Our collective mindset about information management has taken a 180-degree shift over the past decade. The focus for businesses continues to transition away from the cost of collecting and storing data with the rapid advances in technologies and corresponding price cuts to the opportunities to be gained from leveraging these valuable resources. Converting information into organizational assets is a major opportunity for the IT industry.

Data management offers tremendous promise and even greater profitability. While the IT industry continues to derive significant revenue from storage, backup, and archiving technologies, the demand for solutions that leverage business information to improve organizational business goals is growing exponentially. From “Big Data” and analytics to business intelligence, the terms are as varied as the number of operational applications, but the net result is greater insight into important trends and key activities. That insider vision not only helps companies identify and capitalize on new revenue opportunities, but also allows executives to address previously unknown issues, drive operational efficiency, and improve the buyer/customer experience. Those capabilities are invaluable in today’s competitive environment.

The rising market demand for these technologies reflects that point. According to IDC, by the end of 2025, the G2000 will increase spending by more than 40% (over 2023 levels) on intelligence solutions to counter economic uncertainties and other disruptions. Organizations of all sizes can benefit from those same technological advances with the support of the IT distribution, vendor, and solution provider communities. Proactively manipulating and analyzing the massive amount of data being collected today allows business stakeholders to make more informed decisions and avoid unnecessary risks. A deeper knowledge of internal operations, sales and marketing combined with insight on industry and specific market trends gives executives greater flexibility and power.

An Expanding Data Ecosystem

The inordinate amount of information we gather and share every day is astounding. Between emails, credit transactions, meeting recordings, projects, business plans, and product or service orders, businesses collectively generate more than 300 terabytes of data each day, according to Statista. The research firm also predicts a staggering 50%+ increase in those numbers over the next two years, from 120 zettabytes of information in 2023 to 181 zettabytes in 2025. IDC’s similarly robust forecast expects the “global datasphere” to double from now through 2027.

What does all of that growth mean for the IT industry? Data is an increasingly valuable asset to the business community. However, the true value of information depends on how effectively and quickly organizations and other entities can analyze and leverage the input to achieve, if not exceed their objectives. That’s where innovation comes into play.

The technology community has overwhelmingly embraced the challenges and opportunities in data management with a flurry of new approaches, solutions and programs. Distributors capture a vast amount of details each day, from product, service, and support activities to ordering trends and lifecycle management-related information. Using powerful analysis tools, that information can empower their vendor and solution provider partners, providing insight that aids in upselling and cross-selling complementary technologies and services.

The IT industry has tremendous opportunities and responsibilities in this area.

• Creating solutions to effectively capture, store, and secure this data
• Designing, integrating, and orchestrating digital transformations to optimize data flow, collection, and usage
• Addressing industry standards and government compliance related to those activities
• Providing business intelligence capabilities that effectively analyze and leverage information to improve the decision-making process
• Leveraging automation technologies (including AI) to initiate actions based on incoming data

Based on my conversations with scores of technology visionaries this year it appears the channel is making great strides in each of these areas. However, to truly meet the rising demand of the market, vendors and solution providers could and should leverage their distributor partners even more in 2024.

The Rise of Cloud Marketplaces and Digital Platforms

Efficiency through automation should be a mantra for the IT industry. Combining data intelligence with cloud-based technologies can improve the speed and productivity of many business activities, reducing labor costs, keying mistakes, and customer complaints. Traditional automation approaches like integrations and web-based systems gain even more value to businesses with the latest technologies (i.e., analytics, AI, machine learning).

Today’s IT distributors are already providing their vendor and solution provider partners with these types of tools. A new generation of cloud marketplaces and virtual procurement platforms is creating both upstream and downstream opportunities for channel companies and delivering a smoother, more engaging experience for their customers and end-users. Data drives this new ecosystem.

Analyzing and leveraging information shared by distributors, channel partners, and clients makes it easier to identify opportunities and manage product lifecycles. These platforms collect and utilize data to generate additional revenue, maximize profitability, and boost the user experience with minimal human interaction. In an era of personnel and skills shortages, that latter benefit is invaluable to vendors and solution providers who are scrambling to find and retain top talent.

Enabling organizations with high-performance technologies is a key value proposition for the channel, and distributors are doubling down on innovations that can optimize sales, procurement, collections, and support. Without effective data management, these systems would hold no value.

Cloud marketplaces and virtual platforms can identify purchasing patterns and potential gaps in customer roadmaps. Without these advances, solution providers could leave money on the table or provide an opening for competitive services firms or vendors. Distributors are investing significantly in these platforms and incorporating the latest innovations to maximize sales and cash flow for their respective partners.

Building for the Future

One big revenue stream opportunity for the IT industry will be from solutions that harness the power of data, whether by collecting and analyzing existing system information or by mining previously unused data. The ability to identify, capture, and manage a greater quantity of this critical asset will generate more potential income streams for the channel. As demand for business intelligence-related technologies grows in the SMB, so will the profits for solution providers and the vendors that provide these innovations.

These innovations are already paying off for OEMs and developers. Business intelligence solutions allow vendors to streamline and automate their operations, from manufacturing and sales to delivery and support, especially for those working closely with distributor partners. The ability to move more products and services with minimal human interaction is heightened with effective data management programs.

Innovation will play an increasing role in this process. Distributors are employing the latest technologies to gather and analyze information that can help vendors and solution providers maximize sales, adoption, lifecycle management, and customer satisfaction. Those investments also boost productivity and allow partners to scale their businesses with fewer internal resources.

Distribution is quickly becoming not just an orchestrator for the channel, but a data-enablement engine for the business community.

Learn more about this critical trend in 2024. Register to attend our GTDC Summit North America, February 7 - 8 at the Mission Pacific & Seabird Resort in Oceanside, California.  Join channel executives from across the global vendor and distributor communities to discuss these advances, address shifting economic factors, and discuss industry-shaping new initiatives.

Our European friends can also save the date for the 2024 GTDC Summit EMEA, to be held June 4 - 5 at the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk. Both events will explore the increasing value of data and how distributors are leveraging that valuable asset to benefit their partner communities.