The IT consumption model has been changing from a Capex to an Opex approach for some time now, as businesses seek out flexible, cost-effective solutions.
These factors are felt even more acutely in the current environment, where businesses are more cost-sensitive and need to adapt rapidly to changing market conditions. However, while the Anything as a service (XaaS) model makes IT simple to consume, it is very complex to deliver, requiring more than just a change in product labelling and marketing. Behind the scenes, XaaS needs the support of technology experts who can aggregate products and services in a package that meets specific business requirements.
Resellers as MSPs
The Channel must adapt to deliver flexible, on-demand IT services along with the rest of the industry and face the complexity of the XaaS IT consumption model. Such a major shift in service delivery is likely to present serious challenges for resellers who need to respond dynamically to market demand, creating competitive offerings that incorporate a diverse set of technical elements.
The rise of ‘as-a-service’ offerings is blurring the confines of a reseller’s and an MSP’s role, as the former assumes some of the responsibilities of the latter. To navigate this change and capitalise on the opportunity, Channel partners need support. This is where Value Added Distributors (VADs), have an important role to play, being ideally placed to provide extra resources to aid this transition.
A VAD’s support and consultancy can empower resellers to expand the range of services they offer without investing in new hires or costly new platforms. This is especially important for smaller organisations who do not have the resources to expand into XaaS on their own, but who stand to gain competitive advantage from the differentiation afforded by additional XaaS options.
The XaaS options offered can range from network visibility, security, configuration, monitoring and more, with contract duration varying from just 30 days, for spot-treatment of a specific issue, to an ongoing yearly basis.
A growth opportunity
The commercial opportunity in transitioning to an XaaS model is very real. SD-WAN as a managed service for example, is expected to grow 87.8% in 2020 and 55% in 2021[1], as this technology matures.
However, the opportunity is bigger than just SD-WAN. Businesses can bring together a variety of technologies that offer end users a holistic experience. As an example, Juniper’s new Cloud Managed Service Provider (CSMP) platform offers SD-WAN, cybersecurity and Wi-Fi. The programme consists of two specialisations: Cloud Software and Managed Services.
The Juniper CMSP service, delivered and supported by Nuvias to Channel partners in the UK from the 19th August and across Europe in the coming months, is designed to help resellers evolve their business models, providing the foundation to offer new cloud-based managed services.
Looking to the future, customers will continue to seek a flexible subscription model that offers better performance at lower costs. This is a growth opportunity for the Channel, and one that can be delivered by building a Cloud-based managed services business around specialised vendor solutions.
Nuvias continually invests in people and Cloud Services development & enablement platforms that can assist partners in streamlining their buying, selling and management of subscription services across our vendor portfolio.
For more information and to sign up for the programme please contact: [email protected].
[1] IDC, EMEA Managed SD-WAN Forecast, May 2020.
