In its inaugural ”Cloud Technology: The State of the Channel Report,” Ingram Micro Cloud examines the rising cost of customer acquisition, the consolidation in four key verticals, the impact of COVID-19 on the technology market and the diversifying role of the channel.
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“Now is the golden age of the technology channel”
Among its findings, the report shows the growth in the adoption of cloud technologies has reinforced and expanded the channel’s critical role in the industry. Additionally, vendors increasingly rely on the channel to recruit, enable and finance partners, while managed services providers and resellers are turning to distributors more than ever to maneuver through the increasingly complex half a trillion-dollar cloud services market.
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“Now is the golden age of the technology channel,” said Nimesh Davé, president of Ingram Micro Cloud. “Never before have vendors and businesses relied so much on the channel for expertise and problem-solving, and this report explores both the driving forces that led us here, as well as the growth opportunities that await.”
Ingram Micro Cloud, which operates the world’s largest cloud marketplace for the channel, examines how four industry developments will ultimately expand vendor, partner and customer engagements and opportunities on the channel for the marketing and sale of IT products.
- Rising costs of customer acquisition: For vendors, the sales and marketing costs of securing new customers continue to rise. Less able to effectively obtain new customers on their own, vendors are increasingly gravitating toward the channel as a means of connecting with customers.
- Consolidation in four key verticals: An increase in mergers and acquisitions, and the resulting reduction in options, may drive up pricing in business applications, cybersecurity, enterprise collaborations and multi-cloud software – threatening SMB’s access to essential technologies. The channel’s automated processes and bundled solutions offer a cost-effective way to obtain, deploy and maintain needed solutions.
- Tech market is thinning out amid COVID-19: The pandemic has amplified the need for fully digital infrastructures, while hamstringing a large number of startups. In this desolate startup landscape, the channel’s agnostic marketplaces offer access to a greater variety of solutions.
- The diversifying role of the channel: Beyond its traditional role, the channel is now helping grow cloud ecosystems by recruiting and investing in smaller vendors, and even extending credit to channel partners.
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