Channel partners continue to accelerate digital transformation with enterprise customers, with the cloud poised to reach a significant milestone as the center of business transformation.
The COVID-19 pandemic quickly tracked a wave of projects in 2020, with cloud adoption, digital commerce and hybrid work among key initiatives. That pattern will continue until 2022 and beyond, according to research published this week.
Consider the following:
- A survey commissioned by Insight Enterprises found that 87% of the 400 senior IT decision-makers polled are undertaking digital transformation. Nine out of 10 respondents said digital transformation has accelerated in the past 18 months.
- Research from Gartner predicts that enterprise IT spending on public cloud computing will exceed investment in traditional IT by 2025. At that point, the cloud will represent 51% of the market compared to Gartner’s 41% slice forecast for this year. Growth rates in traditional markets will be lower than in the cloud as companies extend their long -term digital transformation initiative to 2022, according to the market researcher.
- Meanwhile, Harvard Business School (HBS), suggests that organizations undertaking digital transformation should partner with key ecosystem players to advance their projects. “Companies can no longer stand alone, given the speed and capability required to compete,” HBS reported, citing its survey of more than 1,500 senior executives and roundtable discussions.
Juan Orlandini
The Cloud brings change
Public cloud adoption is driving digital transformation, said Juan Orlandini, chief architect for the cloud and data center transformation division at Insight, a solutions integrator based in Tempe, Ariz. Developers can use the cloud as a platform to solve business problems in an accelerated way.
“The public cloud gives you services you can quickly develop,” Orlandini said.
While the cloud provides the tailwind for advancing change, the lack of headwind skills hinders progress, he added. In a particular project, an organization may need to understand the on -premises IT component and also have expertise in a range of cloud providers. Orlandini called the mix of those skills as a high order.
In fact, 44% of respondents to the Insight survey, conducted by IDG Research Services, cited skills or knowledge gaps as the No. 1 preventing change. Labor barriers-a barrier to expanding digital innovation-could increase the need for partners who can complement businesses ’in-house IT staff.
Ed Anderson
Integration, agility is driving the cloud shift
Partners can expect most of that demand to come from the cloud, if spending opens up as Gartner predicted. The company said the 2025 spending outlook applies to the cloud-addressable market-i.e., application software, software infrastructure, business process services and system infrastructure.
Customer interest in integration capabilities, agile work processes and composable architecture will tip the scale of IT spending in favor of the cloud, according to Gartner. Integration is the task of bringing all of an organization’s IT resources together, says Ed Anderson, vice president of research at Gartner.
“As the cloud shift increases and as the cloud becomes a larger part of the way organizations operate, the need to integrate with cloud systems and with cloud and noncloud systems will increase,” Anderson said. The scope of integration includes applications, data, management, operational processes and security, among other factors, he said.
Partner list updates
- Accenture has invested in marketing platform SwayBrand, which marked the first consultancy start -up transaction in North America through its Black Founders Development Program. SwayBrand, based in Los Angeles, allows brands to collaborate with multicultural creators to develop content for diverse audiences. Accenture’s Black Founders Development Program aims to help Black technology startup entrepreneurs grow their businesses, offering access to venture capital, corporate mentorship, and Accenture business partners and clients.
- NTT Ltd., a provider of technology services in London, is partnering with ServiceNow to strengthen the use of private 5G through an AI-based workflow automation platform. NTT said the companies ’offerings will streamline the deployment and integration of private 5G customers.
- D&H Distributing, a distributor based in Harrisburg, Pa., Has signed an agreement with Yealink Network Technology Co. Ltd. to bring that vendor’s unified communication offerings. The deal includes a Yealink video conferencing device, webcam, telephony hardware and a Bluetooth headset.
Partner program launches and updates
- Dell Technologies has moved to simplify its partner program in a series of updates. The changes provide a single incentive structure with regional rebates in the program’s Solution Provider, Cloud Service Provider and OEM partner categories. Dell channel executives last year pointed the worsening lines on partner types at the company’s Dell Technologies World conference.
- NetWitness, a network security company in Bedford, Mass., Has introduced its redesigned partner program for resellers, distributors and managed security service providers that helps improve customers ’threat detection and response. The program includes streamlined operations, expanded technical training and marketing partner resources. The company also added product demonstration and testing options to its platform, and simplified how NetWitness partners work.
- Vultr, a cloud infrastructure provider headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla., Has launched its general availability partner program for MSPs, resellers and tech innovators. The program offers cloud compute and storage, packaging ready for channel partners with annual SKUs, and features including virtual private cloud and direct connect. Partners can develop value-added and managed services over the Vultr platform.
Other news
- Anexinet Corp., a Philadelphia -based provider of digital business solutions, has merged with Veristor Systems Inc. in Atlanta. Veristor provides managed services, security services and data center offerings along with enterprise storage. Veristor expanded its storage-as-a-service business last year. The Veristor deal follows the acquisition of Anexinet by SereneIT in 2020 and Light Networks in 2021.
- Introduced by IT service provider InterVision, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., And in St. Louis. Louis, its ransomware-protection-as-a-service offer to help SMBs identify and address ransomware attacks. The service aims to create comprehensive security coverage by integrating security operations, disaster recovery and backup, and security strategy advising from a virtual chief information security officer (CISO).
- Digital Intelligence Systems, a technology services company based in McLean, Va., Has launched a healthcare offering that automates compliance workflows and data management in pharmacovigilance operations . The company’s PVAutomate combines robotic process automation, analytics, intelligent character recognition and AI, according to the company.
- Pythian Services Inc., an Ottawa-based cloud, data and analytics services company, has renewed its Machine Learning Partner Specialization with the Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program.
Executive appointments
- ConnectWise, a Tampa, Fla., Company that makes software for MSPs, has appointed four general managers to lead new business units and acquire CISOs. Here is the updated executive lineup:
- Jake Varghese, general manager of the company’s business management unit, was formerly general manager at Tanium.
- Ameer Karim, general manager of the unified monitoring and management unit, joined ConnectWise from Absolute Software, where he was executive vice president of product management.
- Raffael Marty, general manager of the cybersecurity unit, has been with ConnectWise for seven months, leading cybersecurity products.
- Jeff Bishop, general manager of the Asio platform unit, was formerly chief product officer of ConnectWise.
- Patrick Beggs, CISO, joined ConnectWise from Cognizant, where he is global cybersecurity operations executive.
- Securiti Inc., a multi-cloud data privacy company in San Jose, Calif., Has appointed Mathias Wilder as vice president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. He was previously vice president of EMEA for the SD-WAN secure access service edge of the Palo Alto Networks product line. Nigel Hawthorn will lead Securiti’s EMEA regional marketing, joining the company from McAfee.
- Aqua Security Software Ltd., a Boston-based cloud-native security company, has appointed Jeannette Lee Heung as senior director of global channels. He joined Aqua from Palo Alto Networks, where he developed that company’s Prisma Cloud global ecosystem strategy.
Additional reporting by Kristen Gloss.