M&A activity remains a key theme throughout the channel. AchieveUnite has acquired California-based Rohner & Associates, LLC (R&A). Theresa Caragol, the CEO of AchieveUnite and longtime thought leader on channel partner strategy, spoke with Channel Insider to share how the acquisition addresses market needs and reflects the changing channel landscape.
AI-driven insights paired with decades of experience: the future of advising
AchieveUnite provides advising services and solutions to clients looking to build and enhance channel partner programs worldwide. R&A describes itself as Silicon Valley’s premier channel consulting firm. It provides various consulting services to improve channel partner profitability, extend channel ecosystems, and create channel-focused revenue opportunities. The R&A team counts Apple, VMware, and Cisco among its long list of former clients.
The terms of the deal outline that AchieveUnite Inc. will acquire R&A’s assets, including proprietary logic frameworks, analytical models, and tools that provide insights by identifying gaps in coverage execution, predicting effects, productivity costs, and program efficacy by isolating causes, and forecasting change impacts with model simulations.
Additionally, R&A Founder and CEO Ron Rohner and key R&A analysts will join AchieveUnite’s team of experts. Rohner brings over 50 years of experience in the channel to the team.
“The way companies build and manage partnerships is evolving—driven by new technologies, shifting business models, and the increasing need for structured, strategic collaboration,” said Caragol. “This acquisition allows us to strengthen our capabilities so that we can better equip our clients and their teams to navigate this transformation with confidence.”
By integrating R&A’s channel intelligence and tools with its own knowledge base and AI-driven advisory platform, Ignite AI, AchieveUnite says it empowers clients to:
- Reduce Partner Onboarding Time: Streamline the onboarding process with precise, data-driven insights that accelerate partner readiness and engagement.
- Boost Partner Recruitment Success Rates: Refine recruitment strategies using predictive modeling to identify and attract high-potential partners.
- Shorten Sales Cycles: Optimize sales processes with actionable analytics that improve efficiency and alignment with revenue goals.
- Compress Adoption Cycles: Make informed decisions that enhance efficiency and effectiveness at every stage of the product adoption cycle, leading to faster and more successful launches.
- Improve Partner Satisfaction Scores: Foster stronger relationships with insights designed to address partner needs and elevate their experience in the ecosystem.
- Increase ROI on Channel Investments: Leverage sophisticated data to allocate resources more effectively and achieve greater returns on channel strategies.
“AchieveUnite and Rohner & Associates are a combined powerhouse. I’ve leaned on them and learned a lot to evolve my partnership strategy,” said Ko Mistry, the channel chief at Grammarly. “This acquisition brings together two trusted, experienced partners, enhancing AchieveUnite’s ability to provide innovative, market-leading insights and strategies. Their combined knowledge, IP, and AI-powered data analytics will drive faster go-to-market solutions and increase confidence and conviction for AchieveUnite clients.”
Partner program advising one piece of the large channel puzzle
Many, if not all, MSPs and other channel partners are familiar with the concept of a partner program. They are ubiquitous in the market today as vendors establish ways of working in the space and enable partner success. Behind the scenes, organizations like AchieveUnite work closely with those organizations to deliver the value they promise to the channel.
“We don’t just react to change—we shape it. That’s how we’ve remained trusted advisors in the partner ecosystem,” Caragol said of her company’s approach to this work.
Like many other aspects of tech, Caragol says she has seen the way channel partnerships operate change over the last several years. In particular, she highlights three shifts in the broader channel ecosystem:
- “Partnerships have become more dynamic and interconnected:” Caragol says companies are increasingly working with multiple types of partners, including MSPs, resellers, ISVs, and others. This is expanding the network of partnerships to drive value to customers in new ways.
- “Smarter decision-making is shaping partner programs:” Predictive insights and structured data models are helping businesses recruit the right partners, align strategies, and measure success. Intuition and experience alone are not enough anymore.
- “Trust and alignment have become the foundation of success:” Partnerships today are built on shared goals, deeper collaboration, and long-term investment. Caragol says she sees companies focusing more on enablement, education, and value creation, ensuring that both internal teams and external partners have the skills and structure needed to succeed together.
These shifts directly impact how businesses approach their partner programs, according to Caragol.
“The businesses that recognize these shifts—who embrace flexibility, use data effectively and invest in trust-driven collaboration—are the ones that are thriving in this new era of partnerships,” Caragol said.
Partner programs are changing, and new vendors are seeing the value in working within the channel. Catch up on our recent recap of partner program news and how those programs are changing with the channel.