Jan/Feb 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

“The ability to build a business around ar- tificial intelligence, virtual reality, blockchain, drones, IoT, etc., will take companies into a fu- ture growth path, for sure,” reports the IT chan- nel association. By 2021, research firm IDC predicts that emerging technologies such as robotics, drones, augmented and virtual reality and 3D printers will account for almost a quarter of total informa- tion technology spending. Of course, we are not there yet, as most channel partners continue to drive the bulk of their revenue from a more es- tablished set of sources, show CompTIA’s find- ings. At present, managed IT services, such as remote network monitoring, are the top offering named by channel partners – a part of the port- folio of 51 percent of responding channel part- ners and a top revenue producer for 33 percent of channel firms. “And while admittedly it’s been a long, slow march to transform from a mostly product-based transactional business to a services-based re- curring revenue operation, a majority of today’s channel firms now at least offer some managed services to go along with other products and solutions,” said the CompTIA study. CompTIA is quick to point out, however, that most channel firms, especially those coming from the more traditional ranks, remain hybrid in nature. “They might identify as an MSP, but also conduct some hardware sales, integration services, cloud and SaaS work, and other activi- ties,” the report continued. Meanwhile, consulting work is increasingly popular, especially among the smaller-sized seg- ment of the channel. Roughly half (49 percent) of all respondents report to doing consulting Channel Revenue Changes E merging technologies, though still nascent, are becoming a growing part of IT channel partner portfolios, as well as the top driver for change within the technology ecosystem, according to the most recent annual State of the Channel report from CompTIA. By Martin Vilaboy Core Communications Emerging technologies move toward the core Solutions/Services Generating Most Revenue in Last Two Years Managed IT services 33% Software-as-a-service sales 32% Custom application development 26% Security infrastructure/app services 24% Consulting 23% Integration services 23% Break/fix services 18% Digital marketing services 17% Back office/business function expertise 15% Data analytics 12% Vertical industry work (applications/implementation/business consulting) 11% Unified communications/telecom services 11% Hardware device sales 9% Source: CompTIA 12 Channel Vision | January - February, 2019