Typical share by stage
Based on commonly-cited industry surveys (2112 Group annual Channel Chief survey, Canalys State of the Channel reports, Forrester partner-program research) and disclosed public-company figures, healthy partner-sourced new ARR share looks roughly like:
- Pre-revenue to $5M ARR: 0-10% (program may not exist yet)
- $5M to $20M ARR: 5-15% if a referral motion is active
- $20M to $50M ARR: 10-25% with referral plus exploratory reseller
- $50M to $200M ARR: 20-40% with full multi-motion program
- $200M+ ARR with mature program: 30-60%, sometimes higher in vertically-specialized markets
The ranges are wide because outcomes vary materially with motion choice, geographic strategy, and program maturity. Vertical SaaS programs often run higher than the bands above; horizontal SaaS often runs lower.
Sourced versus influenced
Two attribution flavors produce very different numbers:
- Partner-sourced: the partner generated the lead; the deal would not have existed without them. This is the conservative measurement.
- Partner-influenced: the partner touched the deal at any point in the cycle (referred a contact, joined a call, helped technically). This is typically 2-3x larger than sourced.
Boards should be shown both, but tier and program decisions should be based on sourced. Influence numbers double-count and reward partners who attach to deals they did not generate.
Public-company examples
HubSpot has historically referenced approximately 40% of revenue being influenced by Solutions Partners. Snowflake has cited partner-attributed revenue as a substantial and growing percentage of new ARR. Workday and ServiceNow both reference SI partners as critical to their enterprise motion without disclosing a precise percentage. Atlassian's marketplace is itself the primary distribution channel for many of its app categories.
How quickly partner share grows
Programs typically see partner-sourced share grow approximately 5-10 percentage points per year for the first 3-5 years, then plateau. Programs that grow faster than this are either backed by very deliberate channel-first strategy (uncommon) or counting influence as sourcing (common).
Common pitfalls in measurement
- Inflating with re-sale of existing customers. Partner sells your product to an existing direct customer; the revenue is not new ARR.
- Counting late-attached partners as sources. Partner joins a deal in the proposal stage and gets sourced credit; direct sales originated it.
- Reporting bookings instead of recognized revenue. Bookings inflate the number; the partner may not actually retain the customer.
Document your attribution rules and apply them consistently.