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For vendors
and distributors
looking at growing
channel partners or
implementing a channel
strategy, it’s important
to clearly determine
what your partner or
channel landscape
should look like.
According to Van Rensburg, other factors
supporting the decline is that, based on the
fact that most vendors are bringing cloud
products to market, there has been a decline
in hardware sales. Where customers would
have previously acquired hardware products
to build their own networks, they can now
access these services straight from the cloud
with additional infrastructure costs.
“Cloud and security are key – in fact we’ve
seen vendors change their strategy based
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hold, as these are now more expensive than
originally budgeted for, or secondly, cheaper
lower quality alternative products get used
instead. The end result is an inferior network
that will have to be replaced again in the
near future – making this option a more
expensive endeavour.”
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or US Dollars, due to the exchange rate, the
products are rapidly increasing in cost.
“As a result of the escalation in costs,
we have seen two things happen,” said
Van Rensburg. “Firstly, projects for specific
high-quality Wi-Fi projects are placed on
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on these two technologies – areas they’re
essentially not known for,” added Graham.
“Additionally, we are seeing a lot a
disruption from fibre – as it is starting
to drive the content market both from a
consumer and business perspective, where
home users can now get quality connectivity,
whereas in business customers want real
time reporting especially in logistics. We are
also seeing a demand for data in public areas
due to the cost of data.”
Shaping the channel in 2019
While the channel is changing as a result of
both technology and economic factors, it
will certainly not disappear anytime soon,
and it is still the most effective way to
market and sell products to a broader and
dispersed audience.
“For vendors and distributors looking at
growing channel partners or implementing
a channel strategy, it’s important to clearly
determine what your partner or channel
landscape should look like, what you would
like to achieve through the channel, and
what kind of channel partner will fit your
objectives,” said Van Rensburg.
“Only after this should you put a
strategy together that will achieve these
set of objectives. In our experience as a
distributor, it is imperative to only engage
with partners where needed and when most
advantageous. Where the real growth is with
strategic partners, here you can establish
joint business plans with these players
and make them put skin in the game, so
that there is accountability and a focus on
achieving these joint goals.”
For the channel, Graham recommends
looking at the surroundings to understand
clients’ strategies and objectives.
“It’s essential to become a trusted
advisor by means of being game changers,
understand that networking is at the core of
every communication or cloud solution and be