These investments in digital transfor-
mation will be front and center for busi-
nesses in 2017 – especially for small
and medium-sized businesses. And
that’s great news for channel partners.
CompTIA’s
Business Relevance
of IT in the SMB Market
report, which
surveyed 600 U.S. SMBs during August
2016, found cybersecurity, data utiliza-
tion and the modernization of legacy
infrastructure and applications as key
areas for improvement.
And, it found that two-thirds of
SMBs indicated technology is a primary
factor in pursuing business objectives;
31 percent rate it as the No. 2 factor.
This all bodes well for channel partners
as they position themselves with servic-
es such as Star2Star’s unified commu-
nications systems to help businesses
achieve their goals.
As for the top objectives for improv-
ing their bottom line in the coming year,
CompTIA found that customer retention
tops the list (50 percent), followed by
expansion into new markets (48 per-
cent), business process improvement
(46 percent), innovation (42 percent)
and workforce development (34 percent)
– all efforts that must be underpinned by
top-notch communications systems.
And more good news for partners: to
support these goals, one in three SMBs
report spending more than $100,000
annually on technology, and 60 percent
of SMBs believe their
return on investment in technology
has been excellent or good.
Some of the trends for channel
partners to watch include:
• More channel firms will be develop-
ing their own intellectual property,
whether it is a piece of custom code,
or a business process they replicate
across customers.
• The players in the channel will con-
tinue to change with digital agencies,
marketing firms, accountants and other
non-traditional partners selling or rec-
ommending IT solutions.
• New tools driven by the cloud mindset
will see initial adoption at the enter-
prise level before moving into the
SMB space. These include hypercon-
verged infrastructure, blockchain and
artificial intelligence.
• Workplace dynamics will continue to
evolve, and with the availability of an
increasing array of new collaboration
and communication tools, workers are
expected to push the boundaries of
“bring your own collaboration” in much
the same way as they did with BYOD.
This is shaping up to be an exciting
year for the channel, and Star2Star is
here as your trusted technology partner
in designing the perfect solution to help
clients meet their business goals.
o
David Portnowitz is chief marketing
officer for Star2Star communications.
Source: TeleGeography
Source: RAD-INFO INC
Examples of Decl
Source: US Telecom; Well
Source: Techaisle
Millennials in US Small Businesses (1-99 employees)
IoT Increase Spending Drivers
Average Wireless Price per MB
Source: GSMA
Mobile Ecosystem Market Size by Segment and Category
Compelling Business Need
Inproved Daily
Operational Efficiencies
Respond Faster to
Customer Needs
52%
48%
43%
1-4
4-10
11-20
21
51
$0.08
$0.06
$
$0.04
$0.02
$0.00
41%
Employees
(weighted data)
35%
IT Decision
Makers
29%
Owners/CEOs/
Presidents
ONLINE SERVICES
OTHER E-SERVICE
OTHER E-SERVICE
SEARCH
PUBLISHING
B
2
C E-RETAIL
B
2
C E-RETAIL
E-TRAVELGAMING CAMPING
VIDEO
OTHER E-SERVICE
CONNECTIVITY USER INTERFACE
ENABLING
TECHNOLOGY
AND SERVICES
SOCIAL AND
COMMUNITY
PAYMENT
PLATFORMS
TOTAL MARKET = $3,463 BILLION
OPERATING
SYSTEMS
APP
STORES
MUSIC
SECURITY
AND
SOFTWARE
CONSOLES
TABLETS
SMART TVs
PCs
SMARTPHONES
STBs
AND
DMRs
WEARABLES
OTHER
SMART
ITEMS
OTHER
HARDWARE
FIXED
MOBILE
ADVERTISING
SERVICES
CORE NETWORK
AND INTERCHANGE
DESIGN AND
DEVELOPMENT
WEB HOSTING
AD AGENCIES
CONTENT DELIVERY
AND OPTIMIZATION
IP COMMS
M
2
M
SATELLITE
B2B
COMMS
CR
MUSIC
SPORTS
VIDEO
PUBLISHING
GAMING
64(2%)
1,637(47%)
373 (11%)
577 (17%)
813 (23%)
$ billion, % of total market, 2015
What is driving the increase in IoT spending in 2017?
Growth in
Corporate Value
Time
Invested:
Less Than
One Day
Profit Margins vs.
Agent Commissio s
52%
15%
blulogix.comStop Giving Customers Away,
Be Your Own Service Provider
May - June, 2017
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29