When asked about outsourcing specialist skills in the next twelve months, the results were very positive with maintenance, installation and professional services been the most popular areas of choice for resellers. Furthermore, 69% of those 200 resellers who took part in the survey strongly agreed that selling solutions rather than products alone is more beneficial in the current economic climate.
Another part of the survey looked at coverage across the UK and Ireland and where resellers required more IT support. Generally, resellers are finding it difficult to provide break/fix support across Channel Islands, Northern Ireland and Scotland which is why they are utilising Comms-care’s IT support services - providing them with 24/7 support across key geographic areas through a comprehensive network of field based support engineers.
When asked about the future, resellers remained optimistic with over 70% agreeing that 2011/12 will see more confidence returning to the channel, establishing further growth to those who have weathered the economic storm. The vertical market experiencing the largest area of growth was the Finance Industry which again is starting to produce a more buoyant channel as a whole.
Overall, the survey concludes what the channel is experiencing and what it faces in the coming years – tight spending habits and slow improvements. What is clear throughout the results however is the attitude towards outsourcing, as resellers increasingly look to outsource their support to third party support companies like Comms-care who can provide the level of technical expertise and geographic coverage required.
Richard Eglon, Marketing Manager at Comms-care commented: “Comms-care periodically undertakes questionnaires with our channel partners to identify industry trends and understand the needs of our partners. These surveys are one element of our customer relationship process which is aligned with our business strategies to deliver a portfolio of services that are both relevant and profitable for our channel partners to integrate into their businesses and easily re-sell.”