alunablue - stock.adobe.com
Westcon-Comstor promotes Partner Insights
Distributor is encouraging channel to use data it provides to help identify trends and grow their businesses
Westcon-Comstor has cut the ribbon on its data offering for partners to increase the valuable insights it can share.
The distributor has been investing in its systems, with the launch and development of tools around its PartnerCentral marketplace platform, and is now in a position where it can help the channel grow through using data.
Its Partner Insights offering will provide partners with a chance to get a complete picture of transactional data, allowing them to track trends and optimise their business activities.
Some of the use cases Westcon-Comstor has already identified include monitoring hardware versus software and services spend. There are also opportunities for partners to compare performance by vendor against industry benchmarks. The insights will be available across all geographies to all partners, regardless of size.
Westcon-Comstor has long been a believer that arming partners with data insights will fuel further growth, and recently carried out research to establish the legitimacy of that viewpoint.
The distributor’s Bridging the gap: Power up your data for channel partner transformation report revealed that 97% of channel partners saw data as essential, underpinning their growth and transformation.
The firm found there was indeed an appetite for data, and more than half of the partners it quizzed (59%) strongly agreed the future of distribution includes the provision of data-led insights.
Opportunity for growth
Failing to get high-quality data was seen by more than half of the respondents as underlining the opportunity for growth in recurring revenues. The key desire from partners across various countries was for data that would drive revenue opportunities.
“We know from our research that many partners are wrestling with how to use the data they have at their fingertips to transform and grow their business, and our aim in launching Partner Insights is to help overcome these challenges,” said Patrick Aronson, chief marketing officer and APAC executive vice-president at Westcon-Comstor.
“By providing a single source of truth for transactional data, we’re empowering partners to make more informed decisions, optimise their operations and compete effectively as they look to accelerate their journey to an everything-as-a-service future,” he added.
Westcon-Comstor cut the ribbon on its PartnerCentral marketplace a year ago, with the Insights element one of the areas the firm expected to provide increasing value for partners.
The distie carried out research last year to establish the functionality wish list for a marketplace from a reseller perspective, and found there was a desire across the channel for the digital platforms to be more than just transactional spaces.
Speaking last April, Aronson outlined the ambition behind the launch of PartnerCentral. “Our partners want us to provide a digital interface to help their transformation into more efficient, data-driven businesses,” he said. “They want insights that help them understand the opportunities before their customers ask for them. They want a marketplace to help them easily procure and manage hardware, software and services.”
