INTERNATIONAL AGENTS “So, I don’t know whether the starts and stops of Omicron or other variants and other situations hurt us, because transformation started a couple of years before in our partner ecosystem,” he added. Focusing on Sage, Benmalek said, “The way we work with our partners and enable them has helped to get more digital engagement, and many of them are already working in a virtual way and a hybrid way with their customers, so I wouldn’t say it’s a non-event, but most of them started more than two years ago.” While digital transformation certainly has influenced end-user customers, it also has affected the channel and the partner ecosystem. “It’s been a booster, because we have seen the business evolve rapidly on our side as well as how we enable and help the partner ecosystem, be it VARS or ISVs or SIs on how to deliver the services in a virtual way and engage with the customers. “From the customer side, the pandemic accelerated the movement to the cloud, because that is how they – the customer – can operate in a virtual world,” Benmalek stated. “I think we should be proud of how we have delivered, especially to our key partner ecosystem, on how to jump in and work with customers.” Cloud Growth is Worldwide Sage’s worldwide partner ecosystem includes resellers, independent software vendors, developers, system integrators and financial institutions, and Benmalek agrees each is valuable at the international level. “From a business point of view, overall, we are really continuing to see strong growth on both cloud native and cloud connected cloud business,” Benmalek said. “From a cloud native and cloud connect business, we continue to see high growth across all regions. Some regions are faster than others as you can imagine, such as North America, Europe, but other regions such as APAC [Asia-Pacific] as well as Middle East and Africa are really catching up with strong growth.” He said Sage is strong in France, Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom. The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region also shows strong engagement, and the partner ecosystem continues to evolve and grow. “We have the products and technology,” he said. “We are driving deeper and deeper into the vertical and horizonal markets. For example, we have great cloud native products. We are not only deep and strong in many verticals for nonprofits and the financial industry, but at the same time we are extending into other verticals through our growth or through strategic partnerships or M&A.” Integrating to the Cloud Of course, with the cloud transformation comes the need to ensure integration of all the variables to keep a network operational. “The beauty of it is we have a true service fabric, and through the foundation from our product point of view, an API-driven strategy that allows us to have the technology and the API that allow other third-party partners to develop and complement the solutions as well as programs to help from either the marketplace or go-to market and other engagement, technology and other resources,” Benmalek said. He added, “Our vision is to be the trusted network for small and medium businesses to help them manage their data, their relationship with their suppliers, their vendors, their government and governance overall for their business, and that is what we are driving today through the network vision we have and are enabling the small business through the partner ecosystem and through the rich ecosystem that allows for that.” To succeed, data exchange becomes more critical than ever, he said. “In the sense of what data are being exchanged, data and the security and having a trusted network that can enable our customers to use the technology we have but also to have a platform that will enable them to interact with their suppliers, vendors and the government in a more trusted way.” Partners Needed Now End-use customers are looking to partners more than ever to help them navigate the digital transformation and cloud support, Benmalek said, making this a perfect time to be a partner in the channel. “There are multiple ways where customers are looking in the partner ecosystem and looking to evolve at this time,” he explained. “First of all, Pandemic Both an Accelerator and Inhibitor of Emerging Tech Efforts Source: CompTIA, 2021 Majority Affirm IT Chann l Relevance ... But Mixed Feeling on State of Chang Source: CompTIA, 2021 Current way of interacting with suppliers’ sales reps, by stage of pro % of respondents per sales channel type Accelerated or expanded efforts Stayed the course Paused or abandoned efforts Overall ANZ BeNeLux Canada UK US 27% 29% 39% 44% 46% 43% 51% 53% 47% 56% 52% 32% 6% 14% 10% 43% 38% 6% 11% 37% 10% 27% 31% 39% 19% 28% 47% 20% 35% 38% 22% 25% 47% 32% 28% 35% Overall ANZ BeNeLux Canada UK US Aug ‘20 29 32 33 30 32 33 20 32 32 19 30 Feb ‘21 Dec ‘21 Aug ‘20 Feb ‘21 Dec ‘21 Aug ‘20 Feb ‘21 Dec ‘21 Aug ‘20 Feb ‘21 Traditional interactions 16 CHANNELV ISION | MARCH - APRIL 2022
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