The purpose of the study is to identify whether certain factors have an impact on the success of organizations in the IT distribution channel to adopt and promote e-business strategic models to their end-user customers. Two reseller organizations participated in an in-depth set of surveys around e-business sales and distribution of IT products and services. A set of working research hypotheses was formulated for investigation. A survey instrument was developed, pre-tested and administered to thirteen executives in two reseller organizations. Managerially the findings were focused around the need to offer a differentiated set of e-business service offerings and to then decide how the organization should best develop partnering relationships and/or outsource the expertise. Outsourcing relationships, it was found, reduces the complexity of delivering overall e-business solutions, while also creating project management challenges. Strategic acquisitioning was a key factor in making e-business initiatives successful in the IT distribution channel.