Partners offering AI/ML solutions have increased 625 percent in just one year, according to a new study from TD SYNNEX, from 4 percent in 2022 to 29 percent in 2023. Future plans to invest in AI/ML are also growing exponentially. In 2022, 14 percent of partners planned to offer AI/ML by 2025, with that number jumping to 34 percent in 2023. The growth is supported by findings on the demand side, as well. TD SYNNEX cited research from S&P Global Market Intelligence showing nearly 70 percent of responding large businesses have at least one AI project in production. However, 31 percent reported that those projects were still in pilot or proof-of-concept stage, and only 28 percent said they’ve reached enterprise scale with an AI project. The global survey gathered responses from more than 550 technology resellers, revealing that these businesses are recalibrating their priorities and services in response to the evolving landscape, said the report. “The business partner ecosystem is a bellwether for the global technology landscape,” said Rich Hume, CEO at TD SYNNEX. “It’s encouraging to see that our channel partners are demonstrating flexibility in their business models by focusing on emerging technologies and responding to changing customer demands.” Most enterprises either maintain a combination of automated and manual IT processes or are still mostly manual. But respondents to recent polling by 451 Alliance express a clear desire to automate more IT processes and expect to be increasing their IT automation budgets. Currently, just more than 5 percent of respondents say all their IT processes are currently automated, and a quarter report to having most IT processes automated. The largest group of respondents (30 percent) has a fairly equal amount of automated and manual processes, show 451’s data, while 27 percent say they use mostly manual processes and 13 percent say all IT processes are manual. In 12 months, however, 16 percent of respondents expect all their IT processes will be automated, representing a threefold increase in that category. The biggest expected decrease is among those with mostly manual processes, projected to decrease to 19 percent of respondents from the current 27 percent. Turning specifically to budgets, more than four in five respondents (86 percent) report their IT automation budgets will increase, with just more than one-third of respondents projecting an increase between 26 and 50 percent. About one-fifth (18 percent) say their budget will increase between 51 and 75 percent. When asked which IT processes would benefit the most from automation, respondents cite a broad range of functions led by security management, database management, application management, backup and recovery management and network management. “These respondents recognize the benefits of productivity, efficiency and speed that automation can provide,” said the 451 research note. “Nevertheless, some are concerned that costs may be prohibitive, that automation technology might be difficult to integrate with existing IT infrastructure and systems, or that their organization might lack the required skills and resources.” Perhaps the most notable finding, it continued “is that respondents believe IT automation can transfer skills across IT domains, helping to protect and preserve scarce resources and, in effect, making automation an IT force multiplier.” Study Shows Surge in AI Interest Among Resellers Enterprises Look to Increase IT Automation EMERGENT Technology Solutions Resellers Plan to Offer Within 24 Months Security 46% Networking 46% Data analytics 35% AI/ML 34% Hybrid cloud 34% Servers and storage 34% Automation 33% Collaboration 29% Source: TD SYNNEX In your opinion, what are the primary benefits of IT automation technology? Source: 451 Alliance: S&P Global Market Intelligence Generative AI Vertical Creation World Markets: 2023 to 2030 Increased productivity Increased efficiency Faster response times Better servicing of IT customers Increased scalability Increased agiliy and responsisveness Improved compliance and governance Reduced manual effor and human error Consistency/standardized process 40% 39% 34% 31% 29% 27% 24% 23% 21% 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 vices Law uring otive ation US$ Billions ative media hcare ining merce coms ticals 8 CHANNELVISION | SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2023
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