Recent investments and acquisitions indicate that the IT sector is looking to expand IoT offerings quickly. Vendors need to strong, focused channel programs to take advantage of IoT this year.
SD-WAN went from a low-cost MPLS replacement to a sophisticated way to solve several enterprise networking issues. IT vendors and telecom service providers have taken notice.
Success in the IoT space will require vendors and channel partners to work more closely together than they ever have before. Solution providers will be critical enablers that help vendors take different technology pieces and put them together for customers as an end-to-end IoT solution.
The goal of every sales organization and salesperson is to sell a product or service. However, while selling one product is great, selling more than one—or one that carries a slightly higher price tag or margin—is the key to profitability and should be part of your corporate sales strategy.
As solution providers ramp up in IoT, bigger infrastructure deals and longer-term technology spending may follow. Vendors need to stay ahead of the game by making sure they have adequate channel programs and channel marketing budgets that are specifically targeting IoT.
Cybersecurity and cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings are among the leading money-making opportunity for channel partners who are looking to add more recurring revenue to their business. That was the message from several of the speakers at CompTIA's ChannelCon 2017 Vendor Summit in Austin, Texas, earlier this month.
Channel companies and IT vendors are all shifting from hardware-based procurement and innovation cycles to a world where software and services are always-on, pay-as-you-go and constantly changing. To stand out, solution providers need to specialize, focus and do more than just resell someone else's cloud capacity.