Upskilled workforce more of an investment priority for channel
Research has found the channel ecosystem is increasingly prioritising technical expertise in both hiring and investment
Resellers are upskilling through investment and recruitment to meet demand for cybersecurity, SaaS application management and public cloud.
That's according to Sage, which found the channel ecosystem is increasingly prioritising technical expertise in both hiring and investment.
It found that over the past 18 months, 39 per cent of 1,000 channel resellers surveyed have invested resources to technically upskill their workforce, while 36 per cent adopted greater eCommerce functionality during the same period.
In the UK just under two fifths of resellers placed cloud computing (39 per cent) and cyber security skills (39 per cent) as desired traits for new talent, while 35 per cent are looking for coding skills.
Meanwhile in the US, resellers cited cloud computing (53 per cent) and data engineering (52 per cent) as required skillsets, while just under half listed cyber security skills (48 per cent), coding (45 per cent) and AI/ML development (44 per cent) as desired skills.
Resellers surveyed also predicted that by 2024, services requiring more specific technical expertise such as cybersecurity service provision (40 per cent), SaaS application management (38 per cent) and public cloud consumption (33 per cent) will be among those most demanded by clients.
Almost one-third also believe that customers will be looking to specifically increase the efficiency, intelligence and automation of their business processes or operations (BPO).
"Customers are looking to their channel partners to help make digitalisation a reality as they embrace new revenue streams and invest with an eye on the future," said Aziz Benmalek, President of Sage North America and EVP global partner organisation.
"They are being asked to provide expertise in the most complex technological areas - from protection against the latest cyber threats to the enablement of AI and ML."