Letting go to grow: Redefining leadership in the partner ecosystem
“Leadership isn’t about being in the room for every deal—it’s about enabling and empowering others to thrive when we’re not.”
In this latest Leaders at Equinix spotlight, we speak with Stefan Diedericks, Vice President, EMEA Partner Ecosystem. Stefan shares his perspective on how the roles of alliance and channel teams are evolving and why that evolution is critical to scaling partner-led growth.
Understanding the ecosystem: Alliance, partner and channel teams
At Equinix, we recognize that building a thriving partner ecosystem requires a diverse set of management functions, each with a unique focus and impact.
Alliance teams are the architects of strategic, long-term relationships with major cloud giants and technology leaders. Think hyperscalers, global systems integrators and software vendors. Their work centers on co-innovation, joint go-to-market strategies and executive alignment. Stefan states: “Alliance roles are about building the blueprint. They’re the ones shaping the future with our most strategic collaborators.”
Partner teams focus on enabling and nurturing a broad ecosystem of collaborators such as resellers, integrators and niche solution providers. Their role is to ensure partners are equipped with the tools, training and support they need to succeed. “Partner teams are the glue,” says Stefan. “They turn strategy into action by empowering others to deliver.”
Simultaneously, partner teams are the execution engines of the ecosystem. They drive indirect sales through resellers, distributors and managed service providers, ensuring that programs, incentives and enablement translate into measurable results. As Stefan emphasizes, “Channel teams are our force multipliers. They scale our reach and impact by enabling performance at the edge.”
Working together with Sales, these roles form one powerful, united team in front of our customers, enabling Equinix to deliver value through a robust and resilient partner ecosystem.
From control to orchestration
In today’s complex partner landscape, the place of alliance and channel teams continues to evolve. Success is no longer defined by proximity to every transaction. Instead, it’s about designing systems that empower others to lead. Stefan explains: “We’re not here to control—we’re here to orchestrate. We’re not here to chase every deal—we’re here to build frameworks that scale. We’re not here to grow through force—we grow by building confidence, capability and clarity across our partner ecosystem.”
Shifting the metrics of success
Stefan outlines several key shifts that partner leaders must embrace to stay ahead.
“To truly scale, the industry must embrace a mindset shift:
- From deal chasers to partner ecosystem architects
- From requiring personal presence to enabling performance at the edge
- From measuring bookings to measuring partner impact
From simply doing more to empowering others to do more
In short, we must let go to grow. That’s how we unlock scalable, repeatable growth.”
Be at the center of digital transformation
Whether it’s enabling AI workloads in our high-performance data centers or building frameworks that empower our partners, we’re committed to creating impact at scale. “It’s not about being indispensable; it’s about making others capable,” Stefan notes. “When we let go, we create space for others to lead. And that’s when real growth happens.”
At Equinix, we’re proud to be at the center of this transformation, enabling scalable, repeatable, partner-led growth that powers the digital world. If you’re passionate about building ecosystems, empowering others and driving meaningful impact at scale, Equinix is hiring. Join a global channel sales team that’s shaping the future of digital infrastructure, where you can lead, grow and truly stand at the forefront of everything.
- channel sales
- leadership
- sales