According to CompTIA's ‘International State of the Channel 2021’ report 94% of ANZ channel executives believe the channel “maintains its relevance in the IT universe”.

But according to the report ANZ channel executives are split when asked about the channel’s health, with 51% saying it is holding steady in its current form and 43% saying it’s rapidly changing.

“This latter attitude is most likely based on the expanding fabric of the channel, with new business models unleashed by cloud computing, the ubiquity of consulting-only services and the emergence of non-traditional players as purveyors of technology products and services,” said Carolyn April, senior director for industry analysis at CompTIA.

Asked about the steps they are taking to maintain relevance ANZ executives say they are implementing consultative selling that’s aligned with shifting customer demographics and buying behaviors. They’re also increasing investments in marketing and improving on the effectiveness of their campaigns and enhancing the customer experience to create a competitive differentiator.

CompTIA says the channel’s cautious optimism is bolstered to some degree by forecasts for global IT spending of more than $5 trillion this year, based on the feeling that customers will resume their spending on software, devices, hardware infrastructure and IT services.

“But channel executives acknowledge that some customers may still be reluctant to buy, including small businesses and industry sectors hit hardest by the pandemic (hospitality and retail, for example),” CompTIA notes.

“Among all countries surveyed four in 10 executives express concern about the continuing impact of COVID-19 on customers’ ability or willingness to invest in new technology solutions.”

The CompTIA report gauges executives’ views on other key factors that impact the IT channel, including:

What are you selling?

ANZ respondents predict positive revenue potential over the next two years from a variety of service offerings with emerging technologies leading the list. Other services expected to generate solid customer business include cybersecurity, cloud and data.

About those emerging technologies

Involvement with emerging technologies was yet another disruption that channel firms encountered in the past year, causing 39% of ANZ companies to pause their emerging tech efforts temporarily or indefinitely or pull the plug entirely. On the positive side, 31% of companies stayed the course on what they were doing with emerging tech (actively selling, using internally or experimenting) and 27% ramped up their work in areas such as 5G wireless networks, artificial intelligence, robotics and the internet of things.

The channel and cybersecurity

When it comes to cybersecurity services offerings a majority of ANZ channel companies say they are ahead of the game (12%) or on target with their plans (53%). But a significant number of firms (35%) say they are just beginning to formulate a cybersecurity strategy and portfolio, are behind schedule or are not involved in cybersecurity at all.

Vendor-partner relationships

Channel firms’ satisfaction generally with their vendors remains fairly high, with 74% of ANZ respondents saying they’ve been either satisfied or very satisfied with their vendors in the last two years. Asked what they want from their vendor partners, the most sought-after items are business-oriented: sales, marketing and operational training and services. This is forcing vendors to re-evaluate traditional partner program resources and incentives to meet new expectations.

CompTIA’s 'International State of the Channel 2021' report is based on a Q2 2021 survey of 880 IT channel professionals in Australlia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg).