At the pandemic’s height, as much as 40% of the UK’s workforce switched to home working. With gradually declining COVID case numbers across much of Europe, more firms are considering a return to the office.
But with 20-to-25% of employees expected to work remotely, many organisations will have to plan for, and secure a hybrid working environment.
“The hybrid working environment is a huge opportunity for [managed service providers] MSPs,” said Greg Jones, business development director, EMEA, Datto, who was speaking at IT Europa’s Leaders in Discussion virtual roundtable earlier this week.
According to Jones, the pandemic has rapidly accelerated cloud adoption over the last 18 months.
This growth represents a huge opportunity for channel partners, as end user organisations attempt to secure and enable remote working environments.
“With 20% of the work force working from home, there is a wider threat landscape… the idea of the trusted network has gone,” said Kyle Torres, channel account executive, MSP UKI/WER, Sophos.
“MSPs must know how they are securing, as well as implementing, these services,” he added.
The migration to managed services also opens an opportunity for channel partners to change the nature of their customer relationship. The shift to a services model, combined with a greater security focus means that service providers and end users will form closer partnerships.
“It used to be there was some services and the rest used to be product purchases… but the market has now moved on. When you’re entrusted with data there is a shift in approach – you work closer together. It becomes a true partnership,” said Stephen Hennessy, head of cyber, Babble Cloud.
The roundtable brought together Stephen Hennessy, head of cyber, Babble Cloud, Kyle Torres, channel account executive, MSP UKI/WER, Sophos, Rob Allen, VP of EMEA operations, Threatlocker, Amelia Paro, cybersecurity advisor, channel enablement & sales expert, ID Agent, Quinton Watts, director security sales EMEA, ConnectWise, Mike Brennan, account executive (EMEA), Deep Instinct and Greg Jones, business development director, EMEA, Datto.
The video of the roundtable will available shortly.
The next edition of Leaders in Discussion will be held on 20th July and will bring together vendors and channel partners to explore the hybrid working opportunity. The roundtable will create an engaging forum to discuss the technologies and the challenges presented by hybrid working environment, and how channel partners can take advantage of the opportunity.
