Channel has to redefine their business model and move away from ‘The Transaction Mind-set

B S Rao
VP – Marketing,
CtrlS Datacenters

As most information technology decision makers continue to embrace change, and align information technology with business, channel partners will have a key role in playing the role of a catalyst in their transformation journey.

The Year 2019 can be a productive and profitable year provided they will enhance their selling capabilities, invest in re-skilling their technical teams especially pre-sales, service delivery (if applicable), revamp their business model and strike new partnerships. Technologies such as Cloud, IoT, Analytics, 3D Printing virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) and  opportunities such as digitization of records, migration of legacy infrastructure and applications to cloud offer enormous opportunities to players in the channel ecosystem.

Channel players should move away from ‘The Transaction Mind-set’; they will have to redefine their business model, re-skill people, and transform their selling from transaction based selling to consultative selling. They will have to build their own Centers of Excellence (CoEs) to deliver the right technology to the right customer. 

Since the early 1990, channel ecosystem has been engaging customers in transactions by selling equipment, software and deploying them. They responded to the needs of information technology decision makers, however they were all treated as selling transactions. However, since most businesses are under immense pressure, they are seeking channel partners to play a key role as a consultant – advising them how to migrate from a legacy application (or) infrastructure, how to secure their business from security threats, whether or not a particular technology would be suitable. Hence, keeping in mind the expectations of customers, it is time for channels to shift their gears.