Channel trends: 5 opportunities and challenges

1. Resellers need to find ways to differentiate themselves, as the lines between them and MSPs continue to blur  

As demand for IT as a Service (ITaaS) increases, spurred on by the need for business to conserve capital, the line between resellers and MSPs will continue to become blurred.

Resellers have an opportunity to differentiate and add value to their offering, through expert consultancy and service optimisation to suit their target customers.

MSPs and resellers alike have an opportunity to respond to the pent-up demand for SOC-aaS, to both provide better protection for their customers and also to reduce their own risk not in case of a customer falling victim to a cyberattack. 

Distributors can enable resellers to take advantage of this growing tech consumption model, working with forward-looking vendors who have suitable offerings.

Infinigate Cloud for example, can help partners embrace the subscription model of technology consumption, helping small and medium resellers adapt without the need for major capital investment in platform and training. 

2. Customers will seek guidance on cybersecurity regulatory compliance, and especially for NIS2/CRA compliance ahead of the 2024 deadline 

Channel partners able to advise customers on NIS2 will reap the rewards. Vendors, distributors, and resellers can play a key role in preparing organisations for NIS2, ahead of the October 2024 deadline for national implementation.

Partners can offer expert advice and services to help organisations achieve compliance, working closely with CISOs and their teams to strengthen their cybersecurity posture to better understand organisational risk.

At Infinigate, our cybersecurity experts are on hand to support channel partners in acquiring the necessary know-how to provide customers with holistic advice – from risk evaluation to mapping of NIS2 requirements and solution implementation.

And as a specialist in IT and Operational Technology (OT), we offer a large portfolio of cybersecurity solutions that can be deployed to achieve compliance with NIS2 regulations.

3. MSPs will look to seize the growing SMBs opportunity

As work and collaboration continues to switch to the cloud, particularly in the SMB segment where less than 30% of businesses have adopted Microsoft 365, there is a growing opportunity for MSPs to help SMBs implement secure productivity solutions. 

SMB organisations do not have the skills or knowledge required to properly manage the advanced cloud solutions that are available today, and to keep themselves safe from ever more sophisticated cyber criminals.   

Helping SMBs successfully make this transition, is where the MSP opportunity lies. A growing customer requirement is in the SOC-aaS space, providing comprehensive 24*7 monitoring and management of a customers’ security posture. 

Businesses of all sizes are realising the benefit of outsourcing non-core functions and this transformation continues to accelerate with 99% of MSPs in Europe expecting revenues to grow over the next 3 years.  

Keeping customers secure is at the centre of this opportunity and distributors that have both deep cyber-security expertise and cloud capabilities are best placed to help MSPs maximise the opportunity available. 

Infinigate Cloud provide a unique combination of cyber-security experience and expertise, Microsoft cloud capabilities, digital native capabilities with a clear focus on helping MSPs grow their business faster. 

4. More vendors and partners will diversify into selling cybersecurity products and services, but many will struggle to find the skills they need 

Digital transformation has led to an explosion in IT complexity that has expanded the attack surface. The huge volumes of data companies collect – mostly processed and stored across multiple clouds – render traditional perimeter security methods ineffective.

As a result, the scale, frequency and cost of cyberattacks is escalating. Against this backdrop, companies need partners who can help them mitigate risk and respond to threats in an agile way.

According to Canalys, the cybersecurity market continues to shine for partners, vendors and distributors with a $360 billion market size by 2027. Total growth of security software, hardware, and services over the next 4 years averages 12.8% (per year), while services alone have a CAGR of 15.1%.

This market is dominated by the channel, as more than 90% is sold or serviced by the ecosystem. While this presents an opportunity for the channel to grow its business, driving more vendors and partners to diversify their offering to tap into these opportunities, this process is not without challenges.

This is likely to prompt increased demand for specialised distributors with deep industry networks, skills and services, able to help new entrants access these marketplaces.

5. Generative AI will continue to drive change across all industries – opening new opportunities and raising new challenges  

With the rise of Generative AI, technology vendors are launching innovative cybersecurity products to market to meet demand. The channel will need to urgently adapt to this shift, ensuring that they have a deep understanding of Generative AI.

Without this expertise, the channel will be unable to help organisations adopt it and miss out on a unique growth opportunity.

At the same time, as Generative AI becomes more accessible, new threats will emerge as hackers adopt it for malicious purposes. The channel will need to advise customers on the best tools and intelligence to help detect and mitigate these threats and look at how they can work with new players in the industry to ensure their customers can remain secure in this evolving landscape. 

To find how our market, channel and technical expertise can spark your growth in 2024, please contact us today.