Digital transformation is not killing distribution, says IDC

Analyst reveals its seven "uber trends" which will take over the channel this year

IDC has endorsed the role distributors have to play when it comes to digital transformation, as it unveils its seven "uber trends" it thinks will be key for the channel this year.

On a webcast last night, global analysts at the firm shared their channel predictions for the year ahead and reflected on how accurate their forecasts were for last year.

During the presentation, digital transformation was picked out as being one of the megatrends which will influence the channel, which prompted audience questions about what this means for disties.

When asked if the channel's pursuit of cloud would limit the role of distributors in the channel, IDC's research director for infrastructure channels Pam Miller said actually the opposite is the case.

"The question considers distribution as a mover of boxes and as a bank," she said. "That model has changed dramatically. Today distributors are more and more moving the virtual box. And cloud solutions are not just one or two applications - they are very complex. [Distributors] are the glue that pulls those pieces together, and the services wrapped around that are also complex. That's why partners are specialising more and are using distribution to provide some of the support for those elements. So what they're doing is what they did before, but in a virtual world and making solutions much more readily available."

Cloud has becoming an important force in distribution over the last few years, with international giants such as Ingram Micro and Avnet launching their own cloud marketplaces, and smaller specialists popping up specifically to deal with cloud solutions.