Consultants Lead in Profitable Opportunities: AI, Security, and Unified Workspace

A Techaisle survey of 2,115 channel partners shows that while pressure for change is mounting, partners have not yet coalesced around a path forward. The channel is searching for a roadmap to success, which will vary across partner models. The study shows that MSPs are active in 17 of 20 solution categories, with hyper-converged systems, SD-WAN, employee experience platforms, and VDI/DaaS being the most popular. VARs are less active in solution selling and less likely to sell hyper-converged systems. CSPs are engaged in adding new solutions and are optimistic about growth, particularly in hyper-converged systems.  And finally, Consultants are much more likely than peers to offer AI, open-source, and virtual reality solutions. They are 10%-20% more likely than peers to be active in unified workspace, security, and virtualization solutions.

And thanks to Rich Freeman at Channelholic, with some data coming out of CompTIA ChannelCon.    Small and midsize tech firms are transforming their business models to adapt to changing times, becoming an MSP the most prominent strategy. Other transformation strategies include going deep on security or cloud computing, building expertise in vertical industries, or focusing exclusively on clients of a specific size. Partners are finding ways to co-exist with threatening trends rather than fight them, such as advising people what to buy on marketplaces.   When CompTIA asked IT providers (of all sizes) to list their primary competitors, 46% said “vendors going direct,” and 49% said “online marketplaces,”

It’s interesting that the space of “consultants” appears to be in the area of what I consider the most profitable opportunities.    AI, security, and unified workspace – or rather, work in the productivity layer – all in that “consultant” space. 

There’s a general fear out there when reviewing these data sets.   The idea that partners should find a single path forward seems counterproductive.  If there’s one path ahead, there is little room for either variety or uniqueness, which seems like a road to commoditization.    Why would we want a single solution?  

I’m encouraging you to consider the areas you can leverage best, and it’s not a single answer.  Combining things in unique ways that’s both a solution provider strength and a competitive differentiator.