The industry is ever obsessive about new technologies that promise to change the world for business operators. But the more exciting the chatter, the more likely it is that the divide between user uptake and industry hopes for growth will widen.
We hear a lot about 'divides' in general (north-south, for example), and our industry is not short of gaps, be they diversity imbalances within organisations, the discrepancy between tech hype and actual usage, or digital skills gaps, to name just three.
Divides are a fact of life, but they must be countered and bridged if we are to move forwards into the sunny uplands.
Spanning the chasm between industry hype and end user adoption of the exciting and creative tech we all trumpet, like cloud, fibre, and all else, is a priority.
And a process of 'levelling' may be required as well as bridge building. Levelling in terms of communicating to customers in a way that they truly understand the benefits of cloud and fibre, for example.
The issues are real and many. How do we close the technology and adoption gap? Where is the problem? Is there a residual but telling approach to market that is characterised by legacy?
Perhaps there is, when you consider that global giants like Microsoft and Amazon are drawing in ever more customers. For them, adoption rates do not appear to be such an issue as more consumer oriented models hold great appeal, and products like Teams are executed as a natural next step.
In many cases comms VARs face a far bigger task in attempting to close the industry-user divide and compete with tech Titans. The practical transition to digital may not seem such a natural progression for many of their customers, even though they understand their world is changing.
A case in point therefore must be the application of sales approaches that tally with the underlying thinking of modern businesses, and bridge the gap between exciting tech and its actual deployment.
The present imbalances can only be damaging to the channel's prosperity.