How important are they today and tomorrow?
Distributors are gradually expanding their portfolios and developing into value-added service providers through innovative offerings. In our current market trend question, we therefore looked at the role of distributors in the partner business. How pronounced is the cooperation from the system houses' point of view, what advantages do they offer and which services are particularly relevant? Read more about the real "value" of distributors in our results.
Just under 20% of IT system houses use more than 4 distributors.
The overarching question of our current market survey is the importance of distribution from the perspective of system houses (including MSPs, system integrators, etc.) & business partners. This proved to be very high, with an average of 80% of respondents working with 1 to 4 distribution partners.
What are the most important advantages of distribution for your company?
Here are the TOP 3 of the 12 criteria mentioned:
3RD PLACE
FAST PROCESSING & OFFER DESIGN
Almost 58% of respondents see the fast processing of orders and the preparation of quotations as a real advantage.
2ND PLACE
SHIPPING SERVICE DIRECTLY TO END CUSTOMERS
59% appreciate the fast, reliable delivery directly to the end customer (49% to their company). This is confirmed by the previous survey on opportunity management. According to the survey, the most important reasons for a successful project implementation are the speed of delivery and availability of products.
1ST PLACE
AVAILABILITY OF PRODUCTS & SHELF LIFE
The number one benefit for partners ( 67% ) is the high stock availability of distributors and the resulting high availability of products.
Distributors are gradually expanding their portfolios. But which of the services are actually relevant?
Online store & catalog connection - 57%
Lead generation & sales support - 38%
Offers for financing - 36%
How do you assess the importance of distribution for your business and the resulting intensity of cooperation over the next 12-24 months?
In the outlook for future relevance, 53% of system houses forecast that the importance of collaboration will remain the same over the next 12-14 months. Only 5% actually see a decline in collaboration.
