Carolyn April Posts

It’s no longer enough to simply build a better mousetrap — to succeed you’ve got to build out the entire business, according to CompTIA’s 4th Annual State of the Channel report. Read how managed services and cloud business models are impacting sales and marketing efforts, plus the nontechnology challenges the channel is facing.

What value does your company add? It’s a perennial business question, one that channel firms face each and every day in interactions with customers, vendors and other partners. In this era of cloud computing and ongoing business model upheaval, everyone is looking for a way to stand out, especially to the customer. If you can’t answer the fundamental question – Why do we matter? – your business is at a disadvantage. The managed services model is one example of a channel b ...

Channel firms deciding on a cloud play need to answer a few critical questions: Can I make money doing this? What type of cloud business works best for me? And who are my customers? This basic discussion of the economics of cloud computing has been front-and-center in the channel for the better part of the last three to five years, complicated by the wide variety of cloud business model options and potential revenue structures to explore, as well as differing customer needs. And yet, as found in ...

The ongoing convergence of IT and telecom technologies, as well as the decision-making preferences of the customer, continue to drive more partnerships between traditional IT channel firms and the telecom agent channel. Both communities are looking to provide customers with an end-to-end solution encompassing both telecom and IT and have found that joining forces and blending skill-sets can be an efficient way to achieve this aim. That’s the conclusion of many respondents to CompTIA and Ch ...

The long-term survival of a large segment of today’s IT firms depends upon them cultivating a business that sells and delivers technology services on a recurring revenue basis. This objective marks a shift away from conventional reliance on product-based transactions and/or one-off project engagements to a more predictable operational model that charges customers much like a utility company bills monthly for services-rendered. Burgeoning trends such as cloud computing and mobility, combine ...

CompTIA’s UK Community can be described in a word: momentum. This nascent community group is characterized by fast growth, having increased six-fold in the number of participants in just the last year. Gathered this week as an adjunct to CompTIA’s annual EMEA Member and Partner Conference in London, the community’s commitment to fostering business growth and collaboration is evident in the robust conversations, spirited speakers and a refreshing dearth of droning devices.Against this animated ba ...

No doubt there exist many channel opportunities related to the cloud model, among them new sales and customer engagement scenarios as well as the chance to build recurring revenue streams. This is all good business. But the fast-moving shift to cloud is also profoundly disruptive and challenging. Ready or not, many of today’s solution providers find themselves re-evaluating how they conduct basic business operations, regardless of whether they are planning an all-cloud transition (for now, a rar ...

Ask any solution provider to describe the amount of information collateral their vendor partners send their way and quite often the first response you’ll get is a groan.Think about it: Daily (or more) email newsletter blasts, social media feeds, frequent partner portal updates with strategic information on product roadmaps, pricing, sales promotions and technical updates. That’s not to mention the collateral on discounts, rebates and MDF that changes regularly, along with the constant flow of in ...

Are your vendor partners communicating effectively with you? That’s just one of the questions behind CompTIA’s second annual State of Channel Partner Programs study, a research project that examines the relationship between channel firms, the IT vendors they work with and the partner programs they participate in. Fielded in March, the online survey sought the perspective of 400 IT channel companies -- running the gamut from hardware resellers to MSPs to consultants. The results reveal a number o ...

Interesting times we have in the IT industry. New business models, new economic realities and new customer buying patterns warrant a pretty serious look at business transformation, especially in the channel. There’s simply no denying that the way IT goods and services are sold, delivered and managed is undergoing a foundational shift from product transactions to solutions- and services-oriented selling. What isn’t so certain is the roadmap for change. Nobody – not IT vendors, solution providers ...