For the 41st year, solution providers scored vendors across 23 technology categories based on their performance in product innovation, support, partnership, and managed and cloud services. Here’s a roundup of the companies with the highest overall scores.
The CRN ARC provides a look at which IT vendors are doing the best jobs—and which ones have some work to do—in meeting their partners’ needs in product innovation, support, partner program resources, and managed and cloud services, all critical elements of a successful vendor-solution provider relationship.
The winners of this year’s ARC are being announced in conjunction with the XChange August 2026 conference being held this week in National Harbor, Md., hosted by The Channel Company, CRN’s parent company.
Solution providers scored vendors across 23 categories. These include longtime channel technology mainstays such as notebooks and mobile computers, network infrastructure and connectivity, data storage, and data recovery and resiliency. It also includes newer technology areas such as hybrid cloud infrastructure and consumption-based on-premises cloud services. In addition, it includes nine categories of security technology including data security, managed detection and response, and security operations platforms.
Partners graded IT vendors on a total of 21 criteria spanning four subcategories: product innovation, support, partnership, and managed and cloud services. Companies received average scores for each criteria category and an overall score for the technology category. Details on the survey and methodology can be found on the following slide.
Which IT companies are at the top of their game in the eyes of their channel partners? Read on to find out which vendors earned the highest marks this year.
Annual Report Card Criteria And Scoring
Solution providers graded IT vendors according to 21 criteria broken out across four subcategories:
Product innovation criteria: Includes product quality and reliability, richness of product features and functionality, technical innovation, product compatibility and ease of integration, product marketability, and services opportunity.
Support criteria: Includes presales support, post-sales support, training, quality of field management, and marketing support.
Partnership criteria: Includes solution provider programs, communication, managing channel conflict, revenue and profit potential, and ease of doing business.
Managed and cloud services criteria: Includes consumption-based and subscription pricing, integration with services management tools, cloud-readiness of channel program, field teaming and channel compensation alignment, and profit margins/profit potential.
In some technology categories a single vendor dominated the scoring, winning not just the top overall score, but also the average grades across all four subcategories and, in some cases, even sweeping all 21 criteria. The Security—Managed Detection and Response category is one example this year.
In most technology categories, however, two or more vendors split the results with different vendors earning the highest average scores for different subcategories—and in some cases even splitting the highest scores for specific criterion.
In the highly competitive Security—Endpoint Protection/Extended Detection and Response technology category, for example, one vendor had the highest average scores for the product innovation and support subcategories, while another company garnered the highest average score for partnership and a third company had the highest average score for managed and cloud services.
Even within each of those subcategories in the above example, vendors that did not have the highest average did win one or more highest scores in specific criterion. While one company had the highest average score for partnership, for example, another company had the highest criteria scores for communication and managing channel conflict within that subcategory.
The following slides provide a summary of this year’s ARC results. The complete scores will be published on CRN.com on Oct. 5.
Cloud Computing—Consumption-Based On-Premises Cloud Services
HPE
Channel Executive: Simon Ewington, SVP, Worldwide Channel, Partner Ecosystem
HPE won this important technology category with an overall score of 85.5.
HPE had the highest average scores in all four subcategories, earning grades of 88.8 for product innovation, 84.8 for support, 84.8 for partnership, and 83.0 for managed and cloud services. The company also swept all 21 criteria against the competition.
The company’s criteria scores were especially strong in the product innovation category where HPE scored an impressive 94.4 for product quality and reliability, 90.8 for richness of product features and functionality, 90.8 for technical innovation, and 88.5 for compatibility and ease of integration.
Cloud Computing—Public Cloud
Amazon Web Services
Channel Executive: Ruba Borno, VP, Global Specialists, Partners
In a battle among the cloud platform giants, Amazon Web Services came out on top in this technology category this year with an overall score of 82.5.
AWS had the highest average scores in product innovation (101.4) and managed and cloud services (75.0).
The company’s scores in product innovation criteria were especially impressive, including 112.0 for quality and reliability—the highest single criterion score on the 2026 Annual Report Card. Other criteria scores included 106.9 for compatibility and ease of integration, 101.6 for richness of product features and functionality, and 99.1 for technical innovation.
Computing—CPUs
Intel
Channel Executive: David Guzzi, Global Channel Chief
With an overall average score of 88.2, Intel came out on top in this critical technology category in a close battle among the leading microprocessor companies.
