The fast-paced technology landscape is ever changing, and as product sets continue to narrow and end users become more connected than ever before, it’s crucial to understand where the market is headed. Based off what we saw in 2016, here are common business challenges and solutions worth addressing with your customers at the beginning of next year. These range from easy-to-sell products that lead to greater sales to emerging technologies that will spark interest and truly add value.
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This article was originally published on The VAR Guy.
The growth of cloud services is driving a massive appetite for reliable and secure connections. Current spending on cloud services and managed hosting is more than $180 billion. By 2018, IDC FutureScape predicts at least half of IT spending will be cloud based. VARs and MSPs that are watching their traditional hardware-based margins shrink should consider that by selling cloud connectivity solutions, they are replacing lost revenue or even creating a net add.
This article was originally published on MultiBriefs.
"The network is slow today," your customer service call center rep explains. "So
sorry, I can't access that information right now. Our network is down."
As businesses embrace cloud deployments, questions about cloud computing’s staying power now have a clear answer: Cloud is definitely here to stay, and the number of workloads moving to cloud infrastructures is going to increase at a faster pace than we’ve seen in the past. Whether we are talking about public, private or hybrid clouds, there’s no question cloud will play a starring role in future IT investments.
Are your customers managing multiple cloud environments like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Salesforce? Without a solid network strategy, your customers' applications may not be functioning at full capacity. Cloud connectivity plays a key factor in the performance of cloud-based applications. Ensure you're maximizing their business investments with the right cloud connectivity. Download our guide to learn how.
Businesses depend on a solid network infrastructure. Every department within an organization relies on that infrastructure. A mismanaged network impacts almost everything from customer communication, data storage and retrieval and data analysis to collaboration and network security. Ultimately, data could be lost, productivity could lag, orders could stall and customer satisfaction could wane - all hurting the business’ bottom line.
Described as the emerging WAN solution, SD-WAN allows customers to control their WAN service through software while linking across multiple connection types. The improved implementation process and remote management functions of SD-WAN permit retail locations, healthcare facilities, banks and other organizations with a high number of branch-type locations to realize huge benefits.
NetworkWorld’s article “SD-WAN: What it is and why you’ll use it one day” gives real-world insight into how software-defined WAN helps businesses better manage their wide area network (WAN). Like many customers, industrial and commercial supplier Redmond Inc. grappled with the task of managing multiple network-based systems (phone, point of sale and fax) based out of their headquarters and connecting across multiple branches in the Midwest. Branch sites depend on a reliable connection in order to operate and managing multiple connections can pose a challenge to businesses, particularly with rural remote locations.
Gartner predicts substantial growth for SD-WAN in the coming year as more providers invest in this emerging WAN technology. Download TBI’s guide on introducing SD-WAN and learn about this rapidly emerging alternative to MPLS.
Large telco companies have aggressively been updating their metro and on-net building fiber footprints. Simultaneously, cable companies are rapidly expanding their product portfolio, coverage areas and laying new fiber. Customers want to understand the difference between traditional IXCs and cable companies for on-net connectivity and look to TBI for answers.
Sell an alternative to traditional on-premises data centers. Colocation lets businesses rent space for data center equipment such as servers and other associated hardware in a secure and protected facility. Find your customer the right colocation provider to not only maintain and manage their data center but provide disaster recovery and business continuity.
Are your customers purchasing a cloud-based application? Don’t forget about the network. Those investing in an application should be maximizing its ability. Private network cloud connections improve performance and enhance the end-user experience. By offering a private and secure connection, you are recommending a predictable and fast solution for requests and responses from cloud resources.
As one year comes to an end and a new year begins, we reflect on 2015 to help plan for the future of our business, like identifying network services and design. The past year again saw a decline in private-line and packet services as more companies migrated to switched and dedicated Ethernet transport, IP VPN and MPLS services to better manage network traffic and make way for new applications.
As more companies virtualize servers within data centers, IT is finding that often it’s the network that impedes speed and adaption for new applications. Along with Ethernet services, network virtualization is what companies are currently focusing on to increase network performance.
When pitching corporate clients, VARs need to go beyond the same old technical differences, strengths, and limitations of MPLS and Ethernet services. Instead, focus on the operational and business advances that are tipping the scales in favor of the LAN-turned-WAN technology.
Just yesterday I was attempting to put together a Christmas list. I’m a voracious reader; I read every day for at least an hour, so my go-to gifts are always books. So last night I hopped on Amazon to look up some books that I may be interested in. The problem is, there are so many books on Amazon. So instead of randomly searching a novel in the literature canon or the flavor of the month young adult dystopian adventure novel, I went to the suggestion bar that said “Customers like you also bought…” and after scanning through about 5 pages I had a new book to add to my Christmas list.
When our Channel Managers review different product and service options for partners, a multitude of considerations come into play. In this article, we’ll discuss two different pricing models that influence the recommendations we make for data services: Distance and Local Access and Area Transport (LATA).
