Mar/Apr 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

Core Communications attention to that specific market,” said Pasquale. The more time you spend in an industry, the more pain points you will observe. To that point, verticalization gives partners the ability and the expertise to effectively scale out across an industry. “Where a company like Dominoes has an issue, you can predict that companies like Papa John’s, Little Caesar’s, Papa Gino’s and Pizza Hut will all have similar challenges,” said Pasquale. “If you’re aiming at the world you can’t offer this type of differentiation,” he continued. “It’s too difficult. You just can’t do it as effectively.” The Changing Channel Another reason why we are see- ing increased verticalization is due to the fact that the IT landscape is rapidly changing. The channel is growing, as new players are entering an already crowded ecosystem of providers. Of course, the technology land- scape has always been crowded. This is nothing new. But in recent years, it’s become noticeably more competitive, due to the explosion of the cloud. According to CompTIA, the most prevalent new type of provider in the ecosystem are cloud-based in- dependent software vendors (ISVs) and their SaaS-focused reseller and referral partners. Six in 10 channel firms, according to Comp- TIA figures, report encountering this type of organization in today’s landscape. Digital marketing agencies and vertical industry application special- ists also are generating increased r GDPR* 56% 95,180 Importance of Vertical Industry Work in the Last Year Source: CompTIA TOP 2 BOX (NET) BOTTOM 2 BOX (NET) Very Important Important Somewhat Important Not Important Don’t know Not applicable 75% 40% 35% 20% 17% 3% 3% 2% Reasons for Specializing in a Vertical Industry by Job Role Source: CompTIA Customer demand Significant revenue opportunity Competitive differentiator Vendors pushing us in this direction In-house skills map to specific vertical Declining margins in other areas of the business Horizontal solutions not as lucrative IT Staff Business Staff 64% 59% 58% 48% 41% 44% 24% 26% 20% 26% 20% 20% 17% 15% Current Familiarity with Individual Emerging Technologies 3D printing 5G Artificial intelligence/ Machine learning Augmented reality Biometrics Blockchain Drones (applications/analytics 26% 27% 19% 47% 34% 27% 28% 42% 30% 30% 42% 28% 42% 31% 44% 29% 44% 31% Insignificant or No Knowledge/Familiarity Some Knowledge/Familiarity Significant Knowledge/Familiarity THE FIRST CPAAS MARKETPLACE BUILT FOR THE CHANNEL. DEVELOP WHITE LABEL MONETIZE DISTRIBUTE 69 March - April, 2019 | Channel Vision