https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Rankings
    • NextGen 101 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Channel Futures 20: Top Tech Providers
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2023 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Technology Advisor 101 (TA 101)
    • Channel Leaders Lists
  • Events
    • Back
    • 2023 Call for Speakers
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Rankings
    • NextGen 101 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Channel Futures 20: Top Tech Providers
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2023 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Technology Advisor 101 (TA 101)
    • Channel Leaders Lists
  • Events
    • Back
    • 2023 Call for Speakers
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Channel Research


Shutterstock

CompTIA’s 8th Annual State of the Channel Report Takes Partner Pulse

  • Written by Lynn Haber
  • October 22, 2019
Partners worry about the economy but forge ahead with new technologies and partnerships.

Partners report apprehension about the state of the economy and the potential impact on their businesses, while at the same time are showing excitement for business growth by adopting emerging technologies and partnering with other, nontraditional, firms.

That’s a key takeaway from CompTIA’s recently released 8th State of the Channel report.

But that’s not all. This year’s research also examines channel partners’ own view on the long-term viability of the indirect channel, how some partners are reshaping their business, changes in portfolio offerings, and insight on managed services and managed service providers (MSPs), for example.

This year’s State of the Channel report doesn’t show dramatic year-over-year change, but partners participating in this year’s research are forging ahead and are building their businesses in ways that are in tune with changes shaping the IT industry. The report is based on 505 U.S. companies engaged in the business of technology.

After years of a healthy growing economy, partners see a few potential red flags that spell concern for the future of the channel. In fact, 37% of partners expressed concern about today’s economic conditions and changes to the general economy. At the same time, 37% of partners view potential government regulation of the tech industry as cause for concern.

These top two reasons for concern about the channel’s future differ from the concerns from last year where new types of competitors and a skills gap in emerging technologies were top of mind. While these two concerns still worry partners – skills gap (35%) and new competitors (34%) – they’ve just dropped a few notches in this year’s survey.

Other concerns that partners have about the channel’s future — aging of IT channel owners (34%), difficulty hiring (30%), commoditization (30%), customer taking business direct (28%), and cloud disruption (27%).

While partners have a number of concerns about the future for their businesses, their take on the negative spin about the channel’s future is that 59% say there’s some truth to it, depending on the individual channel firm and business model, 26% say it’s overblown and 16% of survey takers says it’s an accurate assessment for much of the channel.

CompTIA's Carolyn April

CompTIA’s Carolyn April

“There is some economic apprehension that the channel is feeling right now but there are a lot of positives is this year’s report, as well,” Carolyn April, senior director of industry analysis at CompTIA, told Channel Futures.

Seventy-two percent of survey respondents consider emerging tech a significant business opportunity, on par with last year’s sentiment about emerging tech (75%). Other reasons for adding emerging tech to the business portfolio — customer demand (52%), competitive differentiator (43%), to avoid obsolescence (38%), dovetails with existing portfolio (36%) and vendors pushing us in that direction (35%).

“We’re also seeing that partners are moving more into production with emerging tech rather than experimenting,” said April.

In this year’s report, 56% of partner firms’ experience with emerging tech is in production, compared to 51% in 2018; 29% are partners are experimenting with emerging tech this year, the same percentage as in 2018. The report notes the largest channel firms reporting being in the production stage with emerging tech; in fact, two-thirds of the largest organizations are selling emerging technology to customers, compared to one-half of small channel firms.

“A caveat — if only 1% of your business is emerging tech and next year it’s 2% of your business, that’s enormous …

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
Tags: MSPs VARs/SIs Business Models Channel Research Cloud Digital Transformation IoT Specialty Practices Strategy

Most Recent


  • Alex Tatham welcomed back to Westcoast
    ‘I’m Back!’ Alex Tatham Makes Surprise Return to Westcoast
    Westcoast veteran Alex Tatham returns to the distributor after a short spell at a channel partner.
  • Synk partners improving supply chain security
    The Gately Report: Snyk Partners Crucial in Improving Supply Chain Security
    A ransomware attack against Enzo Biochem is impacting millions of patients.
  • Making Waves
    7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at TD Synnex, Veeam, Kaseya, Zendesk, More
    Microsoft has discovered malicious activity by a state-sponsored threat actor based in China.
  • Businessman reading cloud computing news
    Cloud Computing News: VMware, Celigo, Google Cloud, AWS Dominate the Week
    Find out what the vendors are up to this week and how partners are impacted.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • edge computing
    'Challenging Results' for MSPs in Channel Futures' Exclusive Quarterly Survey
  • Security shield on digital background
    VMware Security Connect Focused on Redefining Security, Increasing Threats
  • Voxbone SIP
    Cisco, Microsoft, Zoom Newcomers on Latest Omdia UCaaS Scorecard
  • Transformer
    How Accelerated Digital Transformation Changed B2B Buying Behavior

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 13, 2023 - June 14, 2023

Channel Futures Leadership Summit

October 30, 2023 - November 2, 2023

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

March 11, 2024 - March 14, 2024

Galleries

View all

The Gately Report: Snyk Partners Crucial in Improving Supply Chain Security

June 5, 2023

7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at TD Synnex, Veeam, Kaseya, Zendesk, More

June 2, 2023

Cloud Computing News: VMware, Celigo, Google Cloud, AWS Dominate the Week

June 2, 2023

Industry Perspectives

View all

Dell Technologies World: Dell Apex Expanded Across On-Premises, Cloud and Edge

May 22, 2023

Identity Is Increasingly Valuable – and Targeted

May 18, 2023

Gaining a Competitive Advantage through AV Managed Services

May 10, 2023

Webinars

View all

From Problem to Profit: Mastering the Science of Selling Using Business Outcomes

May 9, 2023

Meet the 2023 Channel Futures Channel Influencers

April 13, 2023

DE&I Dialogue: How the Right DE&I Initiatives Can Propel Your Business

April 5, 2023

White Papers

View all

6 UCaaS Reseller Challenges and How Real World Businesses Solved Them

February 1, 2023

Frost Radar: North American UCaaS Market, 2022

February 1, 2023

The Complete Guide to White-Label UCaaS for Reseller Success

February 1, 2023

Channel Futures TV

View all

Coffee with Craig and James Episode No. 123: MartinWolf M&A Advisors, CP Expo Preview

UScellular Takes On Rivals with Partner Program Simplicity

April 21, 2023

OpenText Simplifying Deal Registration, Doubling Down on MDF

April 21, 2023

Everything-as-a-Service: CloudBlue Touts Critical Customer Transition

April 18, 2023

Twitter

MSP 501

The industry's largest and most comprehensive partner awards program.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X