Alan Butler - Building Channel Buy-In from the Inside Out

In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with one of the channel’s most seasoned transformation leaders Alan Butler, VP Global Channels & Alliances at OpenText, to explore what “good” really looks like in channel strategy. With a career that’s spanned Sun Microsystems, Dell, Adobe, and now OpenText, our guest shares a rare perspective on what it takes to build, scale, and integrate partner ecosystems that last.

We dive into the foundational elements of partner success - from startup grit to enterprise orchestration, including:

- How Dell flipped its revenue model from direct to 50% indirect in just five years
- Why internal alignment and executive education are non-negotiables in channel growth
- How to handle M&A without losing the DNA of the acquired partner ecosystem
- The make-or-break role of finance in proving partner value from day one
- Why most partner advisory councils fail and how to build one that truly drives change
- How to balance short-term targets with long-term investment in emerging partners

Whether you're building a channel from scratch or trying to realign a legacy motion, this episode delivers field-tested insights from someone who's been at the helm through it all.

Connect with Alan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ab530/

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