Eighteen years ago put in this manner it sounds like a lifetime I wrote my first article. The crux of the article was that channels would become an integral part of the IT industry. Early days as they were in the adoption, deployment, and dependence on IT systems, it was obvious to my rookie eyes that given various factors, channels would have a key role in accelerating the momentum. And that it surely has.
The channel presence is this industry is as deep and wide as the overall geography of this country. There will not be any small taluka, town, city where IT channel has not penetrated and made a difference. Eighteen years later, being asked to peer into a crystal ball three years into the future, seemed to be a most apt opportunity and the anniversary of 360 Magazine surely the most convincing reason.
Oft heard and oft repeated saying-”May you live in interesting times”, and that we surely are. The industry and the general economic environment seem to be morphing into something new every year, if not every month and day. The vibrancy, sense of urgency, and the business focus revolving around IT deployments shows us a glimpse of where we are headed, and once one has a perspective to this, then figuring out the position of each player in the eco system becomes a lot easier.
We have clearly entered a phase where use of technology as a key business facilitator, enabler, and differentiator is making it more center-stage. Not only that, each project is conceptualized and subsequently measured against a set of metrics that establish or negate the value addition. In such an environment, it’s not too difficult to discern what the key parameters for most CIOs and their teams within the organization would be.
The other aspect, of course, is the increasing focus of all businesses on a quarter-by-quarter increase in financial and operational parameters reported to the markets. This does bring about a greater element of financial responsibility as well as a degree of circumspect movement.
t the base level of technology, where a high degree of commoditization has occurred, and no strategic differentiation can be brought about, supply chain, inventory, financial leverage, and logistics management help bring in the extra level of financial competitiveness. Given that there is no value addition around this commoditized product/solution/technology, financial competitiveness does become a good yardstick for evaluation and procurement.
The other end of the spectrum is the result of the evolution of IT infrastructure in businesses today. As the process has become more deeply entrenched, the needs are more complex and require a keener understanding. This understanding, to my mind, is critical from the perspective of both the needs of the end customer, as well as, in a more enlightened position, so to say, to be able to help architect and implement in sync with the real needs. When we juxtapose these two ends, the future becomes quite clear. And in this, one can see the contours of what channels would have to grapple with.
There is a great opportunity available for each player, provided you focus on what exactly you would wish to be. It is pretty much impossible to straddle the entire continuum, since the skills and competencies required at each end are very different.
The way to resolve this conundrum is to first look internally and evaluate current status, strengths, skills, and customer perception. What I mean to say is that you can’t be the best cost/skill option for consumable and base equipment supply as well as deployment of a CRM, or Security Management.
As even traditional SMB user IT deployments become increasingly complex, they would inevitably look to channel partners. Traditional large SI’s in the market would have their hands full with the challenges and complexity of larger organizations and migrating to even more evolved needs of data mining. There is also great opportunity in how much of the market you can cover. It is just that the fundamental choice has to made. This strategy would define your cost models, your customer value, as well as focus on strength building areas.
The crystal ball shows me great returns for organizations that have clarity of role. Whichever end you decide to build your skills, just go for it and master that domain. It is that mastery for which the customer/market would reward you.