Resellers too slow to adopt verticalisation as their primary route to market could become a thing of the past, claims Ingram Micro Cloud's Apay Obang-Oway, Director Northern Europe, Cloud & Software.
"You can't be all things to all men any more, it's important to specialise," he stated.
"The horizontal approach is not realistic when you consider how much deeper you have to go into the customer organisation, in understanding it, understanding the reality of what they are dealing with, the competitive business they are in, even down to legal issues. That is why verticalisation is key."
Speaking at the Ingram Micro Cloud Summit Obang-Oway cited Gartner's projection that just a third of the channel 'will make it'.
"That's not too far off the mark," he said. "We are already seeing new entrants, and the fact that we are changing the conversation is attracting partners - 40% of the Summit attendees are new to Ingram Micro. All business models will be changed so everything is up for grabs.
"Those that don't understand the marketing won't be able to get the depth and breadth they need. So we take our capabilities out with partners to help amplify their message.
"When we use content about the fourth industrial revolution, we are looking at what it means for the end user customer, what it means in retail, healthcare etc. It's a different way to go to market."
Obang-Oway also noted that Ingram Micro's cloud business is witnessing strong growth in IaaS, and that a priority is to recruit data analysts and automation experts.