, went from zero structured channel activity to 30-plus active partners that sell in 100 days — and what made that pace possible.
The Starting Point: A Channel Program With No Engine
The vendor had a solid backup and cybersecurity product, a small but growing direct sales team, and a clear need to expand into new geographies. The intent to build a channel program was there. The infrastructure wasn’t.
Their channel manager was burning hours every week manually searching LinkedIn, attending virtual events, and cold-emailing MSPs. Response rates were low. Qualified conversations were rare. The pipeline stayed thin.
They didn’t need a longer contact list. They needed a faster path to partners worth talking to.
Why They Chose Elioplus
The vendor looked at several options. They trusted Elioplus from the beginning our new launched partner recruitment solution and they are still clients of ours. 11 years of trust and the number will grow!
Elioplus is the only platform that combined a verified partner database, with exclusive focus on Channel partnerships.
What the 100-Day Recruitment Looked Like
Week 1: Targeting and Email template setup
The first step was defining the right partner profile. Using the Elioplus partner recruitment automation option, our client, IRI, based on more than 13 partnership criteria that the system takes into consideration, got matched with ideal partners that were looking for solutions like IRI to provide.
This targeting step alone saved weeks of manual research. Instead of guessing who to approach, the vendor had a verified list with enough context to personalize outreach from the start.
Weeks 2–7: Outreach Execution
At least 5 follow up emails were needed in order to close calls or demos with the potential partners that they system was bringing inside IRI’s dashboard. This period is enough to have your first reseller agreements (usually up to 10 reseller agreements in 7 weeks) if your solution is strong and provides a beneficial partner progra
Weeks 8–14: More reseller agreements
The number of channel partners available inside the dashboard is growing every month and if you follow consistently the 5 follow up “rule”, then the demos and calls will be much more than the beginning.
By the end of the 100-day window: 30-plus signed quality channel partners that SELL.
What Drove the Speed
4 Factors made the 100-day timeline realistic rather than aspirational.
- Elioplus takes into consideration more than 13+ partership criteria that they vendors and channel partners are submitting inside our system during their registration process. This data is something that is not available on the web because the system requires it during the free registration process of the companies.
- Elioplus focuses on Channel Partnerships in specific niche: SaaS, Software, Cloud, IT security and Hardware.
- The people that create the profile of their company on Elioplus as a Vendor or a Channel Partner are the decision makers of these companies about partnerships. They provide their contact details and you can get in touch with them. This increases the conversion rates.
- Except from the primary contact above, you get access to the employee directory of the channel partner too in order to unlock the data of your choise based on the roles that you target.
The Broader Pattern
This result isn’t unique to one vendor. Elioplus works with 450-plus IT vendors across cybersecurity, ITSM, CRM, data management, and 150-plus other IT categories. Clients like SAP, ManageEngine, BeyondTrust, Freshworks, TD SYNNEX to startups that are now beginning their channel development efforts.
Some vendors start with the recruitment database to build a target list. Others use the automation service to run outreach at scale. Many companies are using our Account anager Service that provides to our clients introductions for calls, demos with qualified partners. Many use the PRM to manage a network they’ve already built.
What This Means for Your Channel Program
If your channel program is stalled because outreach is manual, partner targeting is guesswork, or onboarding runs through email threads and shared folders, the bottleneck is structural. It’s not a people problem.
The vendor in this case study didn’t hire more channel managers. They changed the system.
If you’re a cybersecurity vendor, SaaS provider, or any IT company trying to build a channel faster,- Elioplus gives you the recruitment infrastructure and the PRM to run the full partner lifecycle — without starting from scratch.
Sign up free at elioplus.com and see how the platform fits your current stage.
FAQs
What is a channel partner recruitment case study?A channel partner recruitment case study documents how a vendor built or scaled its reseller or MSP network — covering the methods used, the timeline, and the results. It helps other vendors understand what a realistic recruitment process looks like in practice.
How long does it typically take to recruit channel partners? Timelines vary, but vendors using done-for-you recruitment automation with a verified, targeted partner database can see qualified conversations within weeks rather than months. The 100-day benchmark in this case study reflects a structured approach that combined targeted outreach with immediate onboarding.
Do I need a large channel team to use Elioplus? No. The recruitment automation service is built for vendors with small and big channel teams — including those with a single channel manager. Also, through the option of the Account Manager Service (optional service), the platform handles outreach execution so your team focuses on qualified conversations, not cold prospecting.
Is Elioplus only for cybersecurity vendors? No. The platform serves more than 150
categories in SaaS, Software, Cloud, IT security and Hardware industries. The cybersecurity
use case here reflects one vertical.
Is the database verified and up-to-date? Yes, every 3 months we check the validity of our database by using several tools that track broken links and emails that doesn’t exist anymore. We have more than 3,000 Vendors and more than 100,000 Channel partners that are looking for 2-3 different types of solutions to provide to their clients every year. Our database is WORLDWIDE which means that we can cover your needs in every geographic area that you want.
