As the cost of doing business rises, companies must innovate while continuing to increase sales and drive efficiencies across their operational ecosystems. The IT industry is no different. Technology organizations must refine and enhance programs and minimize costs while maximizing revenue opportunities – not easy tasks even in the best of times.

However, the uncertainties of our global economy are forcing IT businesses to reassess their operations and strategies and dig even deeper to trim and realign activities and resources. One problem many technology companies encounter is limiting the people and expenses they can cut without negatively impacting growth and profitability.

With skilled professionals harder to find and retain, organizations must be more mindful of hiring when scaling their operations. While some companies downsized and restaffed with relative impunity following the economy's ebb and flow, the ongoing labor shortage (especially with skilled professionals) limits those practices today. Many vendors and IT services companies are hesitant to invest in new resources with inflationary concerns and the threat of recession and potential sales slowdowns.

The current economic conditions limit the options for forward-looking technology executives. No one wants to slow sales momentum and business growth, and the urge for most leaders is to continue adding resources. Finding a cost-effective approach to that dilemma can be difficult.

The good news is the latest report from GTDC and Channelnomics, Distribution as a Countermeasure highlights several ways IT businesses can overcome those concerns

Distributors Lessen the Financial Constraints

There's very good news for channel vendors with those ambitions − IT distributors are ready, willing and able to augment sales and marketing activities, technical support and other key operational areas. These channel orchestrators often offer similar services to their IT services provider communities. Most distributors employ flexible work teams with experienced channel professionals who can quickly step into these roles to ease growing pains for vendors and ITSPs.

Locking in a relatively fixed and costly expense (onboarding skilled sales, marketing and technical professionals) before that practice generates revenue is a risky proposition. Distributors help limit the risks associated with hiring during uncertain times or when building a new business unit, program or channel offering. When conditions improve, or sales and margins hit acceptable levels, vendors and ITSPs can expand their internal staff and scale back the support they receive from distributors. That flexibility should ease concerns for executives contemplating cost-effective expansion options or needing to trim costs today.

Most distributors have well-tuned call centers and perform other activities that increase partner engagement and drive incremental revenue. Vendors can leverage these resources to expand their sales capabilities or focus on specific vertical markets or specializations without increasing their current financial burdens.

Sales support is just one of the many services that IT distributors offer today, including:

• Online marketplaces. Many partners and end-clients prefer website-based sales and delivery options that speed up transactions and allow logistics customization and tracking. Gen Z and Millennials – as well as many from the previous generations – are more likely to buy from businesses that offer online marketplaces to procure goods and services. Distributors provide not only the engines and technical support capabilities but can power the backend processes that drive incremental revenue without substantial new investments.
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• Cloud management platforms. Similarly, partners are looking for better ways to deal with the growing complexities of digital transformation. How can they better manage the sales, implementation and support processes? As the number of SaaS applications, platforms, and models grow, distributors are ramping up efforts to support vendors and ITSP partners in this journey. By leveraging these services, these communities can reduce their initial investment requirements, ongoing management costs, and headaches.
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• Partner recruitment/channel expansion. Few vendors can effectively support every potential partner while scaling their partners' communities. From recruitment and onboarding to re-engaging with inactive accounts, distributors have the teams and tools to nurture more and deeper relationships. Leveraging the collective resources of vendors and distributors expands partners' engagement opportunities and increases oversight to help generate incremental and higher-margin sales.
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• Technical support. Most businesses are struggling to hire and retain qualified IT professionals today, and those challenges seem to be accelerating for channel companies. Optimizing bandwidth and skillsets is essential. Distributors employ scores of highly trained (and cross-trained) individuals who can augment vendors’ support teams on a temporary or permanent basis. From the first tier to the last, they can fill gaps and alleviate hiring and financial pressures for cost-conscious companies.

More Reasons to Expand Your Engagement with GTDC  

Economic downturns are just one reason to leverage more industry resources. GTDC creates valuable programs and research to help IT vendors and distributors increase go-to-market capacity, strengthen partner engagements, and get a greater return for their channel investments.

Our Beyond Distribution by GTDC podcast series includes discussions with industry executives, researchers, and thought leaders across the IT ecosystem. Check out the full episode list and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform to hear respected professionals from IDC, CONTEXT, Vation Ventures, Google, and Ingram Micro.

We engage with a global team of technology experts to deliver webinars on the latest trends and issues affecting the channel, from environmental sustainability to the hottest new offerings. Those engaging discussions and presentations can be found on the association’s YouTube channel.

GTDC also partners with Futurum Research to deliver a bi-weekly global IT supply chain bulletin to help industry professionals stay abreast of concerns and dynamics.

Our goal is to help IT industry executives make more informed decisions and take decisive steps to optimize their strategies during the best and most challenging of times. These unique and useful resources can be easily located and accessed from the GTDC Knowledge Hub.

Engage Live in 2023

Industry events are the most effective way to learn and engage. In-person conferences and sessions give attendees a better perspective of the conversations and encourage instant feedback. Live activities also encourage those “accidental meetings” that help foster new relationships and allow executives to expedite alliances and deals. The value of those interactions will be on full display at the 2023 GTDC Summit North America, February 8-10, 2023, at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego.

We encourage you to save the date and explore the next wave of technology at this exclusive IT channel executive event.

Attendees can engage with like-minded technology executives, receive valuable insight from industry thought leaders, and delve into potential new business relationships. The Global Technology Distribution Council provides a live professional setting that encourages engagement and real one-to-one conversations that create and nurture beneficial alliances.

Enjoy a deep-dive discussion into the latest business trends, evolving channel models and opportunities, and new education and training options.

With keynote presentations from IDC president Crawford Del Prete and one of the premier global economists, this exclusive IT industry executive summit is one you won’t want to miss. Learn how distribution is powering the next wave of technology and get your new year off to a great start. Register today for the 2023 GTDC Summit North America and contact our team for more information.