The Channel Buzz

Everyone wants partners who can generate revenue.

But what if the real key to successful partnerships is slowing down first?

In this episode of The Channel Buzz, Amiee Keenan sits down with Ronnie Kher, a partnership leader whose experience spans blockchain, AI, fintech, and insurance, to explore what it really takes to build partnerships in emerging technology markets.

Rather than rushing to recruit partners and expecting immediate results, Ronnie shares why successful ecosystems are built through education, enablement, and alignment.

Together they discuss:

• Why partnership strategy should follow your sales strategy—not the other way around

• The biggest mistake emerging technology companies make when onboarding partners

• How education builds confidence, trust, and long-term success

• Why proving success with a few strategic partners is more effective than recruiting dozens

• How industry expertise and strong alliances accelerate adoption

Whether you're leading partnerships, building an ecosystem, or launching new technology, this conversation offers practical lessons that apply far beyond AI and blockchain.

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠

Download The CVCC Checklist.

Most software companies don't have a product problem.

They have a visibility problem.

In this solo episode, Amiee Keenan shares a realization that has been shaping the future of The ISV Society and changing the way she thinks about growth in the technology ecosystem.

After years of conversations with ISVs, ERP partners, SaaS leaders, and ecosystem builders, one theme kept showing up:

"We're great at what we do. We just wish more people knew about it."

Amiee explores why visibility has become one of the most important growth drivers for modern software companies and introduces The CVCC Framework—Clarity, Visibility, Community, and Collaboration.

She also shares the thinking behind a new participation-focused vision for The ISV Society, why every conversation opens a new door, and how companies can create more opportunities simply by showing up consistently.

If you're looking to build awareness, strengthen partnerships, and create momentum in the ecosystem, this episode is for you.

🚪 Open More Doors with the CVCC Growth Checklist

Every conversation, event, introduction, and collaboration has the potential to open a new door.

The CVCC Growth Checklist is designed to help you identify where your company is creating visibility, building relationships, and generating momentum across the ecosystem. Whether you're focused on awareness, partnerships, or growth, this practical guide will help you determine what's working—and where new opportunities may be waiting.

Get the checklist.

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠

Many companies invest heavily in partner programs only to find themselves asking the same question months later: Why isn't this working?

In this episode of The Channel Buzz Podcast, Amiee Keenan sits down with Bart Dirksen, Director of Strategic Solution Partners and founder of Partner Impact, to unpack what separates successful partner programs from those that struggle to gain traction.

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience across sales, consulting, leadership, and partner management, Bart explains why partnerships often fail when they're treated as an add-on rather than a core business strategy. He shares the seven-layer framework behind high-performing partner ecosystems, the importance of executive ownership, why data matters more than most companies realize, and the common mistakes organizations make when trying to "fix" underperforming programs.

The conversation also explores key concepts from Bart's newly released book, The Partnership Operating System, which provides a practical framework for building partnership programs that align strategy, operations, leadership, and growth.

If you're building a partner ecosystem, scaling a channel strategy, or trying to get more value from your existing partner investments, this episode offers practical lessons and a fresh perspective on what actually drives long-term partner success.

Buy the book

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠

“Just checking in…”

We’ve all sent the email.
But according to Kelly Gindlesperger from Triumph, that’s not what builds real partnerships.

In this episode of The Channel Buzz Podcast, Kelly joins Amiee Keenan for an honest conversation about why strong partner relationships are built through trust, consistency, and genuine human connection — not transactional follow-ups.

Kelly shares why the best partner managers remember birthdays, kids’ names, vacations, and even dogs recovering from surgery. Because in ecosystems, people don’t remember every meeting… they remember how you made them feel.

This episode covers:

• Why most partnership outreach feels forgettable
• The difference between follow-up and relationship-building
• How trust develops over time
• Why vendors lose momentum after conferences
• The small gestures that create long-term loyalty
• Why “doing what you say you’re going to do” matters more than ever

Chapters:

00:00 – Welcome & Meet Kelly

01:08 – Why Partnerships Beat Sales

02:00 – What Partners Really Value

05:10 – How Vendors Actually Stand Out

07:45 – “Do What You Say You’ll Do”

10:35 – Why Trust Takes Time

15:35 – Handwritten Notes Still Matter

19:35 – What Causes Partnerships to Fade

If you work in partnerships, alliances, ecosystems, channel sales, or ISV growth — this conversation is a reminder that relationships still matter more than automation.

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠

📩 Get the ISV Guide to Grow Your Audience: https://go.theisvsociety.com/theisvguide

AI is everywhere right now — but what does it actually look like inside real partnership teams?

In this episode of The Channel Buzz, Amiee Keenan sits down with Justin Baryza, Director of Channel Partners at PointFive, to talk about the practical ways AI is transforming partnerships, co-sell motions, sales alignment, and partner operations across the ERP and ISV ecosystem.

Justin shares the real workflows he uses every day to eliminate manual reporting, improve partner collaboration, automate follow-ups, and create highly personalized account outreach at scale. The conversation also explores why smaller ISVs may actually have an advantage in the AI race — despite larger vendors investing heavily in AI initiatives.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the episode and guest Justin Baryza

01:45 Justin's background and experience with AI in partnerships

02:26 AI's impact on daily operational tasks in partnership roles

03:36 Top AI workflows for partnership teams: pipeline analysis, email follow-ups, co-sell account mapping

07:24 How AI improves alignment between sales, marketing, and partnerships

08:48 Building AI-powered workflows for tailored account outreach

10:42 Strategies for smaller ISVs to compete with larger vendors in AI adoption

If you’re a partnership leader, channel marketer, ERP vendor, SaaS company, or ISV trying to understand how AI can improve efficiency without replacing human relationships, this episode is packed with actionable ideas you can start using immediately.

