James Massa speaks with Harald Horgen, longtime channel strategist and CEO of The York Group, with more than 30 years of experience helping technology companies build and improve partner programs across global markets.  At the center of the discussion is a practical executive question: How do you turn an existing channel ecosystem into a more effective engine for growth?  Harald explains how the shift from perpetual software licenses to subscription and SaaS models has changed partner behavior. In the past, channel organizations had to continually hunt for new business. Today, recurring revenue can reduce the incentive to pursue new customer logos, creating a serious growth challenge for software vendors.  The conversation explores: * Why direct sales organizations are facing rising customer-acquisition costs * How SaaS and recurring-revenue models have changed partner incentives * Why many software companies are struggling to generate net-new growth * The role of Independent Software Vendors, or ISVs * How distributors, licensing organizations, value-added resellers, and systems integrators differ * Why the distinction between a VAR and a systems integrator matters * How customers should think about selecting the right partner based on the complexity of the solution and implementation * Why large enterprise deployments often require significant integration, customization, training, and services * How Channel Pros is helping software companies get more growth from the partner relationships they already have  Harald also breaks down some of the terminology that often makes the technology channel difficult to understand and explains how different partner models create value in different ways.