Another important factor: data which has been traditionally difficult to obtain is now accessible to the vendor. The type of analytics run using these data will improve the organization's understanding of the channel, indicate which what "hot buttons" to push and how best to manage the relationship with the channel.

They say "necessity is the mother of invention," and I have seen far more innovative programs come out of the Asian region than anywhere else in the world. It's because we have fewer resources and thus we have to think smartly. Channel executives in this region have to continually ask the question "Can we afford NOT to innovate in our strategies?" Once they have the answer to that, the rest is easy.

Stephen Teh has worked for global distributors Ingram Micro, Alstom IT and local distributor Business Bits. He now works for global relationship and loyalty marketing agency ICLP Ltd based in Hong Kong. Contact him at stephen_teh@iclp.com.hk