🔗 Connect with Justin on LinkedIn

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠

📩 ⁠Get⁠ the ISV Guide to Grow Your Audience: https://go.theisvsociety.com/theisvguide

What if the reason your partner program isn’t working… is because it never had a chance to?

In this episode of The Channel Buzz, Amiee Keenan sits down with Daniel Eliasi from Gong to break down the hard truths behind building successful ecosystems.

One of the biggest takeaways: Most partner marketing isn’t driving ecosystems—it’s creating the illusion of progress.

Webinars, campaigns, events, and co-marketing efforts may look like momentum…
But they’re often just activity—not impact.

Because real ecosystems aren’t measured by how much you do with partners.

They’re measured by:

• Partner-generated revenue
• Partner growth
• And whether partners are actually winning

Chapters:

0:00 – Why Partner Programs Fail Early3:30 – What Great Ecosystems Have in Common7:00 – Trust Is the Real Infrastructure11:30 – The 3 Stages of Partner Growth13:00 – Starting at Negative One17:30 – The PMF Problem20:00 – Co-Marketing vs Real Impact21:30 – Metrics That Actually Matter25:30 – AI and Partner Enablement26:15 – Lessons from Hyperscalers

This episode is a must-listen for ISVs, SaaS leaders, and ecosystem builders who want to move beyond vanity metrics and build partnerships that actually scale.

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠

📩 ⁠Get⁠ the ISV Guide to Grow Your Audience: https://go.theisvsociety.com/theisvguide

In this final episode from Directions NA, Amiee Keenan sits down with David Laster of GraVoc to unpack what’s actually changing inside the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem.

With 27 years of experience spanning Great Plains to Business Central, David brings a grounded, practitioner perspective on how ERP partners are evolving and where ISVs fit into that equation.

The conversation explores:

• Why ISVs are essential for filling industry-specific gaps
• How AI is shifting from hype to practical application
• What’s changing in reporting, analytics, and day-to-day workflows
• Why community and openness remain the foundation of the ecosystem

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome + David’s Background

01:10 – The Role of ISVs in ERP

02:30 – The Shift to AI-First Thinking

04:00 – Reporting Improvements & Small Wins

06:10 – Community, Openness & Final Takeaways

As the final episode in the Directions NA series, this conversation brings both reflection and forward-looking insight into what partners should focus on next.

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠

📩 ⁠Get⁠ the ISV Guide to Grow Your Audience: https://go.theisvsociety.com/theisvguide

In this final episode from Directions NA, Amiee Keenan sits down with David Laster of GraVoc to unpack what’s actually changing inside the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem.

With 27 years of experience spanning Great Plains to Business Central, David brings a grounded, practitioner perspective on how ERP partners are evolving and where ISVs fit into that equation.

The conversation explores:

• Why ISVs are essential for filling industry-specific gaps
• How AI is shifting from hype to practical application
• What’s changing in reporting, analytics, and day-to-day workflows
• Why community and openness remain the foundation of the ecosystem

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome + David’s Background

01:10 – The Role of ISVs in ERP

02:30 – The Shift to AI-First Thinking

04:00 – Reporting Improvements & Small Wins

06:10 – Community, Openness & Final Takeaways

As the final episode in the Directions NA series, this conversation brings both reflection and forward-looking insight into what partners should focus on next.

Live from Directions North America in Orlando, Amiee Keenan sits down with Craig from Business Central Insights to unpack a major shift happening across the ecosystem: the move toward faster, more accessible data insights.

Craig shares how partners and customers are increasingly turning to Power BI to gain deeper visibility into their operations—without the long development cycles traditionally required. With prebuilt, plug-and-play reports that connect in minutes, the conversation highlights how speed, usability, and decision-making are becoming non-negotiable.

They also explore a growing opportunity in warehouse management reporting, a gap many partners are actively looking to fill, and why momentum—not just innovation—is shaping success in today’s partner ecosystem.

If you're building, selling, or supporting Business Central solutions, this episode offers a clear look at where reporting—and partner value—is headed next.

Chapters:

00:00 – Live from Directions NA + Guest Intro
00:45 – The Shift Toward Power BI & Faster Insights
01:45 – Why Speed to Value Is Driving Adoption
02:40 – Warehouse Reporting Gap & New Opportunities
03:30 – Momentum at Directions & Closing Thoughts

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠

Recorded live at Directions North America, this episode of The Channel Buzz features Chris de Visser, CEO of commerecebuild, sharing insights from 15 years in the ecosystem and what’s changing fast.

From the surge of AI conversations to the evolving role of commerce platforms like Shopify and Business Central, Chris breaks down what partners are really asking, where opportunities are emerging, and how to guide customers toward the right solutions.

But beyond the tech, this episode highlights something just as important: the power of relationships. Directions isn’t just an event—it’s a community that continues to drive collaboration long after the conference ends.

And that’s exactly what The Channel Buzz is doing—keeping the momentum going by bringing these conversations directly to you.

Chapters

00:00 – Live from Directions NA & Meet Chris

01:30 – 15 Years in the Directions Community

03:30 – AI: What Partners Are Really Asking

06:00 – Shopify vs. B2B Commerce Platforms

08:30 – Community, Relationships & What Comes Next

🔗 Connect with Amiee on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ 

🎧 Listen & follow to get future episodes on marketing, partnerships, and channel growth.

Learn more about ⁠The ISV Society⁠