India, Dec. 24 -- Margins shrank. Buyer habits flipped. Managed services moved from the sidelines to centre stage. 2025 did not disrupt the tech channel with noise or drama. It did something more consequential. It quietly redrew the map.

For system integrators and channel partners, the year will be remembered not for a collapse, but for a recalibration. The technology labels remained familiar, cybersecurity, AI, managed services and Cloud. The economics beneath them did not. Profit pools shifted. Customer expectations hardened. Business models that once felt reliable suddenly looked exposed.

The partners who came out ahead were not chasing trends. They were paying close attention to how customers were buying, how value was being measure...