Playbook Volume 11 - ChannelVision Magazine - Digital Transformation

With disruption and changes striking every sector of technology, IT channel partners may be feeling better than they have in some time. In 2016, the CompTIA study shows, 63 percent of respondents said they were generally optimistic about the channel’s future; in 2018 that number rose to 75 percent. “Gloomy outlooks have tem- pered as well,” said CompTIA. The number of channel firms expressing pessimism about the future during the same two years dropped from 16 percent to 5 percent. One could simply chalk it up to an improved U.S. economy and the subsequent uptick in consumer and small business sentiment. The data, however, points to myriad reasons for the positive outlook. “Nearly across the board, respondents in 2018 ranked factors that bolster good feelings about the channel’s future significantly higher than they did two years ago,” said CompTIA analysts. And in some cases, precisely the same market factors that are creating the most enthu- siasm among IT channel partners are also the factors causing some levels of consternation. Clouds Lifting D espite the predictions of doom and gloom that rang through the industry a few years back, the IT channel and its ecosystem of partners are quite optimistic about their growth prospects moving forward, suggests CompTIA’s most recent “State of the Channel Survey.” IT channel firms head into 2019 optimistic about transformation By Martin Vilaboy 18 THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S PLAYBOOK