Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 20 | Page 30

ICA FR A AL I O N E L S G E R ANN CH A F RIC 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 30 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.” am 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 , S a le s D irec tor, R u ckus Networks , Su b-S a ah n ra Af 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