Once again, it’s time to gaze into the crystal ball and offer some predictions for our channel in 2025. Last year, I mentioned 5G and fixed wireless access (FWA), plain old telephone service (POTS) migration, increased network demand with the return to the office, internet access, network security and a brief nod to AI. There are a lot of predictions for the 2025 economy and the impact – positive or negative – of the incoming administration, but we can broadly identify the “green shoots” of opportunities for our channel as: AI, increased internet bandwidth, wireless internet access, SD-WAN and secure edge solutions, and leveraging time-division multiplexing (TDM) migrations. AI AI is not a service or a single product solution. It’s a phenomenon that, good or bad, is destined to change not only our working life but mankind in general. Think along the lines of the inventions of motive power, electricity, electric lighting, airplanes and the internet. Many of us are using AI tools today to improve productivity and customer experience. Have you used an off-the-shelf AI product to write reports or take meeting notes? It will soon evolve from labor-saving tools to labor-replacement solutions that will affect every industry and function within an organization, from the loading dock to the C-suite. For example, imagine AI CEOs, managed by a board that also uses AI. I don’t wish to sound like a troglodyte, but when AI starts writing its own code and building and operating its own solutions without human intervention it may be time to re-read Darwin. One thing we do know about AI is that it is a pig for electricity and, to the benefit of our channel, it’s an insatiable glutton for bandwidth. Insatiable Bandwidth Demand ComputerWeekly.com published an article using information from Global Internet Geography Service that showed internet bandwidth tripled since 2018 and has been increasing at a 30 percent CAGR during the last few years. AI, IoT and cloud applications are driving the demand for By Glen Nelson Crystal Ball Gazing for Partner Opportunities in 2025 50 CHANNELVISION | 2025 DIRECTORY
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