Channel cashing in on selling to non-techies

Gartner claims tech sales staff are selling to business units as much as they are to IT departments

Channel companies are striking gold by selling more and more to individual business units instead of the IT department, according to Gartner, which predicts the digital boom will further transform the IT industry next year.

The analyst claims that half of tech sales staff are selling directly to business units instead of to IT departments, which used to be the norm.

"Millions of sales people, and hundreds of thousands of resellers and channel partners are looking for new money flows in the fluid digital world, and they are finding eager buyers," the analyst said.

"Thirty-eight percent of total IT spend is outside of IT already, with a disproportionate amount in digital," added Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner. "By 2017, it will be over 50 per cent. Digital startups sit inside your own organisation, in your marketing department, in HR, in logistics and in sales. Your business units are acting as technology startups."

In 2015, global IT spending is predicted to surpass $3.9tn (£2.42bn), up 3.9 per cent on this year and driven mainly by the "dramatic" boom in digital tech.

Gartner said this year alone, 650 million new physical objects have come online and claimed 3D printers became a billion dollar market, adding that both figures will double next year.

The rise of digital technology will transform the types of skills staff will need, the analyst said. At the moment, mobile, user experience and data sciences are the must-have skills for staff, but in three years from now, employees will need to be clued up on smart machines, robotics and ethics.

Sondergaard urged the channel to help customers keep up with the changing tech landscape.

"You must build talent for the digital organisation of 2020 now," he said. "Not just the digital technology organisation, but the whole enterprise. Talent is the key to digital leadership."