Resellers want more cloud support and training from disties - research

Cloud had 'break through year' with an uptick in number of resellers offering services

Over half of resellers want more cloud training and support from distributors, according to new research from Context.

The market watcher noted that this is a "call-to-action" to disties for increased support in selling and delivering around as-a-service (aaS) offerings.

Context's annual ChannelWatch report showed that 55 per cent of survey respondents ranked training and education as their top request from disties, followed by marketing at 40 per cent.

"Despite the negative impact [of the COVID-19 crisis] on some parts of the sector, it has provided an opportunity for distributors to get closer to their resellers, and the support they've provided has been well received," explained Context CEO, Howard Davies.

"Going forward, there's a clear call-to-action for distributors from a reseller community increasingly requesting training and education to help drive business growth from the cloud."

Context surveyed over 8,000 resellers across EMEA for the report, which indicated a "break-through" year for cloud services; five key categories - back-up, disaster recovery and storage, infrastructure, security, web hosting and e-commerce - saw an uptick in the percentage of resellers selling these services since March.

Despite these demands, distributors' efforts during the lockdown did not go unappreciated by the channel.

Reseller perception of distributors has improved in every category since last year, with on-time delivery garnering the highest average approval rating of around 4.5. The biggest gains from a year ago were seen in field support, and billing and other cloud-related services.

The survey, which was conducted at the height of the pandemic In April and March, reported that 40 per cent of respondents predicted a better 12 months ahead, while 21 per cent said worse is to come.

Cloud, security and networking remain the top investment choices for B2B resellers, said the market watcher.