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
    • Tech Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 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
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • 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
    • Tech Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 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
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • 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

Mobility & Wireless


Channel Feeling Unexpectedly Optimistic About the Next Several Years

  • Written by Edward
  • October 6, 2015
CompTIA surveyed executives and professionals at 350 U.S. IT companies.

Edward Gately**Editor’s Note: Click here to watch excerpts from Carolyn April’s keynote at Cloud Partners in Boston, dubbed “Benefits and Challenges to Managed Services Adoption.”**

Nothin’ but net! Hole in One! Winner takes all!

Positive vibes are flowing through the IT channel as more than 60 percent of channel executives are hopeful that the channel will fare generally well in the next several years. That’s according to CompTIA’s fifth annual State of the Channel study, based on a July online survey of executives and professionals at 350 U.S. IT companies.

The optimism is spread across most channel firms, although small companies (10-99 employees) and those in business less than five years are somewhat more pessimistic.

CompTIA's Carolyn April“First off, the level of optimism for the channel’s future is higher than expected,” Carolyn April, CompTIA’s senior director of industry analysis, told Channel Partners. “I think this indicates that channel firms are feeling less apprehensive about the impact of emerging techs and models such as cloud, and perhaps more generally sound about economic factors. Secondly, we saw that the channel acknowledges it is largely hybrid in nature, with no predominant revenue stream leading notably over another. Channel firms are moving to recurring revenue, embracing cloud and newer directions, while still acknowledging that transactional things like selling hardware matter.”

When asked where they expect future business to come from, companies are counting on growth in delivering project-based offerings (56 percent of firms surveyed) and through recurring revenue streams from managed services (59 percent). Product sales garnered the lowest expectations, with 47 percent of channel firms expecting growth in the coming year.

Respondents identifying their primary business models as cloud, telecom or integrator turned out to be the most bullish on cloud computing opening new opportunities for them and stoking their optimism about the channel’s future, according to the report. More than half of firms in these three areas gave cloud the thumbs up for the channel’s days ahead.

The broader use of IT by all types of customers also contributes to the channel’s good feelings.

“They believe that customers still want a technology partner to serve as a ‘trusted advisor,’” April said. “The complexity of today’s technology and solutions, and the demand for technology expertise in specific vertical markets have the majority of channel partners feeling good about business prospects.”

Channel partners acknowledge that several factors can cause …

… their business to slow down, such as a dip in the economy, rising interest rates, and lack of credit or capital, she said.

“Skills gaps need to be addressed in order for the channel to be successful in new areas such as application development, mobility, cloud, big data and business-process automation,” April said. “That means training, hiring and taking advantage of other educational resources from vendors, distributors and trade associations.”

It’s going to be important to align with the right vendor partners to reflect new directions and business models, and those might not be the vendors they work with today, she said. The channel needs to get better at this “very important soft skill in this era of ‘as a service’ providers,” she said.

While companies cite cloud as an optimism driver due to new opportunities, they also worry that cloud computing further drives a shift away from on-premises IT deployments, which is the historical “bread-and-butter” engagement for a vast number of channel firms and one that the majority of the channel has been reluctant to let go, according to CompTIA.

Nearly eight in 10 U.S. channel firms say they have experienced some transformative activity to date, according to the study. The problem, however, is that many channel firms stop short there. They add a single cloud service to their portfolio or put some clients on a pay-as-you-go contract and deem that business transformation when that should be just the beginning, according to the study.

Changes to sales, marketing and other operational functions are crucial to a fully realized alteration, April said. Adding a single managed service, for example, is simply a first step of many to becoming a firm that sells deep into the digital-services space.

As for smaller companies, many are embracing consulting as a primary business model “and that is a smart place for them to fit, niche-wise,” April added.

“My advice to younger firms: Differentiate through vertical industry expertise and learn to market to the non-IT line of business buyer,” she said. “Marketing execs now have IT budgets of their own.”

