The Information Age Has Kicked Into Top Gear

The amount of data being collected, stored and shared has grown exponentially each year and continues to accelerate, which is creating opportunities for the IT community that few would have ever imagined. The power of all that information, when properly harnessed and leveraged, allows organizational leaders to build more meaningful and ambitious business plans and to readily monitor and correct those strategies as needed.

When effectively captured, organized and leveraged, that information can empower organizations with the insight and ability needed to boost sales and profitability and improve virtually every area of their operations. Channel companies with complex systems and diverse partnerships benefit greatly from data intelligence. Information is the one resource no organization can afford to ignore today. In this increasingly competitive and automated business environment, organizations now rely on a variety of outside and inside information to construct effective business plans. Data drives sales and marketing forecasts and provides benchmarks for evaluating a business’ profitability, partner ecosystems and its competitive standing.

Metrics are an essential element for businesses today, drawing executives’ and leadership teams’ attention to not only the positive trends and achievements, but highlighting areas of concern across all their operations. That viewpoint is of immense value to channel-focused vendors and distributors with complex partner-based ecosystems. Metric tracking allows leaders to identify and respond to negative trends or potential issues early before they negatively affect the company’s financial or customer and partner satisfaction scores.

Data intelligence plays a pivotal role in business planning today, which is why the trailblazers are doing everything possible to gain access to the most up-to-date industry and channel-related information.

Market Data is a Valued Channel Resource 

There is a vast and rapidly expanding reservoir of information available to IT-related businesses today, and with the latest technologies and programs, it is easier than ever gain advantages from knowledge base. Data intelligence has become an increasingly valuable resource for optimizing sales, marketing and partner recruitment processes, meaning channel vendors should constantly be evaluating and strengthening these strategies.

What information does the organization collect? How could each department (i.e., sales, marketing and operations) benefit from having access to the latest market data and evaluation tools?

Every channel executive should be asking those questions in today’s highly competitive IT environment. The more insight and analysis capabilities, the greater the ability to construct effective strategic and tactical business plans, develop realistic channel sales strategies, and effectively allocate limited marketing resources.

Detailed market information is no longer just a ‘nice to have’ for channel executives. When properly utilized, this type of data can be a differentiator for IT vendors and a critical resource for c-suite, line-of-business leaders and account managers. Combining data with the latest analysis tools provides valuable insight for crafting accurate channel forecasts, developing predictable plans and timelines, and adapting those strategies to optimize outcomes.

Technology-focused research firms are making that process even easier for channel vendors. For example, the IDC North America Monthly Distribution Tracker®, powered by the GTDC provides model-level sales data from the largest distributors in North America, covering all types of IT products, peripherals, and accessories. Sales through GTDC members represent almost 90% of the total revenues through the two-tier channel. The means the tracker offers channel decision makers access to the most timely and actionable industry data around both product and pricing trends.

Information is the New Channel Currency

The IT industry has always led the way in all things related to data. From creation and collection to archiving and securing information, at rest or in transit, channel partners and vendors offer many solutions and services to support these processes for organizations and individuals.

Industry research companies have also been an extremely valuable resource for supplying and leveraging the data. GTDC works closely with these data partners to collect and deliver a myriad of information vendors can leverage to optimize their operations and strengthen the key performance indicators (KPIs) for their businesses. This collaboration with leading research firms, including CONTEXT, GfK, and IDC, captures IT/ICT industry-specific sales-out data and provides in-depth insight and analysis on market opportunities and critical trends.

This invaluable market information makes it easier for organizations to navigate the complexity of the IT/ICT reseller ecosystem and construct more detailed and meaningful partner strategies. With so many variables to deal with, data analysis limits risk and allows vendors to focus their limited resources on activities with the greatest potential ROI.

What many decision makers fail to realize is market data is just one part of the value proposition industry research firms offer today. With access to information not normally available to channel executives, these firms can create custom reports based on the unique needs of each client organization, with a level of detail that may not already exist. Research firms can triangulate and import different datasets and conduct interviews to fill gaps in source materials. That allows channel leaders to evaluate the potential of new markets, assess distribution options, validate partner programs, or identify complementary technologies and sales/marketing alliance prospects. Those options are virtually limitless.

For more details about industry data and the types of services and support programs offered by GTDC and its research partners, download a free copy of the Vendor’s Guide to Market Data.