COMMENT
Everything, everywhere all at once The needs of customers are constantly evolving; for instance, many now wanting their technology provided as a service, and this is something businesses in the channel are responding to.
upsell or provide additional services to customers. While many businesses in the sector now provide some element of ‘as a Service’ those that don’t will need to catch up to avoid being left behind. Businesses also need to consider ‘as a Service’ for anything they sell. There is evolution in the public sector too. While there are hurdles businesses in the channel must negotiate to access this market, the investment in time to do this can be well worth it. The public sector’s needs are changing and, while many are looking for ‘as a Service’ provision of their software, IT etc, they are also looking increasingly towards digitalisation. While the public sector may be behind the private sector in this, it is catching up, presenting channel partners with a range of opportunities. For more on this, see p43. And, going back to my initial example of evolution in the sector, hybrid working has become the norm, post-pandemic, and this has changed how peripherals are sold. Many people now have permanent arrangements for working at home for a at least some of the week and are now seeking to upgrade their equipment so that it is equivalent to what they have in the office, having, in many cases, made do with whatever they could get during the initial lockdowns. All this, of course, provides opportunities for resellers. With evolution comes opportunity – it just needs to be grasped. As ever, I hope you enjoy the issue. If you have topics you want us to cover in future issues, or you want to get involved in editorial or advertising, please drop me a line at dan@newsinthechannel.com
Evolution is a constant in business whatever sector you may be in, but in the channel, it seems to have speeded up in recent years – think of the rise of hybrid working. Another part of the channel that has evolved at increasing pace is ‘as a Service’. It started mainly with Software as a Service (SaaS) but is now being expanded to pretty much every aspect of the channel, from storage to firewalls. The desire from customers for subscription and managed service models seems set for further growth in the coming years, according to our commentators in our feature on ‘as a Service’ on p31.
Dan Parton
Every quarter we make an award for the best campaign run in the magazine. This quarter Ingram Micro has been chosen as the winner. See page 15 for more details. Thanks for the support.
winner Q1 · 2023
best campaign
It appears to be a win-win for all concerned. Resellers receive a regular, predictable revenue stream, while customers get added value services and simpler administration as they only deal with one company for their needs, rather than the several they might have had to have dealt with in the past. It also enables closer working relationships, which means there are often chances for resellers to
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