By Vishal Pushpa

COMMENTARY: In large enterprises, technology decisions are deliberate, multi-layered, and governed by long-term planning. That inherent caution brings resilience and standardization, but it often comes at the expense of quick innovation. Meanwhile, in the channel, the pace is different. New technologies move quickly. Customer feedback arrives in days, not quarters. And success depends on execution, not just the strength or stability of the architecture.

After two decades in enterprise IT leadership roles, I now spend my days in this faster-moving environment as CIO of a global IT solutions and services distributor. The differences are cultural, structural, and fundamental. The channel doesn’t just sell solutions, it creates the conditions that make solutions usable, viable, and scalable for enterprises and SMBs alike.

When it works, distribution becomes an accelerating force – minimizing time-to-value without compromising security, compliance, or cost discipline.

The need is urgent, so why does enterprise IT move so slowly?

Enterprise platforms are built for reliability. In most cases, that reliability is non-negotiable. But the same foundations that make large organizations resilient also introduce drag.

The change coordination tax is real. Any adjustment to infrastructure, no matter how small, ripples through layers of stakeholders, change windows, and dependency maps. Deep integration across ERP, CRM, data platforms, and security architecture makes testing complex and time-consuming. Vendor onboarding alone can take months, as compliance, legal, and procurement teams work through due diligence. And over time, bespoke configurations build up. Small upgrades start to carry large risks.

That doesn’t mean enterprises lack ideas or intent. In fact, many are early to spot innovation, whether in AI, cloud, or data infrastructure. But translating that intent into adoption is a huge challenge. By the time a decision is made, the opportunity may have passed. Priorities have shifted. Or, worse still, a competitor has already moved in.

A new role for the channel

This is where high-performing distributors create real value. At their best, they validate, package, and deliver new technologies in a way that meets the actual needs of their partners and, in turn, their customers.

In areas like cybersecurity and AI, this role is becoming more visible. Vendors in these spaces move quickly, often with significant funding but limited internal capacity to build enterprise-grade go-to-market infrastructure. At the same time, buyers want confidence. The channel is uniquely positioned to connect those signals, make them consumable, and support adoption across a complex ecosystem.

What defines a high-performance distributor?

If speed is to become a repeatable capability, not a lucky exception, then distributors need systems designed for it. The ones that succeed tend to share a few consistent traits.

First, curation. Not every new tool is ready for scale. Distributors operating at pace are selective: they scan the market, assessing traction, roadmap maturity, investment strength and security posture, focusing only on technologies with a clear path to adoption.

Second, packaging. Raw technology doesn’t always travel well. Distributors that provide reference architectures, integration patterns, and practical deployment use cases, whether for AI-assisted knowledge search or proactive threat detection, help customers deliver ROI faster.

Third, de-risking. This means offering more than just commercial terms. Pre-negotiated security documentation, sandbox environments, and standardized proof-of-value frameworks all help customers evaluate new solutions confidently and help vendors scale credibly.

Fourth, commercial simplicity. Procurement bottlenecks put the brakes on innovation. Distributors who offer tiered pricing, marketplace-ready transactions, and straightforward enablement make it easier for customers to explore new technologies without months of red tape.

And finally, delivery. True success goes beyond the point of sale. High-performing distributors stay aligned with vendors and resellers to support implementation, provide technical resources, and ensure successful pilots transition to production environments.

What the channel sees that others don’t

One of the biggest changes I’ve experienced in moving from enterprise IT to the channel is proximity to change. At the distributor level, you see innovation earlier: across vendors, verticals, and geographies. You see patterns forming before they appear on enterprise roadmaps. You see where partners are struggling, where customers are doubling down, and where vendors are adjusting to gain traction.

That visibility matters. It allows distributors to make more informed decisions about how to support the entire ecosystem: what to bet on, how to guide implementations, and when to bring partners into the conversation.

This is also where data plays a crucial role. High-performing distributors don’t treat data as a profit opportunity – they treat it as a value-add. Insights from partner and customer activity are used to help vendors refine go-to-market strategies and to help resellers improve how they position and sell. When that data is paired with fast decision-making and trusted relationships, it accelerates every link in the chain.

Innovation moves faster when the channel is involved

Most enterprise IT teams have plenty of ideas. I’ve worked in that world, and I can tell you there’s no shortage of good thinking. But what they often lack is capacity: the time and space to test, validate, and adopt the right ideas.

That’s where great distributors come in. They shorten the gap between discovery and adoption, take friction out of procurement and implementation, and they give partners confidence that when a pilot works, it can scale.

It’s in this process that real innovation happens. It’s not a trend, or just a great idea. And it’s not about hoping something sticks. Your distributor should create the route that you and your customers can ascend, because we see the full landscape, know where the terrain is changing, and can adjust long before others recognize the need. If they’re not doing that, you should be asking them…why not?