Jan-Feb 2020 - ChannelVision Magazine

modernizing data protection and recovery (40 percent). More generally, “entrusting aspects of data protection to a third party,” also was listed as the top challenge of dealing with IT service providers. A Legacy Connection The number two challenge of dealing with IT services providers has less to do with where business network systems are going and more to do with where they have been. Along with the knowledge of and excitement around what digital transformation can do for their busi- ness, most IT professionals are con- fident in their organization’s ability to adapt to the changes introduced by transformation initiatives. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) believe their IT program is very or extremely flex- ible with respect to adapting to or- ganizational change and scaling as the business grows. More than half (57 percent) say their business is very or extremely well-equipped to implement new technologies — with this percentage climbing to 71 per- cent among the largest businesses surveyed (501 to 1,000 employees). But while IT professionals feel quipped to implement new solu- tions, “they express doubts about their ability to integrate those new solutions with their organization’s existing or legacy infrastructure,” Insight executives noted. Ranking second only to security, “integra- tion with existing infrastructure” was named as the top challenge to cloud implementation by 55 percent of respondents. Likewise, identifying best-fit tools to integrate with exist- ing technology ranked second after only security as their most common hurdle to equipping the organiza- tion with the best technology. Fur- thermore, almost half (49 percent) report that integrating new solutions with legacy technology is “very or extremely challenging” when deal- ing with IT service providers. IT professionals at indepen- dent businesses are also fearful of implementing the cloud without fully understanding the potential impact to the existing architecture and business operations. Among the top challenges to cloud implementation, IT professionals rank integration with existing infrastructure number two and minimizing disruptions to the business number three, behind security and compliance, showed the Insight study. So while a growing knowledge of new and emerging technologies is certainly key to positioning a solution provider as a technology partner and advisor, it would seem channel partners with some knowl- edge of legacy systems and infra- structures would hold an advantage over the more “digitally native” solution providers. Possibly as much as anything, “One of the most acute problems SMBs must solve,” said Insight, “is modernizing their IT operations overall without faltering on day-to-day operations.” o Trusted Reliable Secure Hosted HTTPS FAX Take the Pain out of Fax Move to FaxSIPit SecureFAX-SDE + Mobile App We handle your Fax headaches Ask us about becoming a reseller! Your reliable fax delivery – powered by our expertise FaxSIPit Services Inc. | http://www.faxsipit.com | 866.374.6495 Get peace of mind with our HTTPS/TLS FoIP ATAs White labeled hosted platform Get HIPAA compliance & Ransomware Protection 45 January - February, 2020 | CHANNEL VISION