The change of channel brings with it new opportunities for resellers, who remain well placed to capitalize on the insatiable need for the technology products and services market in an increasingly complex and high technology market.
That's the word from CompTIA ANZ that says a greater focus on services and expertise in vertical industries and / or solution niches is forcing the channel to adapt - but not all bad news.
Moheb Moses, computer director for ANZ, says that despite all the changes, there are many reasons to be optimistic.
He says that more channel companies are likely to develop their own intellectual property, such as custom code or a business process, which can be replicated through customers.
"This will help differentiate channel companies, which is important in a landscape that keeps changing.
"Nontraditional partners are selling and recommending IT solutions, from marketing companies and digital agencies to accountants. This means that channel companies must go beyond the basics to offer more advanced services if they want to compete in the new landscape" .
Meanwhile, the increase in cloud adoption is creating new opportunities for the channel to provide value, especially in the small and medium-sized enterprise market, where companies often provide cloud solutions on their own, but are unsure Who to call or how to handle the situation, when things go wrong.
"Managing these supplier relationships is one way that channel companies can consolidate their relevancy in the cloud era," says CompTIA.
However, Moses says that channel signatures with close customer relationships may be somewhat isolated from threats from direct vendor vendors and cloud vendors.
"And the complexity and the sheer volume of technological options in today's marketplace should protect their status as indispensable consultants and consultants," says Moses.
"Managed services are fast becoming an on-demand offering for companies to run lighter IT departments and rely on outsourced services to run their IT operations.
"This is an ideal area for the expansion of channel companies."
Resellers are not the only ones facing change, with CompTIA noting the need for vendors to also grow their game with up-to-date partner programs, the channel becomes less dependent on the margins provided by the provider and more likely to credit their Own sales and marketing activities for driving sales.
