One assumption built into most of the commentary about the tech supply chain, including our own earlier materials, is that all providers sell through the channel. That is not quite right, and the distinction matters for what options you actually have.
Providers fall into three broad categories based on how they go to market.
Direct-only providers sell their technology exclusively through their own sales force. There is no reseller involved. You contract with the provider, you pay the provider, and you deal with the provider’s direct salespeople. Some major SaaS companies operate this way for large customers, as do several specialized infrastructure vendors. In a direct-only model, there is no channel for TechTrust or anyone else to operate in. The entire conversation about reseller margins and deal registration is moot.
Channel-only providers sell exclusively through the channel. They do not have a direct sales force for most customers, and even when they do, the direct reps are incentivized to hand deals off to a reseller. These providers are where the full supply chain apparatus (tier programs, deal registration, MDF, rebates) applies most cleanly. If you want their product, you buy through a partner. There is no alternative path.
Hybrid providers do both. They have a direct sales motion for enterprise accounts and a channel motion for everyone else. Where the line is drawn varies by provider, by product line, and sometimes by region. The same provider might insist on a direct purchase above a certain contract size and require a channel purchase below it, or vice versa. Hybrid providers are the most common and the most confusing. They are also where the mid-market penalty is most visible, because you are often large enough to want direct pricing and too small to qualify for it.
Why does this matter? Because your remedies depend on which category your provider is in. Direct-only means you have no channel layer to optimize and the conversation is about negotiating with the provider’s own team. Channel-only means every dollar flows through a reseller, and the question is which reseller, on what terms. Hybrid means there may be a direct path available if you qualify, and the question is whether the channel path is costing you more than the direct path would.
Before any decision about how you buy a specific technology, the first question is: what category is this provider in? The answer shapes everything that comes after.
PART 2
The Conflicts of Interest
TechTrust has spent years inside the tech supply chain cataloging what we find. These are not isolated frustrations. They are structural Conflicts of Interest, built into how the system operates, and they repeat across providers. Each article in this section covers one COI. Read them in order if you want the full picture, or jump to the one that matches what you are experiencing right now.