Distributors expect to win more vendors, offer wider services portfolio A new Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) survey finds that cloud is the solution category where vendor channel executives see distributors making the most progress next year. Also, 72% of channel exec respondents said they are already offering or planning to introduce IoT solutions through distribution.
The GTDC report on the year ahead is based on more than 70 channel executive survey responses from across the world as well as over 20 interviews with both technology distributors and vendor partners. "The distribution industry has become instrumental in much more than just delivering technology products to the right places at the right time," commented GTDC CEO Tim Curran. "Shipping product is no longer the mainstay. Today's distribution leaders bring much more to the equation through their unique, highly diversified services portfolios.”
Nearly 62% expect indirect to outpace direct sales, with 13% indicating they are already 100% indirect. More than half of vendor channel executives expect double-digit growth in 2017, with 20% looking for more than a 30% rise. The range of products and services is also expected to expand: “We envision distributors selling devices on a consumption-based model as a means to attach public cloud services like Office 365, Enterprise Mobility Suite for Security, or Windows Enterprise subscription-as-a-service. This represents an immediate opportunity for distributors around the world. The business rationale makes sense and distributors are quickly absorbing and operationalising the concept,” says Jon Strausburg, Cloud Sales Director, SMB&D, Microsoft.
Over three-quarters (78%) expect distributors to develop new business around vertical market solutions. The GTDC identifies 12 categories of interest, including a balance of topics related to business partnerships and technology categories:
- Analytics
- Pro A/V
- Cloud Security
- Data Centre/Big Data/Hyperconvergence Services
- Internet of Things
- Mobility
Digital technologies have changed the way distributors conduct business. These new business models, particularly around cloud, mobility, vertical markets, emerging companies, security and enterprise technologies, will continue to grow in 2017, executives said, because millennials and end users increasingly have higher expectations for leveraging IT anywhere, anytime.
Cloud, Security and Data Centre ranked as the Top 3 Solution categories; “Distribution is the scaling engine for our security solutions to drive reach and growth. They deliver valuable partner enablement and help them understand the business value that our offers unlock. We are activating a new niche set of partners in manufacturing, automation, healthcare, retail and finance that have built a business around security services. We’re confident our distributors will show us creative ways to open up that market,” says Julie Hens, Vice President, Global Distribution Sales, Cisco Systems.