Tags: Agents Analytics Business Models Cloud Mobility & Wireless

Most Recent


  • Twenty, 20
    The CF List: 2022's 20 Top SD-WAN Providers You Should Know
    A leading SD-WAN provider has to show greater value across a number of different domains.
  • Clouds around globe
    AWS Reaches 80 More Countries, Adds Public Sector to Ingram Micro Cloud
    Find out what’s going on at the world’s largest public cloud provider and the prominent cloud distributor.
  • 6 Takeaways from the Ingram Micro Executive Panel
    “Ingram's role is to be the enabler of an ecosystem,” one panelist said.
  • New Solutions
    Google Cloud Security Summit: New Solutions for Zero Trust, Software Supply Chain, More
    The new solutions will help partners help their customers more quickly and easily adopt Google Cloud’s security capabilities.

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

  • Social media smartphone
    Social Media Roundup: Partners Talk Crypto, Security Hiring
  • Europe skyline
    The Master Agent Model Is Taking Off in Europe
  • PlanetOne Gainey Golf Event Feature
    PlanetOne Golf Event: In-Person Channel Networking Makes Big Comeback
  • Deep Learning, AI
    From T1s to 'Human Experience': TBI's Bryan Reynolds Is Witnessing a Channel Revolution

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 14, 2022 - June 15, 2022

MSP Summit

September 13, 2022 - September 16, 2022

Galleries

View all

The CF List: 2022’s 20 Top SD-WAN Providers You Should Know

May 18, 2022

Marketing All-Stars Share Their Focus for 2022 and Beyond

May 18, 2022

6 Takeaways from the Ingram Micro Executive Panel

May 17, 2022

Industry Perspectives

View all

A Sneak Peek at the 2022 BrightCloud Threat Report

May 17, 2022

Build Customers for Life with CX and Lifecycle Selling

May 16, 2022

Voice Analytics Are a Must-Have as Companies Evolve COVID-Rushed Tech

May 12, 2022

Webinars

View all

Simplifying SaaS Security for MSPs

April 27, 2022

How to Supercharge The Network to Support Your IT Superhero Moves

May 3, 2022

The 2022 MSP Challenge: Scale Service Delivery Despite the Talent Gap

April 21, 2022

White Papers

View all

The New Bottom Line: How MSPs Can Meet the Healthcare Crisis While Evolving Their Businesses

April 19, 2022

How to build a Security Operations Center (on a budget)

April 4, 2022

The AT&T Cybersecurity Incident Response Toolkit

April 4, 2022

Channel Futures TV

View all

AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco, ThreatLocker on Unlocking Partner Potential

Agents Share ‘Secrets,’ Industry Opportunity

May 11, 2022

Vonage Addresses Potential Partner Opportunity via Acquisition by Ericsson

May 5, 2022

Lumen Technologies ‘Built for Growth and Scale’

May 4, 2022

Twitter

ChannelFutures

[email protected] now reaches 177 countries — 80 more regions for the channel to target. And #AWS has a new #publicsector… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

Our CMO roundtable series concludes with members’ predictions on what their primary focus will be in the months ahe… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

“@IngramMicroInc's role is to be the enabler of an ecosystem,” @SahooSanj said at the company's cloud summit.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

Take a sneak peak at BrightCloud's 2022 Threat Report. #Channel Partners #CyberThreats @Webroot… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

#GoogleCloudSummit unveils new solutions for #zerotrust, supply chain security. @googlecloud dlvr.it/SQZ2By https://t.co/37buEDQ030

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@Veeam CEO @anandeswaran is gunning for outsized share of data protection market at #veeamOn2022… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 18, 2022
ChannelFutures

#ChannelEurope keynote with @contextworld addresses partners staying calm amid market volatility.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 17, 2022
ChannelFutures

Read about how the partnership between @AryakaNetworks and @AppSmartcom is a milestone for both companies.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 17, 2022

MSSP Insider

Business advice for MSSPs and news from the broader security channel.

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 © 2022 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