Jakub Jirsák - Fotolia
Sage: SMEs want the channel to be trusted advisors
Firm shares research that indicates partners are seen by small and medium-sized customers as the source of digital transformation support
The extent to which medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) want the channel to be trusted advisors and provide support to help them embrace digital services and artificial intelligence (AI) has been underlined by research from Sage.
The vendor is sharing the findings with partners to add to the anecdotal evidence many are experiencing as they get increasingly asked for strategic advice.
The firm found that more than half of IT resellers reported an increased role in providing strategic advice over the past year.
One of the keys to getting into a position where they can meet those needs is for the channel to remain flexible and informed, with a willingness to use AI tools and analytics to keep on top of market developments.
A response to that pressure has seen more than half of those resellers quizzed by Sage prioritise the latest technologies to increase their agility. Efforts are going into expanding services to optimise business processes, conducting reviews to align tech solutions with business goals, and offering insights on industry trends.
Sippora Veen, vice-president of global partner marketing at Sage, said it had seen its channel develop their skills and customer approach to meet changing SME demands. “We have an ecosystem of partners that we’re very close to, and we can see some of those roles evolving,” she said.
“We believe you’re going to have to start looking at a much more advisory approach to your customers, because you’re now able to offer technologies that are allowing them to change the way that they do business. You’re now going to be able to give them technology that is going to allow them to do the things they really want to do, which is to take a much more proactive view on their business to be much more strategic with their investment.”
Security
Veen added that customers wanted to be more secure, more proactive and stay compliant, and were limited by a lack of in-house skills.
“All of that suggests that partners are going to have to step up,” she said, adding that it would be sharing the findings with partners to spread that message across its ecosystem.
Veen said there were signs that the number of partners that were taking a more advisory approach was rising, and the channel understood they had to increase their expertise.
She said partners understand the need to help customers, and are looking to vendors, including Sage, to provide them with training and support.
“They know they need to make sure we are ready to navigate our customers through this very rapidly evolving tech landscape,” said Veen. “The buck stops with us, which is why we are very grateful for the evolving technological landscape, because it means we are able to get some real-life use cases.”
She said partners globally are going at different speeds when it comes to moving to a more consultative sales approach, and that some would see the research as validation of decisions already made, and others would be inspired to consider their strategies.
