Survey , which highlights the top data engineering challenges and blind spots as organisations strive to become more data driven . The findings show the tangible impacts of these challenges , including the fact that 89 % of organisations report missing business opportunities because of data access bottlenecks . The survey canvassed 600 data practitioners across the US and EMEA , representing a variety of public and private sector companies .

In this regard , we continue to cover articles in this edition of the magazine that address the issue of Big Data and how solution providers can help their customers to be data driven in their day-to-day business operations and decision making . Gracing the cover of this month ’ s edition is Lionel Moyal , Commercial Partner Director , Microsoft South Africa , outlines how the company is modernising its partner programme and moving away from what used to be Gold and Silver competencies to a simpler Cloud Partner Designation .

Among the many insights , Moyal shares that : “ One channel to watch is the Microsoft

Azure Marketplace , or AppSource which is the business focused marketplace . This has become a strategic new customer acquisition engine for many of our partners and is evolving rapidly . It is a game changer for partners that have packaged IP or solutions and want to get worldwide reach with their products , without having to worry about local presence , customer credit profiles and collections , tax legislation etc .” You can read more by turning to page 19 .

This month ’ s Expert Speak comes from Adrian Taylor , Regional VP of Sales at A10 Networks , who outlines four strategies that can help organisations to avoid a cybersecurity burnout .

And don ’ t forget to find out about this month ’ s channel chiefs on pages 61 to 64 . The interviewees are Mohamed Abdallah , Regional Director META at SonicWall and Koorosh Khashayar – Vice President , Global Channels at 11:11 Systems .

And , as usual , we have all your favourite features and news from around the regions – check our website for daily updates . I hope you enjoy this edition and do not hesitate to get in touch if you have anything you would like to share with regards to the channel . You can email me at manda @ lynchpinmedia . com .

Manda Banda Managing Editor

INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS 15