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Major shifts for IT partner landscape

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 24 Apr 2015
The scramble is on for partners to find new business models that work, says Craig Brunsden, executive of software at AxizWorkgroup.
The scramble is on for partners to find new business models that work, says Craig Brunsden, executive of software at AxizWorkgroup.

The growth of virtualisation, cloud computing and big data is changing the entire landscape for IT partners.

That's the view of Craig Brunsden, executive of software at distributor AxizWorkgroup, who notes the scramble is on to find new business models that work.

"I've been in this business for 20 years and I have never seen things change as quickly as they have over the past two or three years," says Brunsden.

"The era of the always-on business is here and business requirements have changed dramatically. IT needs to support both employees and customers who are demanding access anytime, anywhere, whether it's to e-mail, operational systems or online shopping. The new technology to solve these business pain points is evolving just as rapidly.

Thus, he believes the challenge is matching the right client to the right solution, and partners have to shift their skills base to be able to offer more strategic advice and consulting.

"But this requires significant investment and the money has to come from somewhere. It's still easier to make 3-4% margin on a straightforward hardware supply request than 6-7% on a consulting job, so not everyone is thinking far enough ahead to prepare for the day it all changes."

Brunsden points out that vendors have an important role to play in making it worthwhile for people to invest in training for their product. "Training needs to be more accessible if it's going to be worth the time investment, and we need to know we'll have access to clear follow-up information and support as we develop clients."

Sam Liu, VP of enterprise file-sharing and collaboration services provider Soonr, says as more industries migrate their business software and processes to the cloud, it's become easier for channels such as managed service providers (MSPs) and value-added resellers (VARs) to deliver and manage IT services, given the reduced on-site development and deployment required.

According to Lui, cloud computing has transformed the channel. "In part, this remote accessibility is the most significant transformation. Easier deployments and management of services give MSPs more opportunities to expand their offerings and customer base.

"However, this shift has also enabled VARs to transform into hybrid MSPs, prolonging their engagement with a customer to include ongoing management of services, which increases their value-add and revenue," he says.

Lui believes these changes alter the entire channel landscape, putting pressure on traditional distributors to justify their role, as the software-as-a-service model, with its lack of a physical medium, slashes the usual distribution, and sometimes financing, needs.

Warren Olivier, regional manager of Veeam Southern Africa, says in the past two years, the pace of cloud adoption has accelerated, as more businesses have embraced the promise of increased agility, combined with lower costs and less complexity.

He notes this is now extending even to cloud-based availability, disaster recovery and backup solutions, which, in turn, is making new demands on IT resellers and service providers.

"Cloud-based backup services are an easy way for IT service providers to help clients protect their data, as well as an excellent first step into becoming a cloud provider," Olivier concludes.

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