Intel had the highest average score (92.5) for the partnership subcategory, including the highest criteria scores for ease of doing business (96.9), solution provider program (93.4) and communication (88.8).
And in the product innovation subcategory Intel had the highest criteria scores for quality and reliability (104.1) and compatibility and ease of integration (99.3).
Computing—GPUs
Nvidia
Channel Executive: Craig Weinstein, VP, America’s Partner Organization
In another closely fought battle between processor companies, Nvidia came out on top in the GPU product technology category with an overall score of 87.0.
Nvidia swept the product innovation subcategory with an average score of 95.3. That included criteria scores of 101.2 for technical innovation, 97.6 for quality and reliability, and 96.5 for richness of product features and functionality.
Nvidia also had the highest average score for partnership (87.9)—including an impressive 91.8 for the revenue and profit potential criterion—and tied for highest score in the support subcategory (84.2).
Computing—Notebooks/Mobile Computers
Acer
Channel Executive: Jennifer Wadland, VP, U.S. Commercial Sales
Acer turned in a very impressive performance in this year’s Annual Report Card in this channel mainstay technology category.
Acer garnered the highest average scores across all four subcategories including 96.8 for product innovation, 84.6 for support, 94.2 for partnership, and 77.4 for managed and cloud services.
Acer came close to sweeping all criteria in this category. Individual criterion scores included 110.5 for quality and reliability—the second highest criterion score on this year’s Annual Report Card. Other top criteria scores included 101.7 in compatibility and ease of integration, and 98.0 in richness of product features and functionality—all within the product innovation subcategory.
Other high criteria grades included 94.5 for post-sales support and 98.0 for revenue and profit potential.
Computing—Power Protection
Eaton
Channel Executive: Steve Loeb, VP, Marketing, Global Distributed IT; Global Data Center Segment
Eaton made a strong showing in this competitive product technology category, recording an overall score of 89.0.
That included the highest average scores for three subcategories: 93.4 for product innovation, 88.1 for support, and 96.1 for partnership.
Eaton racked up some impressive scores in individual criterion within the product innovation subcategory including 104.1 for product quality and reliability, 98.2 for compatibility and ease of integration, and 97.1 for richness of product features and functionality.
Other high criteria scores included 98.2 for presales support, 98.2 for ease of doing business, and 97.0 for communication.
Computing—Servers
HPE
Channel Executive: Simon Ewington, SVP, Worldwide Channel, Partner Ecosystem
HPE scored its second victory in this year’s ARC with its win in this critical technology segment with an overall score of 88.8.
The company’s strong showing included the top average scores for product innovation (91.9), support (86.0), and managed and cloud services (85.9).
Prominent scores for specific criterion included an impressive 100.9 for product quality and reliability, and 92.8 for both technical innovation and for richness of product features and functionality.
HPE also received the highest criteria scores for pre- and post-sales support (91.7 and 90.5, respectively), revenue and profit potential (95.0), and solution provider program (90.6).
Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure
Scale Computing
Channel Executive: Kyle Fenske, Global Channel Chief
Scale Computing made a very strong showing in this increasingly important technology category with an overall score of 91.4.
The company swept all criteria in the support subcategory with an average score of 90.6, including criteria scores such as 98.3 for presales support and an amazing 103.2 for post-sales support.
It likewise swept the partnership subcategory with an average score of 97.9, including 98.4 for solution provider program, 100.8 for communication, and 99.6 for ease of doing business.
Scale Computing also had the highest average scores for product innovation (93.9) and managed and cloud services (82.5).
Managed Services—MSP RMM Platforms
N-able
Channel Executive: David Weeks, VP, Enterprise
N-able came out on top in a hard-fought battle in this critical technology category with an overall score of 81.2.
N-able can thank its top scores in the support (average score of 76.2) and partnership (average score of 84.3) subcategories for the win.
N-able’s top criteria scores included 91.1 for communication, 87.7 for post-sales support, and 87.6 for ease of doing business.
Network Connectivity
Spectrum Partner Program
Channel Executive: Michelle Kadlacek, VP, Partner Channel Program
Spectrum Partner Program came out on top in this product technology category with an overall score of 82.5.
