COMMENT
Looking to an AI future Artificial intelligence is more than just a buzzword, it has many practical applications for businesses in a range of sectors, and resellers should be getting to grips with it now if they don’t want to be left behind.
In many conversations with people in the sector – from manufacturers to resellers and end users – artificial intelligence (AI) comes up more than any other topic currently. Ever since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, AI has been at the forefront of many people’s thinking. The potential for AI is becoming clearer too, and the applications it can have to revolutionise business in the coming years. While it may have initially been seen as a threat to many jobs, it is now being seen more as an enabler – taking over mundane, repetitive tasks to free employees up to work on more business-critical functions and helping to provide greater analysis of data to help businesses make better decisions and achieve those marginal gains that can be crucial. Those are just a couple of examples – there are plenty of others I could mention. AI was one of the main topics at the 2024 HP Amplify Partner Conference, held in Las Vegas recently. The conference showcased HP's commitment to its ‘Future Ready’ strategy, emphasising partner readiness for emerging opportunities like AI and hybrid systems, as well as showcasing more than 100 AI-enabled products, including an extensive range of AI PCs. Read more on p20. Another topic that crops up with increasing regularity in conversations is sustainability. Driven by regulation and, increasingly, customer demand, becoming more sustainable
is – or should be – a priority for everyone in business. A part of this is the circular economy, which sees devices have a life beyond their initial three-to-five-year tenure in a customer setting, whether that’s for another customer, remanufactured or recycled – and this is something resellers have a crucial role in developing. Read more on p34. Of course, with increasing numbers of devices being used by businesses in a wide range of sectors that need electricity to run, then the need for the supply of it to be reliable becomes ever-more imperative to avoid costly episodes of downtime. This is where uninterruptable power supplies come in – and this market presents opportunities for resellers to sell to their clients. Find out more on p27. These are just three emerging trends in the channel, and all are likely to become increasingly significant over the course of 2024 and the years beyond. It means that resellers need to be getting involved in these – especially AI – now, or, if they are involved, upping the significance they place on it. Those that don’t face the risk of being left behind – and quickly. As ever, I hope you enjoy the issue. If there are any topics you would like to see covered in future issues, or you would like to get involved in editorial, send a news story or propose an op-ed, please drop me an email at dan@newsinthechannel.com
Dan Parton
HP Amplify Partner Conference showcases more than 100 AI-enabled products – p20
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