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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-TRAVEL

GAMING 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.com

Stop Giving Customers Away,

Be Your Own Service Provider

May - June, 2017

|

Channel

Vision

29