A lack of skills will not only play a detrimental role in attracting new business for resellers, but also in how they recruit and maintain their staff in the future, the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) claimed at its Breakaway Europe conference last month.

According to a CompTIA report, one in three resellers could fall victim to a potential skills shortage in the channel over the next five years (CRN, 1 October).

At the time Matthew Poyiadgi, EMEA vice president at CompTIA, claimed vendors had a key role to play in this. He suggested that vendors were failing to offer the necessary support for their partners and that this would, inevitably, lead to disaster further down the line.

“Vendors must be more sympathetic to resellers’ needs. They need to come together with their partners to face the challenge and offer them more help to increase their expertise,” said Poyiadgi.

The Breakaway Europe event, held in London, focused on the role skills will play in the future of the channel. Speaking at the event, Poyiadgi said: “Employees have started to realise that they have the trump card - they are the ones in control,” he said. “It is no secret that the days of an employee working for one company for their entire career are over and now if a person realises a company will not invest in them, they will move on until they find a company that will.

“Vendors need to help resellers with this and help them train their staff to have the skills required. It is expensive to keep recruiting staff, and resellers are the ones that will feel the bite.”

Anthony Harri, managing director of Merchant Business Evolution which specialises in developing marketing and sales strategies for resellers, added: “The speed of change is frightening. Software is now worth more than PCs, but 10 years ago this was not the case. The market is changing and it will continue to change.

“Resellers need to get back to basics to effectively manage the people around them. They must change with the times; make sure relationships with vendors are stronger than the competition as they are the ones in the know. They need to adapt with changing markets and their staff will be a key element of this.”

Despite Poyiadgi’s claims, some analysts have suggested resellers need to take the initiative to ensure the future of their business.

Keith Humphreys, managing consultant at analyst EuroLAN, explained that resellers need to broaden their horizons and seek new forms of business away from the traditional idea of box shifting, and not rely on vendors to bail them out.

“Resellers need to use their initiative,” he stated. “Vendors have a degree of responsibility, but it is up to resellers to ensure they have the staff in place to meet their customers’ needs.

“Resellers must realise it is not enough just to shift hardware - they need to sell solutions.”

An example of resellers’ failure to move with the market and offer their customers less traditional services is convergence.

Convergence is driving the telephony market and is rapidly growing in popularity, but according to some, resellers are failing to capitalise on the new opportunities a converged channel has to offer.

Chris Tombs, chief executive of ISP Timico, explained: “Resellers are not making the most of the opportunities convergence offers, but they should be. They are not moving with the market and this is going to have an effect on their business and prevent them from maintaining consistent revenue streams.”

Humphreys added: “Convergence is causing resellers problems as it is simplifying the products available. As they become easier to sell and install, there is not the margin in the mystery of the product.

“IP products are more commoditised, which makes it harder to add a service. Resellers have to move more in the direction of consultation - they need to be more consultative in order to survive.”

Another issue facing resellers is education and how they can make the most of a system that is not only failing its students but is failing the channel by not producing workers with the skills they need.

“People are taught only basic PC skills and there is no focus on the broader aspects of technology,” alleged Howard Russell, director at Cisco VAR Signature Networks. “The curriculum needs to be diversified to be able to start producing people with skills that are transferable to a business environment.”

Humphreys agreed that this is a hurdle that resellers need to overcome.

He said: “The talent shortage is a big problem and it will continue to be. This needs to be addressed as a matter of priority.”

Poyiadgi added: “Resellers are struggling. They are not servicing users the way they should be and it is only a matter of time before things catch up with them.

“They need people who can provide the services, but they are becoming harder to find. Vendors need to get onboard to help them train existing staff and make an investment in the future of their partners.”

Summary

*Resellers need to diversify and move away from just box shifting if they are to survive in the channel.

*New technologies are becoming simpler to implement and use, causing problems for VARs that want to add services. Resellers need to be consultative.

*The education system is failing the channel. It is not producing people capable of dealing with aspects of technology.

*Vendors need to get more involved with the partners and help train staff to deal with the technical side of business and increase their skills base.