engagements with the goal of simpl ifying their edges. As MSP and service provider customers continue to embrace mobile and cloud technologies and the benefits they have on overall operations, there will naturally be more devices and more management processes added to the collection. In many cases, this can balloon out of control very quickly as customers see the workflow benefits firsthand – and want more. Cloud and mobile apps are easy to purchase and begin using, which means that if MSPs aren’t actively offering what a customer needs, they’re liable to look elsewhere or to do it themselves, then handing the MSP the ongoing management problem. If uncontrolled, MSPs and service providers may be left with multiple clouds, multiple vendors and multiple management tools under their purview. Management can become time-consuming and inefficient, and inefficiency can easily lead to missing potential problems until it’s too late. That is why it’s so important to offer customers a clear path to taking advantage of the cloud and building out their edges in a way that makes sense for both parties. Simplify Management One of the most visible improvements of edge simplification is the ability to streamline ongoing management and maintenance. This can be done by consolidating management of customers’ services into a single platform, one that provides a singlepane-of-glass view into all operations. Presenting customers with a unified platform from which to choose services not only makes business operations more efficient and effective, it consolidates management on the MSP or solution provider side, eliminating unnecessary complexity and added costs. Management abilities are improved, and with a single view, MSPs can recognize potential network downtime or breakdowns quicker, enabling the all-important end-user experience to be maintained. As mentioned, consolidation of edge management also has the added benefit of providing realtime information about customers’ networks, empowering MSPs and service providers to proactively manage their customers, sometimes even identifying issues before they become problems. Quality of service is improved, and the overall costs of doing business are lowered for all. More importantly, customers will come to recognize their MSPs and service providers as partners that understand their needs and that are 100 percent on top of any potential wrinkle the network could throw at them. Expand Service Offerings Simplifying the edge isn’t just about improving management and maintenance, however. Having a single platform with inter-connected service offerings offers another benefit as well – the ability to expand the services offered. As an organization improves management and maintenance, they can spend less time on mundane and redundant tasks such as onboarding new equipment or checking each potential security alert. Many of these tasks can be automated along the way, which frees up valuable time and resources to be used on designing and rolling out new products and services to customers. In this way, MSPs and service providers continue to bring customers the latest innovations – while, at the same time, their own businesses can easily scale to support these expansions. Embrace AI and Automation MSPs and service providers need to continually look for ways to expand the offerings delivered to their customers, and to look for new customers to add to their roster. As expansion occurs on both fronts, additional resources will be necesEMERGENT (Among the 66% of firms that prefer entire solutions to come from one lead vendor) How Enterprises Build Their Edges Source: STL Partners 28.9% 21.3% 16.3% 14.8% 11.5% CSP Device Vendor IT Vendor Systems Integrator NEP Application Provider 7.4% Enterprise spend on public edge computing by region worldwide 2019 Source: Analysis Mason What are the biggest hurdles channel leaders face when setting up an effective partner journey? 5000 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 North America Western Europe Developed Asia-Pacific Middle East and North Africa Latin America Central and Eastern Europe Emerging Asia-Pacific Sub-Saharan Africa 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 Spend (USD million) 10 CHANNELV ISION | JULY - AUGUST 2022
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