CompTIA Top 10 Emerging Technologies List Highlights AI, IoT Use Cases
AI and IoT are not standalone products, but components of larger solutions designed to drive business outcomes.
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Predictive sales prioritize prospective customers by filtering out unqualified leads so sales reps can spend more time on more promising leads. Many sales and marketing platforms now offer scoring modules that forecast results and develop campaigns intended to generate higher quality leads.
The reasons MSPs haven’t yet dipped their toes in the water with AI and IoT comes down to not knowing where to start and not having an innovation mindset, Khali Henderson said.
“We’re planning to help with both of those things with our playbooks (to come) and innovation assessment (available now),” she said. “And we’re considering a national roadshow to bring the message directly to partners where they’re are actually building their businesses.”
Customer relationship management (CRM) and service delivery optimization systems monitor and analyze customer buying and usage patterns to increase sales efficiencies and profitability. Furthermore, sales reps use this information to better understand their customers and identify opportunities to cross-sell and upsell.
Chatbots and digital assistants are applications used to conduct online conversations via text or text-to-speech, in lieu of live agents. This allows companies to scale, leveraging existing resources, while delivering a “human-like” customer experience.
MSPs already are embracing AI-driven chatbots on websites that help companies go digital-first for sales, support and service delivery, Henderson said.
Companies can enhance their security against cyberattacks with AI-powered cybersecurity platforms. AI-powered cybersecurity threat detection platforms leverage machine learning (ML) to analyze historical data, and autonomously predict and detect potential cyber threats.
AI-driven cybersecurity is a hot opportunity for MSPs and a natural step for them along with managing their customer’s IT networks, Henderson said.
AI-powered tools blend data from various sources and automatically compile predictive analytics about customers to gain insight into preferences and, in turn, create marketing campaigns to capture them as qualified leads.
“In some cases, AI/IoT have proved to help vendors/partners cut costs or create efficiencies for their customers that their competitors cannot achieve,” Henderson said. “Many executive leaders also are now saying they need to incorporate AI into their businesses without really understanding how to do it or what it can do for their business. Partners educated on the application of these emerging technologies will become the go-to resource for implementing such enhancements, differentiating themselves from their competition.”
Asset tracking streamlines labor-intensive and error-prone equipment and inventory management. It does so by monitoring assets and their use in real-time throughout a location, such as a building, warehouse, yard or campus.
MSPs are finding IoT opportunities in the verticals they serve, such as asset tracking for medical or manufacturing, Henderson said.
Industrial monitoring improves performance, productivity and efficiency of industrial processes in manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, utilities and other industries. It does so by monitoring the condition of assets, predicting maintenance and ensuring quality.
MSPs already are finding opportunities for industrial monitoring in the verticals the serve, Henderson said.
By issuing sensor-based badges to employees and guests, organizations can take a simple yet sophisticated approach to identifying, locating and providing secure access to personnel in their facilities, according to CompTIA.
Some enterprising MSPs are building their own solutions, but many are looking to their distributors, vendors or master MSPs to package it all together, Henderson said. This is not just the offer, but the supply chain, service delivery, installation, management, support, billing, etc. It’s not a small lift, so the payoff has to be there.
Fleet management allows fleet operators to automate processes by providing visibility in real time to monitor vehicle maintenance, usage and driver performance.
“One thing that can be challenging is getting sales teams on board with something new,” Henderson said. “It’s easier to do what you’ve always done. Proper training is important, but so are incentives that get their attention. This step is often missed.”
Smart buildings enable organizations to monitor various building characteristics to optimize a building’s environment and operations. That includes automating and controlling security or air conditioning.
“Making a new market can be hard, so doing something adjacent to what you’re already offering or serving customers you already have can make it less risky,” Henderson said.
Smart buildings enable organizations to monitor various building characteristics to optimize a building’s environment and operations. That includes automating and controlling security or air conditioning.
“Making a new market can be hard, so doing something adjacent to what you’re already offering or serving customers you already have can make it less risky,” Henderson said.
The latest CompTIA top 10 emerging technologies list focuses on top business applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT.
CompTIA’s Emerging Technology Community (ETC) shifted the focus of the annual list to feature AI and IoT use cases. In the past, the list ranked individual technologies.
The ETC utilized CompTIA data from a recent online survey fielded to professionals. Four hundred U.S.-based businesses participated in the survey. They identified the most common use cases for AI and IoT.
The ETC then narrowed that list to five use cases for each technology based on member input and experience.
Identifying Opportunities for MSPs
Buzz Theory’s Khali Henderson
Khali Henderson is ETC Council vice chair and senior partner at BuzzTheory.
“Unlike some technologies that MSPs sell like workstations or servers, AI and IoT are not standalone products in and of themselves, but components of larger solutions designed to drive business outcomes,” she said. “That’s one reason why we’re drilling down on use cases with our top 10 list. We want to help MSPs identify where there are business opportunities.”
Traditional agents are selling services from MSPs, distributors and vendors, Henderson said.
“I actually spoke to one this week who is just about to sell his first IoT deal,” she said. “But there are agents who’ve been selling IoT solutions for a while.”
Brightfin’s Greg Plum
Greg Plum is ETC Council chair and channel chief at Brightfin.
“We made a conscious effort this year to move to a more prescriptive model — allowing our audience to understand not only the types of technologies that were emerging, but how they are being leveraged and monetized right now,” he said.
Scroll through our gallery above for the latest CompTIA top 10 emerging technologies list and opportunities for the channel.
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