News in the Channel - issue #42

COMMENT

Tipping point AI continues revolutionise how businesses work, with increasing numbers taking up AI functionality of some sort. This means that resellers and MSPs must be fully conversant with AI – including in their own operations – to be able to provide the services their customers expect.

News in the Channel is approaching its fourth birthday, but it seems odd to think that back in 2022, AI was still talked about as a technology mostly of the future. But now, businesses of all sizes and in most sectors are using it in their everyday working routines. This means that resellers

threat might be relatively well known, the volume continues to increase – with hundreds of thousands of businesses experiencing a breach last year. Of course, AI also provides some of the answer to how to defend against these threats. Read more on p42.

Dan Parton

With increasing reliance on AI, it also means that businesses are ever-more reliant on powered devices, and those devices being always on. Any power outage – even for a very short period – could spell disaster for a business,

and managed service providers (MSPs) must offer AI functionality to

customers. Indeed, as the Global Technology Industry Association’s (GTIA) State of the Channel 2026 report for

especially an SMB. This means that demand for uninterruptable power supplies is increasing from SMBs – and this provides opportunities for resellers. Read more on p34. As always, I hope you enjoy the issue. News in the Channel is for everyone working in the channel, so if there is a topic you would like to see covered in a future issue – or you have a news story or opinion piece you would like to submit for consideration for publication – please drop me a line at dan@newsinthechannel.com. News in the Channel will be taking a short summer break in August but will be back with the usual mix of news, interviews and features in September. n

the UK and Ireland, stated, the channel is at an AI inflection point – those that don’t get on board with AI risk being left behind, and quickly. Carolyn April, vice president, research and market intelligence at the GTIA, says that businesses are moving quickly from experimentation with AI to execution – and wanting value from it, which the channel needs to be on top of. But she also warns that if resellers are to be the trusted advisors their customers want, they must adopt AI themselves. Read more on p18. AI is also helping to turbocharge the number of cyberthreats that businesses of all sizes must face. While the type of