News in the Channel - issue #30

COMMENT

The appliance of intelligence

Artificial intelligence is changing many aspects of how business is conducted and this includes cloud marketplaces, which is providing benefits for resellers and end users alike.

Dan Parton

Over the past two and a half years or so I’ve written a lot about artificial intelligence (AI), and I make no apology for doing so again. People, much more steeped in technology than I, have said that AI could bring about as big a revolution in business as email and the internet did about 25 years ago. They may well be right too. AI is being used in many sectors and is influencing how many functions are carried out. One particular area where AI is having an influence is cloud marketplaces. The use of AI within these platforms is reshaping how they are built and monetised and helps resellers to deliver solutions that are more personalised to their customers, along with streamlining buying processes, among many other benefits. Read more on p40. AI is also, of course, affecting security considerations, with companies wanting to keep their data secure while they are using it and ensure that it is effectively destroyed once it has served its purpose. With hackers increasing in their sophistication, including with data recovery tools, data destruction is as crucial as it’s ever been. It isn’t just a matter of hitting ‘delete’, it must be ensured that data can never be recovered again. This is something resellers have an

important role in advising customers with. Read more on p22. Elsewhere, a growth area in the channel is for audio-visual equipment for meeting rooms. With the number of people in hybrid working arrangements continuing to rise, employers are increasingly developing meeting rooms that can help those in the office collaborate effectively with those who are elsewhere. But to

ensure that collaboration is as effective as possible, the right AV tools are needed – and this presents plenty of opportunities to resellers. Find out more on p45. The pace of change in all three of these sectors of the channel mentioned above is fast, which means that

resellers need to keep on top of the latest technologies to ensure they provide the best services to their customers. As always, I hope you enjoy the issue. News in the Channel covers businesses and topics from across the spectrum of the channel, so if you have a topic that you would like to see us cover in a future issue – or want to get involved with editorial or send a press release – please drop me a line at dan@newsinthechannel.com n

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