This was a clean sweep for Spectrum as the company garnered the highest average scores for all four subcategories and for all 21 criteria. The company’s average scores included 84.8 for product innovation, 77.4 for support, 89.7 for partnership, and 77.7 for managed and cloud services.
Some of Spectrum’s highest criteria scores included 96.1 for quality and reliability, 92.7 for revenue and profit potential, 92.7 for ease of doing business, and 91.6 for solution provider program.
Network Infrastructure—Enterprise
HPE
Channel Executive: Simon Ewington, SVP, Worldwide Channel, Partner Ecosystem
Marking the company’s third win in the 2026 Annual Report Card, HPE came out on top in this key technology category with an overall score of 81.7.
HPE had the highest average scores for all four subcategories including 89.6 for product innovation, 81.2 for support, 84.7 for partnership, and 69.6 for managed and cloud services.
Some of HPE’s top criteria scores included 96.5 for quality and reliability, 91.9 for technical innovation, and 88.5 for solution provider program.
Networking—SMB Networking
Fortinet
Channel Executive: Landon Scott, VP, U.S. Channel Sales
Fortinet was the runaway winner in this important technology category with an overall score of 85.4. This was a clean sweep for Fortinet across all subcategories and all 21 criteria against some industry heavy hitters.
Fortinet had the highest average scores in all four subcategories: 88.9 for product innovation, 82.8 for support, 86.9 for partnership, and 82.1 for managed and cloud services.
Some of Fortinet’s highest criteria scores included 96.7 for product quality and reliability, 93.3 for compatibility and ease of integration, 89.8 for post-sales support, and 89.8 for ease of doing business.
Security—AI Security
Exabeam
Channel Executive: Craig Patterson, Global Channel Chief
AI security is rapidly becoming a critical technology for the IT industry, and Exabeam was the runaway winner in this technology category in this year’s Annual Report Card with an overall score of 90.6.
Exabeam had the highest average scores across all four subcategories including 89.8 for product innovation, 87.8 for support, 93.9 for partnership, and 90.8 for managed and cloud services.
This was a clean sweep for Exabeam across all 21 criteria, including garnering especially high grades for its work with partners. Some of the company’s top scores included 98.3 for ease of doing business, 95.7 for revenue and profit potential, 93.4 for communication, and 93.3 for pre-sales support. The company also scored 96.9 for profit margins/profit potential for managed and cloud services, and 94.4 for technical innovation.
Security—Cloud And Application
Sophos
Channel Executive: Chris Bell, SVP, Global Channel Sales, Alliances, Corporate Development
Sophos was the big winner in this all-important technology category with an overall score of 89.5.
Sophos won the highest average scores in all four subcategories: 90.1 for product innovation, 85.4 for support, 92.7 for partnership, and 89.9 for managed and cloud services.
Sophos also garnered the highest grades across most criteria including 94.3 for richness of product features and functionality, 94.3 for solution provider program, 94.3 for ease of doing business, and 93.2 for post-sales support.
Security—Data Security
Trellix
Channel Executive: Kurt Mills, SVP, Global Channel
With an overall score of 88.5, Trellix squeezed out a close victory in this technology category that has taken on added importance in the AI age.
Trellix had the highest average scores in the support (88.5) and partnership (91.4) subcategories and tied in managed and cloud services with an 85.0 average score.
Some of Trellix’s highest criteria grades included 99.0 for product quality and reliability, 96.7 for richness of product features and functionality, 92.1 for presales support, and 94.3 for solution provider program.
Security—Email And Web
Proofpoint
Channel Executive: Stan de Boisset, SVP, Global Channels
Proofpoint emerged the winner of this technology category with an overall score of 85.2.
Proofpoint recorded ties for the highest average score in the partnership (88.7) and managed and cloud services (84.3) subcategories.
There were a significant number of criteria score ties between Proofpoint and competing companies in this technology category.
Proofpoint did have the highest scores for some criteria including 90.1 for post-sales support and 84.5 for integration with services management tools.
Security—Endpoint Protection
Huntress
Channel Executive: Tracie Orisko, Global VP, Sales Development, Community
This was another crowded, highly competitive technology category with Huntress coming out on top with an overall score of 91.1.
Huntress really shined in the product innovation subcategory with an average score of 95.6, thanks to several impressive criteria scores including 104.0 for product quality and reliability, 99.3 for compatibility and ease of integration, 95.8 for richness of product features and functionality, and 95.8 for technical innovation.
