A new Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) survey finds that cloud is the solution category where vendor channel executives see distributors making the most progress next year. Also, 72% of channel exec respondents said they are already offering or planning to introduce IoT solutions through distribution. 
The GTDC report on the year ahead is based on more than 70 channel executive survey responses from across the world as well as over 20 interviews with both technology distributors and vendor partners. “The distribution industry has become instrumental in much more than just delivering technology products to the right places at the right time,” commented GTDC CEO Tim Curran. “Shipping product is no longer the mainstay. Today’s distribution leaders bring much more to the equation through their unique, highly diversified services portfolios.”
Nearly 62% expect indirect to outpace direct sales, with 13% indicating they are already 100% indirect. More than half of vendor channel executives expect double-digit growth in 2017, with 20% looking for more than a 30% rise. The range of products and services is also expected to expand: “We envision distributors selling devices on a consumption-based model as a means to attach public cloud services like Office 365, Enterprise Mobility Suite for Security, or Windows Enterprise subscription-as-a-service. This represents an immediate opportunity for distributors around the world. The business rationale makes sense and distributors are quickly absorbing and operationalising the concept,” says Jon Strausburg, Cloud Sales Director, SMB&D, Microsoft.
Over three-quarters (78%) expect distributors to develop new business around vertical market solutions.
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