Emergent: 2017 Thoughts

CVx 2017

2017 Thoughts – In the Channel for 2017

ChannelVision Jan-Feb 2017
[excerpt from ChannelVision Jan-Feb 2017]

RingCentral vice president of channel sales and longtime channel veteran Zane Long recently provided ChannelVision with his predictions for the channel for 2017. Here’s what Zane sees on the near horizon.

The Bubble-Up Effect: Change demand for UCaaS is coming from customers, which is creating a bubble-up effect in the channel. Organizations are initiating conversations with their trusted IT advisors (channel partners) about moving not just core datadriven applications but also their business communications systems to the cloud. Increasingly, I hear customers say that going forward they will be “cloud first” and “cloud only” when it comes to all things IT. In 2017, we’ll begin to see an increase in this customer-to-partner demand behavior, which will ultimately drive new channel business models.

The Proof is in the Platform:  Today’s business cloud ecosystem is successful because of the various business application integrations that make greater work productivity possible. But this is still a nascent concept in channel sales. As this trend continues to unfold and enterprises adopt interoperable platforms, channel partners will realize that there is more to sell beyond the software. An integrated business needs integrated solutions, and only those vendors that offer up an open platform will win the business.


RELATED: ChannelVision Report: App-etizing Opportunities


The End of Hybrid IT Models: The channel model of selling hybrid traditional on-premises hardware with cloud-based infrastructure and capabilities is coming to a halt. The value proposition for cloud is too great, and in particular, for cloud communications. According to a recent NoJitter report, more than half of companies surveyed said they currently use or will be using the cloud for their unified communications needs in the next 12 months. Over the course of next year, we will see a major shift in the way channel executives model their businesses, both from a sales and services perspective. We’ll see the channel redefine the model for technology services – blending both conventional and emerging IT approaches – to achieve long-term success, and less tightrope walking/more cloud conversion among mid and large-sized enterprises.

Enablement is King: Partners need the right sales support and enablement in order to be successful. It isn’t enough to have just an amazing product or the richest commissions, because if partners are not fully enabled to really market it, they will not position your product first. The cloud communications marketplace is crowded and the demand for these competing solutions is evident (as noted in my earlier predictions). Vendors need to “think partner enablement first,” making it easy to transact to keep their partners transacting and gaining market share for their solutions.

RingCentral


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About ChannelVision Magazine:

ChannelVision is a bi-monthly digital and print magazine, read by channel partners selling all manner of voice, data, access, managed and business services (both on premise and “in the cloud”), as well as, technology, gear, and equipment.  ChannelVision is a highly focused and efficient way for service providers, hardware, and software companies to reach experienced channel partners targeting the small/medium business space.  Serving a controlled circulation of providers and indirect distributors of communications, network, IT and cloud-based business services, ChannelVision is telecom’s gateway to perspective on how to adapt, what to sell, and how to sell it.