Channel feeling optimistic for 2010

EMEA-wide partner survey by software vendor CA reveals virtualisation and cloud computing are the 2010 hotspots

Rising sun: CA's partners picked cloud computing as the second most important growth area for 2010

Channel players are feeling more optimistic for 2010, according to figures from software vendor CA’s latest survey.

The vendor conducted its annual Channel Index survey among its reseller base across EMEA (928 partners in total). It revealed that the greatest channel opportunity this year is believed to be virtualisation – which was picked out by 70 per cent of respondents – swiftly followed by cloud computing, with a 56 per cent following.

Specifically in the UK and Ireland (104 partners questioned), 81 per cent of respondents predicted the economic outlook will improve this year, compared with nine per cent that believe it will deteriorate. A further 34 per cent of partners predicted an increase in IT budgets in 2010.

José Carvalho, senior vice president of EMEA Channel Sales at CA, said: “When we reflect on the feedback from last year’s index, it is clear that it was a tough period for some of our partners. This year there is a marked difference, with the index showing that our partners across EMEA are now positive about the outlook for the upcoming year.

“They have also pinpointed virtualisation and cloud computing as customer spending hotspots for 2010. CA is already working with its partners to guide their customers through the adoption of virtualisation technology and their journey towards cloud computing.”

Other areas of IT spending growth predicted by CA’s channel partners in 2010 are expected to be green IT (43 per cent) and recovery management (40 per cent).