Ingram Micro Cloud’s State of the Channel Report discusses what’s next for the industry

One of the world’s leading cloud enterprises, Ingram Micro Cloud, today announced its 2nd-ever annual report on the state of the channel. The report discusses the evolving role of the modern managed service provider, remote work revolution, the pivot of the big three, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, to the channel.

The 2021 State of the Channel Report can be read here.

Most importantly, the report dived into many of the most pressing trends that are reshaping the channel industry.

Said the company’s President Nimesh Davé, “When you look at technology consumption from any dimension, cloud, data center, application, cybersecurity perspective or customer viewpoint, one thing is certain: We’re seeing an unprecedented retirement of technical debt at a speed the world has never experienced.”

Among the findings of the report, Ingram Micro Cloud recommends that resellers and MSPs strive to power and protect the work-from-home experience. Due to this, the report encourages partners to invest in educating team members in IaaS, SaaS and PaaS.

Another focus of the report is on the ever-changing role of MSPs, and the need for them to step into an even more important role.

It will be core that MSPs become channel-first experience builders, specialized strategic partners, and ecosystem drivers, instead of merely providing adequate IT services upon request and putting out fires when they occur.

According to Ingram Micro Cloud, the most successful MSPs will be those who can leverage the power of a well-connected ecosystem, including with tech distributors, telcos, and more to ensure they are able to deliver comprehensive solutions.

The report also highlights Fortune 500 tech companies Microsoft, Amazon, and Google and their increasing focus on the channel. The investments made by these cloud giants in channel-supported growth strategies indicate a long-term focus on the channel.

An opportunity the report highlights is that MSPs can take advantage of the reality that Microsoft, Amazon, and Google at this time still lack the comprehensive industry knowledge required to guide companies towards cloud solutions.