Advancements in mobility and the ‘Internet of Things’ are leading IT estates to diversify their offerings, with channels delivering multiple services and leading clients opting for a small number of trusted suppliers.
UK MPS software developer Annodata said a “broad offering and expertise” is needed from resellers if they are to succeed in the streamlined market, as it is “nonsense, not to mention inefficient”, to have one supplier for print, another for communications and another to provide IT and desktop services.
Rod Tonna-Barthet, CEO of Annodata, said: “Ease of vendor management is increasingly becoming key to many organisations as they look to improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
“If you can only supply one item on your clients’ shopping lists, you’ve either got to be extraordinarily good at that one thing or extraordinarily cheap. Otherwise, your business will become extinct.”
In its efforts to consolidate its offering, Annodata purchased specialist MPS provider STS in Feburary 2015.
He added: “The challenge many single-service providers now have – particularly those in the comms space – is that you’ve got to invest in the infrastructure behind the scenes to be able to deliver and employ a multi-service strategy. That’s a big investment that I suspect a lot of resellers aren’t in a position to make so I think the drive to consolidate suppliers will see many struggle over the next year.”