Also opportunities in internet of things and data centers.
Suppliers see the cloud, security, internet of things (IoT) and data centers as the most important growth segments for 2018. This stems from the demand from the end user. For example, research by the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), an industry organization for IT distributors, has shown.
Over fifty executives at global technology companies were surveyed for the study. This shows that 70 percent of suppliers expect double-digit sales growth in 2018 through distribution. A year ago, suppliers were less optimistic about this: then 55 percent expected double-digit growth from the channel.
Cloud
The main driver of growth is the cloud. According to the report, this is no longer to be ignored in the it industry. They call it the ‘connective tissue of the IT’, because it connects separate technologies. The number two is cyber security. In this category, three-quarters of the distributors are looking for a partnership with suppliers.
In the third place it is the internet of things (IoT). This is seen by the channel managers as the new ‘big wave’, where distributors have to integrate both IT and telecom and consumer electronics.
The top-4 key business drivers are closed by data centers, where suppliers and service providers have a chance for hyper-converged.
Vertical Market
The suppliers also expect the indirect business to grow rapidly this year. For the majority, this is expected to grow even faster than the direct business.
Finally, suppliers see the recruitment of new types of service providers as a priority. In addition, 64 percent call the vertical markets as the most important growth segment within the channel.
What Types of Cloud Suppliers are there?
Hosters
A Cloud Hoster is a service that only hosts services or software (literally houses). These providers therefore do not interfere with the functioning of the parent systems or software , which remain your responsibility. We see many hosters within datacenter services and datacenter providers. Popular forms of Cloud Computing among the hosters are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (Easter).
Brokers
A Cloud Broker is ‘a third party’ that acts as an intermediary between the provider and the buyer of a cloud service. Brokers is mainly encountered in the enterprise segment where a large customer purchases cloud services from various providers. A broker can be a useful intermediary there to coordinate and regulate all wishes, needs and design requirements of and between all parties involved.
Providers
A Provider ( Cloud Service Provider, CSP) is a provider of a service. Often you will find among the providers the SaaS ( Software as a Service) providers such as Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft, but IBM cloud services provide you with the perfect balance. These providers ‘provides’ you the service, literally translated ‘offer’. In addition, there are providers of infrastructures (IaaS) and platforms (PaaS) that provide this solution as a service and are therefore also Providers.