CV_MarApr_22

the partner ecosystem is a rich and divergent group of VARs, IVs and our more than 700 technology partners in the marketplace. There is a strong ecosystem of service providers that is helping customers drive the adoption, usage and migration.” At the same time, he said the routes to market are evolving and are leveraging the demand for digital transformation in meaningful ways. For example, many VARs either are building their own IT or partnering with the marketplace ecosystem to provide IT solutions end-to-end. “I think the channel partner program we have, and we continue to evolve it, is here to support customers and to help customers evolve,” Benmalek said. “The channel ecosystem and the channel partner program really need to be the foundation that continues to evolve to do stuff. “From a partner program point of view, as we move into more subscription business, as we move into more cloud business, as we move into more consumption and usage business, I think that partner programs are evolving to enable a model that can be more flexible in how to drive consumption and usage, and how to have modern business models in addition to a margin up front to something that is more tied to consumption enablement.” He continued, “That, I think, is where the programs and the channel are evolving. In a consumption usage world that drives value-added as well as ecosystem participation that is helping the channel to all the marketplaces, and the added value they are bringing into the marketplaces through third parties.” Benmalek said, “Finding good partners, we have a strong ecosystem across the board. At the same time, we are always looking in a targeted way at services that are born in cloud or cloud native. We continue to recruit cloud native partners.” He said the international agent partner needs to be aware of what the end customer wants, such as a great product and cloud-based problem solving. “The partner ecosystem needs to allow customers to be strategic in their business,” Benmalek said. “The partner needs to help the customer save time going to market and help them evolve.” o Source: CompTIA, 2021 Majority Affirm IT Channel Relevance ... But Mixed Feeling on State of Change Source: CompTIA, 2021 Current way of interacting with uppliers’ sales reps, by stage of pr ess % of respondents per sales channel type Source: McKinsey & Co. Identifying and researching new suppliers Considering and evaluating new supliers Ordering Reordering Current way of interacting with suppliers’ sales reps, by stage of process 44% 46% 43% 51% 53% 47% 56% 52% 32% 6% 14% 10% 43% 38% 6% 11% 37% 10% Overall ANZ BeNeLux Canada UK US Relevant and changing rapidly Relevant and holding steady Only somewhat relevant and diminishing or unsure Aug ‘20 29 32 33 49 35 33 22 34 34 30 32 33 48 35 34 22 33 33 20 32 32 44 34 33 36 34 35 19 30 30 46 34 33 35 36 36 Feb ‘21 Dec ‘21 Aug ‘20 Feb ‘21 Dec ‘21 Aug ‘20 Feb ‘21 Dec ‘21 Aug ‘20 Feb ‘21 Dec ‘21 Traditional interactions Remote human interactions Digital self-serve INTERNATIONAL AGENTS 18 CHANNELV ISION | MARCH - APRIL 2022

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTg4Njc=