Channel remains optimistic in spite of increasing disruption - research

Larger channel firms more optimistic about future of IT channel than their smaller counterparts, according to Agilitas report

Economic uncertainty has not dimmed the channel's confidence in itself, according to research by Agilitas.

The services provider reported that channel businesses are embracing - and thriving on - the changes caused by continuous disruption and increasingly complex scenarios.

Agilitas surveyed 250 respondents in UK-based channel businesses with annual revenue of over £5m for its first Channel Confidence Index, which measures change and general level of optimism and confidence across a number of areas in the channel, including people, technology, finance and relevance.

Respondents gave an average confidence score of 7.5 out of 10 on topics including business transformation, going global, innovation and disruption, regulation and political factors.

"Businesses operating in the UK and internationally are facing an undeniably difficult situation, with change being forced upon us from a wide variety of different sources, both internal and external," stated Richard Eglon, marketing director of Agilitas.

"Faced with these challenges, it is heartening to see the high levels of confidence and optimism that channel decision-makers have reported, when considering the future of the IT channel."

The research also found that larger companies - those with over 500 employees - are generally more optimistic about the future of the IT channel, giving an average score of 7.9, compared to companies with fewer than 50 workers who gave a score of 6.3.

The proportion of respondents who reported feeling pessimistic about the channel has shrunk from 14 per cent in 2018 to two per cent this year.

"The results of our research make it clear that the highest levels of confidence and optimism are felt with regard to external relationships with other partners and internally driven change; the lowest levels are about internal relationships, and externally driven change," Eglon added.

"Nonetheless, the overwhelming positivity and confidence in the channel should not be overlooked.

"It will be interesting to see how these trends change over the coming years and looking forward to using these results to predict the future attitudes of channel businesses."