The latest insights from IT market intelligence company CONTEXT
Half of European resellers gear up for major cloud investment in next 12 months
Nearly half (49%) of European resellers are preparing for a significant cloud push in the coming year, to meet rising customer demand for digital transformation to support hybrid working.
According to CONTEXT’s latest ChannelWatch survey, 73% of resellers are seeing customers accelerate their rate of digital transformation due to the pandemic.
More than half (51%) say the cloud is driving this surge due to its scalability, remote management, integrated security and remote delivery of services.
Around half of the 6,500 resellers CONTEXT spoke to for its report are already selling cloud products and services. The majority (53%) are selling 1-3 offerings, with 29.5% selling 4-10 and 17% selling 10 or more services.
There is a 50-50 split between those who provision their cloud offerings manually and those who automate provisioning. CONTEXT suggests that the former are more likely to be taking advantage of opportunistic sales from ‘hero’ products like Microsoft 365 that offer no cross-selling opportunities and only razor-thin margins, whereas those using automated provisioning enabled by distributor marketplaces have a far more scalable workflow that typically supports 5 or more products aimed at industry verticals.
Separate data reveals that most resellers rely opportunistically on inbound sales (53%), rather than cross-selling (38%) or driving digital (29%) and traditional (16%) outbound marketing.
CONTEXT Cloud Specialist Chris Vallenduuk said: “We know that around 50% of resellers acknowledge that the cloud is a vital area to invest in. But now it’s time for them to expand their portfolios and move to more active marketing techniques and integration of products. After all, this is where the real profits lie and where most distributors are very well positioned to deliver excellent value for the channel.”
Be First to Comment