--- title: "The Partner-Side QBR Template: How to Review Every Vendor Relationship Each Quarter in 60 Minutes" description: "Most QBR templates review customers. This one reviews your vendors: standing, certifications, pipeline, funds, program changes, and the decision to invest or exit." image: https://www.altamiq.com/hubfs/Partner%20QBR%20Template%20in%2060%20Minutes-2.png --- [Skip to content](https://www.altamiq.com/blog/the-partner-side-qbr-template-how-to-review-every-vendor-relationship-each-quarter-in-60-minutes-2#main-content) [![logo-horizontal](https://www.altamiq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logo-horizontal.png?width=1959&height=424&name=logo-horizontal.png)](https://www.altamiq.com/) - [Platform](https://www.altamiq.com) - [Who It's For](https://www.altamiq.com) - [vs. PRMs](https://www.altamiq.com) - [Implementation](https://www.altamiq.com) - [Pricing](https://www.altamiq.com#altamiq-pricing) - [Features](https://www.altamiq.com/features) - [Blog](https://www.altamiq.com/blog) Sign in Request a demo → - [Platform](https://www.altamiq.com) - [Who It's For](https://www.altamiq.com) - [vs. PRMs](https://www.altamiq.com) - [Implementation](https://www.altamiq.com) - [Pricing](https://www.altamiq.com#altamiq-pricing) - [Features](https://www.altamiq.com/features) - [Blog](https://www.altamiq.com/blog) Request a demo → Sign in ![](https://www.altamiq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Partner%20QBR%20Template%20in%2060%20Minutes-2.png?width=1672&height=941&name=Partner%20QBR%20Template%20in%2060%20Minutes-2.png) # The Partner-Side QBR Template: How to Review Every Vendor Relationship Each Quarter in 60 Minutes ![Altamiq](https://7528315.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/7528315/hubfs/raw_assets/public/mV0_d-cms-elevate-theme_hubspot/elevate/images/avatar-placeholder.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=avatar-placeholder.jpg) Altamiq October 23, 2026  Search for a QBR template and you will find two kinds. One is built for customer success teams reviewing a customer. The other is built for vendors reviewing their partners. Almost nothing is written for the firm sitting between them, the reseller, MSP, or consultancy that has to review each of its vendor relationships and decide where to invest. This is that template. It is designed to be run per vendor in about 15 minutes, and as a portfolio review across all of them in about 60.   ## Why you need to run the review, not wait for it   Vendors do hold business reviews with partners. They are useful, but they measure what the vendor cares about: revenue, pipeline, and program participation. They do not ask whether the relationship is worth what it costs you in certifications, fees, and attention. That question only gets asked if you ask it.   ## The seven sections   1. **Standing.** Current tier, designation, or status. What it required. When it is next assessed. Any change since last quarter. 2. **Compliance.** Certifications held by person and expiry date. Anything expiring in the next two quarters. Any departures or role changes that affect requirements. 3. **Commercial.** Revenue or ACV through this vendor, margin or discount level, deal registrations active and expiring, and funds available and used. 4. **Pipeline and co-sell.** Open opportunities, vendor-validated co-sell, and the vendor contacts engaged on each. 5. **Program changes.** Anything the vendor changed this quarter or announced for next, and what it touches in your standing. 6. **Cost.** Certification fees, training hours, program fees, and the people time spent maintaining the relationship. 7. **Decision.** Invest, maintain, reduce, or exit, with the reason in one sentence.   ## The one-page vendor scorecard   Fill one of these in for each vendor before the meeting. It is the pre-read.   | **Section** | **What to record** | **Sample entry** | | --- | --- | --- | | Standing | Tier, assessment date, change since last quarter | Advanced; review Mar 2027; no change | | Compliance | Certs held / required; expiring in 2 quarters | 11 held, 10 required; 4 expire Q2 | | Commercial | Revenue, margin, registrations, funds | $1.2M; 3 registrations expiring; $18K MDF unused | | Pipeline | Open opps; vendor-validated co-sell | 7 open; 2 validated | | Program changes | Announced or effective changes | New specialization requirement from July | | Cost | Fees, hours, people time | $9K fees; 160 cert hours; 0.3 FTE | | Decision | Invest / maintain / reduce / exit + reason | Maintain; Q2 cert cluster needs a plan |   *Sample entries are illustrative.