Presenting ‘Partners of the Future’ at VeeamOn 2015 in Las Vegas yesterday was Darren Bibby, program VP for channels and alliances at IDC.
Bibby said that businesses need to find who their competitors are and pay special attention to cloud-born businesses.
He said: "These born in the cloud are taking all the customers. You can get a business running in hours, it used to take 6 months."
This integration of technology is not just changing how businesses are set-up, but how they are run. Bibby said: "We are moving from selling servers to selling services. We are definitely also moving to a consumption model."
These new services will have to be tailored to the enterprise need as 70% of CIOs will embrace a "cloud" first strategy by 2018, according to the research firm.
The focus of business will also change. What is today considered a broad focus on several issues will become more niche and specialised to address companies’ needs.
Bibby said: "We are really moving from selling IT ingredients to IT departments. [There is a shift from] Business outcome to business people. By 2016, LOB execs will be involved in 80% of new IT investments."
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Sales will also be given a different approach, one that focuses on building relationships, rather than singular deals. Bibby said partners need to look at things in the long-term to better future-proof for tomorrow.
Marketing is another component that is under heavy transformation due to different trends – social media, connected consumer and greater market choice.
This department is shifting from a traditional approach to a digital one. "65% of B2B buyers usually engage a sales rep only after they have already made a purchase decision. The most important aspect of all this is great content."
The way solution providers also sell will change with Bibby warning that "if you only do re-sale this is a business model that is not going to last too long."
Alliances will also be a key component for businesses to survive and thrive in the digital 24-7 intense world.
"We are really moving from a mind-set where we used to think ‘we’ll do it ourselves’ to ‘lets look into partnerships’."
