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AVANT Announces 2019 Cloud Channel Survey Results
[April 09, 2019]

AVANT Announces 2019 Cloud Channel Survey Results


CHANNEL PARTNERS CONFERENCE - AVANT Communications (News - Alert) ("AVANT"), a platform for IT decision-making and the nation's premier distributor for next generation technology, today reveals the results of its 2019 Cloud Channel Survey.

This year's survey was developed in partnership with 8x8, Channel Partners, Flexential, HOSTING, Masergy, NICE inContact and Oracle (News - Alert) Communications.

Conducted by Edge Strategies, the 2019 Cloud Channel Survey assessed 187 channel sellers with offerings across the following service categories: Data Networks excluding SD-WAN, Voice Network Services, UCaaS or CCaaS Unified Communications, SD-WAN, Colocation, IaaS, SECaaS, Office Productivity, SaaS (News - Alert). Managed IoT and 5G joined this year's list as disruptive technologies to watch. AVANT compared year-over-year data to identify shared attributes and strategies among top-selling cloud partners in the channel community.

"AVANT's growing network of Trusted Advisors benefits from keeping our pulse on the competitive landscape for IT services and digital transformation," said Drew Lydecker, President and Co-Founder, AVANT. "We present the 2019 Cloud Channel Survey to the broader community as a barometer to help everyone measure themselves against the most successful partners in the industry."

Key findings from this year's report include:

  • Sellers are expanding their focus when it comes to their offerings. The average seller is expected to expand from 4 service offerings to 6 by 2020.
  • Having next generation cloud services in your portfolio seems to enable you to sell more data and voice services. Cloud-Centric sellers accounted for 41% of Voice and Data Network sales, outperforming sellers that primarily focus on Voice and Data Networks who outnumbered them.
  • Partners with the highest number of successful deals and those that are the most bullish for the future growth of the industry are very different from the rest of the pack in key attributes, including being more responsive, providing more training to sales staff, offering a broader portfolio and hosting more of their own events.
  • Data Networks dominate the total volume of sales transaction (25%), while UCaaS/CCaaS services have catapulted two positions higher in sales volume and 10% greater in share.
  • The top four services that Channel Partners expect to sell in two years are Data Networks (39%), UCaaS (67%), SD-WAN (61%) and Security as a Service (45%) -- with 5G and Managed IOT emerging as areas to watch for in the future.



AVANT continues to measure the Channel Risk Score in the 2019 survey, which assesses how vulnerable sellers in each category are to losing business to a competing seller with a more compelling service. The higher the score, the greater the risk indicated. Results indicate that:

  • Sellers of IaaS pose the greatest risk to channel partners that sell data network services, SD-WAN or UCaaS/CCaaS -- with risk scores of 38, 24 and 29, respectively.
  • Channel Partners that sell voice are the most at risk from sellers of CCaaS, with a risk score of 22.

Additionally, the report compares success factors for two classifications of sellers, based on partners that made the highest number of deals with the highest growth ("Lean Forward") and those that made the least number of deals with the lowest growth ("Lean Back"). 2019 results are as follows:


  • Lean Forward Group: More often selected overall responsiveness of vendors as a key vendor selection criterion, valued comparative product information and leveraged a broad portfolio as a value add.
  • Lean Back Group: More often selected vendor deal protection as a key decision criterion, leveraged industry tradeshows for lead generation and identified security concerns as a key driver for customers' IT decision-making.

"As enterprises are adapting to navigate the accelerating pace of change in IT, the best channel sales professionals are evaluating -- and re-evaluating -- their formulas for success. That drive is what separates the leaders from the laggards," said Ian Kieninger, CEO, AVANT. "The insights in this year's survey can serve as a roadmap to Trusted Advisors as they work to elevate their role as advisors and sales professionals."

To download the full report and for more information, visit https://www.goavant.net/survey.

About AVANT Communications

AVANT Communications is a platform for IT decision-making and the nation's premier distributor for next generation technologies. AVANT adds unique value with its focus and expertise in channel sales assistance, sales training, sales guidance, and sales tools to fuel IT services business growth. From complex cloud designs to global wide-area network deployments, AVANT sets the industry standard in enabling its partners and clients to make intelligent decisions about services, technology and cost-effective communications. For more information, visit www.goavant.net, or connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.


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