IoT and AI set to be biggest disrupters of channel business by 2020

Ahead of an event dedicated to the channel of the future next month, CRN asked VARs what they think the biggest technology game changers will be in the coming four years

Cloud has unsurprisingly been cited as the biggest disruption to channel business in the last two years, but that is set to be usurped by two upstarts by 2020.

A combined total of 58 per cent of respondents to a survey ahead of CRN's The European Channel in 2020 event next month picked artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) as the biggest disrupters to come in the next four years.

The survey also revealed that the workforce in the channel will be ruled by so-called Generation Y, with 55 per cent believing those born between 1980 and 2000 will dominate most channel teams.

A further 47 per cent believed that this generation will also become the key decision makers in the workforce in the next four years.

These and many other forward-looking predictions will form the basis of a ground-breaking CRN On event to be held on Tuesday 13 September in central London, where topics set to be covered include the impact of Brexit on the channel of the future, what the workforce of the future will look like, what the channel itself could look like, and which technology areas many channel players will be investing in.

Speakers include Carl West of GfK, Barrie Desmond of Exclusive Networks and industry veteran Tom Kelly.

Delegates will have access to an exclusive copy of the report after the event and will come away with an idea of where to place their bets over the coming years and what futuristic technology to look out for.

The event, sponsored by Agilitas, is open to resellers only and places are going fast. To find out more, please click here.