In the support subcategory, where Huntress had the highest average score (87.8), the company received top grades for post-sales support (95.8) and training (90.1).
Security—Managed Detection And Response
Arctic Wolf
Channel Executive: Will Briggs, SVP, Channel Sales
Arctic Wolf dominated this technology category, compiling an impressive 93.8 overall score and sweeping each subcategory and all criteria.
For the subcategories Arctic Wolf had some of the highest average scores in this year’s Annual Report Card, including 96.4 for product innovation, 90.1 for support, 95.7 for partnership, and 92.5 for managed and cloud services.
And those high subcategory averages are due to some very high criteria scores including 103.7 for product quality and reliability, 98.9 for richness of product features and functionality, 98.9 for compatibility and ease of integration, 97.7 for technical innovation, 97.8 for post-sales support, 97.8 for ease of doing business, 96.6 for revenue and profit potential, and 96.6 for communication.
Security: Network Security—Enterprise
SonicWall
Channel Executive: Jason Carter, SVP, Strategy, Transformation
SonicWall won this crowded technology category with an overall score of 88.7 and came very close to sweeping it.
SonicWall had the highest average scores in all four subcategories including 91.9 for product innovation, 86.2 for support, 92.1 for partnership, and 84.2 for managed and cloud services.
The company also garnered top grades across most criteria including 96.0 for product compatibility and ease of integration, 96.0 for ease of doing business, 92.6 for post-sales support, 92.6 for communication, and 91.5 for solution provider program.
Security: Network Security—SMB
WatchGuard
Channel Executive: Michelle Welch, CMO, SVP, Business Strategy
WatchGuard dominated this technology category with an overall score of 92.8 and the company nearly swept all criteria.
The company had the highest average scores for all four subcategories: 95.4 for product innovation, 89.3 for support, 95.8 for partnership, and 89.9 for managed and cloud services.
WatchGuard had the highest scores for all but one criterion (a tie in marketing support), including 102.7 for product quality and reliability, 97.9 for compatibility and ease of integration, 97.9 for communication, 97.9 for ease of doing business, 96.8 for post-sales support, 95.6 for solution provider program, and 95.6 for revenue and profit potential.
Security: Security Operations Platforms
Arctic Wolf
Channel Executive: Will Briggs, SVP, Channel Sales
Arctic Wolf notched its second win in this year’s Annual Report Card with a strong 96.2 overall score in this increasingly important technology category.
The company had the highest average scores for all four subcategories including 97.3 for product innovation, 93.9 for support, a very impressive 100.2 for partnership, and 93.1 for managed and cloud services.
Arctic Wolf had the highest scores for all but two criteria. The company really stood out in the product innovation and partnership subcategories: In the former, Arctic Wolf had criteria scores such as 102.6 for product quality and reliability, 100.3 for richness of product features and functionality, and 100.2 for compatibility and ease of integration. And in the latter, the company had top scores of 102.6 for ease of doing business, 101.4 for managing channel conflict, and 100.3 for revenue and profit potential.
Storage—Data Recovery/Observability/Resiliency
N-able
Channel Executive: David Weeks, VP, Enterprise
N-able scored its second win of the 2026 Annual Report Card with an overall score of 91.1 in this technology category.
The company had the highest average scores in product innovation (92.1) and support (88.7) subcategories.
N-able’s top criteria scores included 98.6 for product quality and reliability, 98.6 for post-sales support, 92.8 for richness of product features and functionality, and 92.8 for integration with services management tools.
Storage—SMB External Storage Hardware
Buffalo Technology
Channel Executive: Bill Rhodes, Director, Channel Sales
Buffalo Technology, long a dominant player in this technology category, scored a clean sweep here in the 2026 Annual Report Card with an overall score of 93.2.
The company recorded the highest average scores for all four subcategories: 96.3 for product innovation, 95.0 for support, 79.4 for managed and cloud services, and an impressive 101.4 for partnership.
Buffalo Technology had the highest scores for all 21 criteria including 107.2 for product quality and reliability—the third highest single criterion score on the 2026 Annual Report Card. Other impressive scores included 102.3 for presales support and 103.6 for post-sales support, 103.5 for communication, and 102.3 for product compatibility and ease of integration.