*   ## The 60-minute portfolio review   | **Minutes** | **Agenda item** | **What to produce** | | --- | --- | --- | | 0–10 | Standing across the portfolio | A list of every status held, each marked safe, watch, or at risk. | | 10–25 | Compliance and expiry heat map | The next two quarters of expiries, with owners for each cluster. | | 25–35 | Commercial and funds | Unused funds, expiring registrations, and margin by vendor. | | 35–45 | Program changes | What changed, what it affects, and who is responding. | | 45–55 | Cost against return | Vendors where cost is rising faster than return. | | 55–60 | Decisions | An invest, maintain, reduce, or exit call for each vendor, with owners. |   ## How to run it with ten vendors without drowning   Not every vendor deserves the same attention. Sort them once into three groups and review accordingly.   - **Core vendors** carry most of your revenue or delivery. Review every quarter, with the vendor’s partner manager in the room for part of it. - **Supporting vendors** matter to specific clients or practices. Review twice a year, and watch their expiry dates quarterly. - **Tail vendors** are relationships you hold for coverage or history. Review once a year and ask whether each still earns its place.   ## Questions to ask your vendor’s partner manager   - Which of our requirements are at risk in the next two quarters, and what is the lead time to fix them? - Are any program changes coming that affect our level, and when do they take effect? - What funds or incentives are available to us that we have not used? - Which of our deals have you validated, and which are waiting on something from us? - Where do you see us against the next tier, and what would it take?   > **The point of the exercise:** A good partner-side QBR ends with decisions, not a status report. If every vendor comes out as “maintain,” the review was probably too gentle.   ## What to do this week   - Sort your vendors into core, supporting, and tail. - Fill in the one-page scorecard for your three largest vendors. - Book the first portfolio review for next month and invite whoever owns certifications, finance, and sales.   ## How to run the review so that it produces decisions   A review that ends with “good discussion” has failed. The test of a partner-side QBR is whether you leave with a short list of decisions and owners. Here is how to get there.   1. **Send the pre-read 48 hours ahead.** The one-page vendor scorecard goes to everyone attending, so the meeting is spent on judgment and not on reading. 2. **Start with the exceptions.** Ignore what is on track. Spend the first fifteen minutes on anything marked at risk. 3. **Separate facts from opinions.** Revenue, expiry dates, and registration counts are facts. “The vendor seems less responsive” is an opinion that needs evidence behind it. 4. **Write decisions in the meeting.** Each decision gets an owner, a date, and a sentence describing what done looks like. 5. **Circulate the notes the same day.** A day later is too late. Notes that arrive a week later are rarely read.   ## What to do when the vendor’s own QBR format is different   Many vendors run their own business reviews with their own slides, usually weighted toward their priorities: pipeline, product adoption, and program requirements. That meeting is useful, and it is not yours. Your review is the internal meeting that decides what you will ask of the vendor. Run yours first, then attend theirs with a short list of asks, supported by your own numbers.   ## Mistakes that make QBRs worthless   - **Using the vendor’s numbers as your only numbers.** Your own margin, cost, and time figures are what matter commercially. - **Skipping the cost side.** Revenue without cost is half a picture. - **Inviting everyone.** Five people who own decisions beat twelve who attend. - **Never revisiting last quarter’s actions.** The first agenda item each time should be what happened to the last list.   Run well, the review takes an hour per vendor per quarter. For a firm with ten core vendors, that is ten hours a quarter, and it replaces many more hours of reactive scrambling.   ## A short example of a decision list   | **Decision** | **Owner** | **Date** | | --- | --- | --- | | Ask the vendor for a written notice period on program changes. | Relationship owner | Before next review | | Move two engineers into the next certification window. | Delivery manager | End of month | | Request MDF approval for the autumn campaign. | Marketing lead | Within two weeks |   ## Frequently asked questions   ### How often should we run partner-side QBRs? Quarterly for strategic vendors and twice yearly for smaller ones is a reasonable starting point. Adjust to the pace of the program. ### Who should attend? The relationship owner, a delivery or technical lead, and someone from sales. Include finance when funds or rebates are on the agenda. ### What should we bring that the vendor does not already have? Your own record: revenue, margin, certification status, support issues, and the commitments the vendor made last time. The meeting is stronger when you set the evidence.   ## Further reading   - [Gartner: supplier scorecards](https://www.gartner.com/en/supply-chain/trends/supplier-scorecard) — Gartner advises that supplier reviews go beyond delivery, quality, and cost to responsiveness, innovation, and support. Procurement context, not channel-specific. ([gartner.com](http://gartner.com)) - [Microsoft: Partner Capability Score rules](https://learn.microsoft.com/partner-center/partner-capability-score) — How Microsoft counts certified staff toward a Solutions Partner designation: credit only for people linked to your organization, with expiring certifications flagged as a risk. ([learn.microsoft.com](http://learn.microsoft.com)) - [Google Cloud: a vendor program restructure](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/partners/introducing-google-cloud-partner-network) — An example of a vendor restructuring its partner program, which is why the QBR has a program-changes section. ([cloud.google.com](http://cloud.google.com)) - [Microsoft: annual reassessment of direct-bill partners](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/enroll/direct-partner-new-requirements) — An example of a vendor reassessing standing annually, with notice emails ahead of the date. ([learn.microsoft.com](http://learn.microsoft.com)) - [Microsoft: partner membership costs and terms](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/membership/mpn-overview) — Memberships are priced per offer and run about a year, which is the cost side of the review. ([learn.microsoft.com](http://learn.microsoft.com))   > **AltamIQ:** AltamIQ is built to feed this review. Standing, certifications, expiry dates, and program changes for every vendor sit in one place, so the pre-read assembles itself instead of taking a week of spreadsheet work. It is partner portfolio management for the firm holding the relationships.   ## Sources & verification   - Keyword validation: Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, US — “qbr template” 500 searches per month, keyword difficulty 5. - Framework is original to this post. Sample figures are illustrative and not drawn from any vendor. - Before publishing: re-open each external link and confirm it still resolves. Keep AltamIQ product claims in the CTA in line with what has shipped. ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.altamiq.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-partner-side-qbr-template-how-to-review-every-vendor-relationship-each-quarter-in-60-minutes-2](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.altamiq.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-partner-side-qbr-template-how-to-review-every-vendor-relationship-each-quarter-in-60-minutes-2) ## Keep reading ### [![](https://www.altamiq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Certification%20Tracking%20Spreadsheet%20Guide-1.png?width=1672&height=941&name=Certification%20Tracking%20Spreadsheet%20Guide-1.png) Certification Tracking Spreadsheet: A Free Template Structure, and the Point Where It Stops Working](https://www.altamiq.com/blog/certification-tracking-spreadsheet-a-free-template-structure-and-the-point-where-it-stops-working) ### [![](https://www.altamiq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Palo%20Alto%20Networks%20Partner%20Pathways-2.png?width=1669&height=942&name=Palo%20Alto%20Networks%20Partner%20Pathways-2.png) Palo Alto Networks NextWave in 2027: Four Levels, Several Paths, and a Program That Keeps Moving](https://www.altamiq.com/blog/palo-alto-networks-nextwave-in-2027-four-levels-several-paths-and-a-program-that-keeps-moving-1) PARTNER OPERATIONS DIGEST ## Stay ahead of your partner portfolio. 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