Partner leaders have given a mixed verdict on the keynotes at Canalys Forums EMEA, with some praising the rise in positivity levels and others wanting to hear more specifics on how to monetise AI.
Today’s event kicked off with keynotes from Canalys Founder Steve Brazier and Omdia Chief Analysts Alastair Edwards and Jay McBain.
While Brazier advised partner leaders to become coders to survive the AI revolution, Edwards showcased stats suggesting the channel has lost marketshare and warning that partners are being “squeezed” by vendors.
But in contrast to last year’s doom-fest, the overall tone was positive.
The morning’s sessions also saw interviews with top execs from Dell and Microsoft, a partner CEO panel and keynotes from other Omdia analysts including Vladimir Galabov and Robin Ody.
But what did UK partners make of what was said?
We grabbed ten of them to get their snap verdicts…
“Dell and Microsoft presented a rosier picture than the reality”
Graeme Watt, President of the Board, Infinigate
Were there any hair-raising moments for you?
I was surprised by how much agentic AI has been adopted by the SMB – 25% [according to Microsoft’s session]. I thought that was a huge number, and it makes me feel like many of our customers and companies I work with are a little bit behind the curve. I thought that was amazing.
Was there anything you disagreed with?
I think Dell and Microsoft are both doing well in their fields and I think they presented a slightly rosier picture of the industry, and how well people are doing throughout the channel, than the reality.
“A really clear message for partners on where to place your bets”
Sarah Shields, Group Alliance Director, Computacenter
Were there any hair-raising moments for you?
The top 30 list [from Omdia’s new ‘Global Partner 1,000’] was interesting. There was a really clear message for partners on where to place your bets – the services angle – and if you haven’t got the services you need to get with it, and quickly.
I think there is still a secret source for AI in the channel which is latent. It’s there, but it’s just not been fully realised.
Was there anything you disagreed with?
It’s always a good event. There were no contentious statements you can go back on and say, ‘well, you were wrong’ in a year’s time. Some of the insights were interesting but not game changing.
“This year, I’ve been a bit more inspired”
Phil Brown, VP Sales, UK & Ireland, TD Synnex
Were there any hair-raising moments for you?
I thought Steve Brazier’s comment that [partner] CEOs will have to code was an interesting comment. Last year he said, ‘if you’re not using AI, then retire’, and this year it’s ‘if you’re not coding…’
Was there anything you disagreed with?
I left last year feeling a little bit uninspired. Whereas this year I’ve been a bit more inspired – obviously AI is a huge opportunity and security is still an opportunity for everyone. Last year was quite doom and gloom – maybe it was the change of location and change of ownership. But this year was a bit more upbeat.
“As a channel, we need to be prepared for marketplaces”
John Nolan, UK & Ireland Managing Director, Westcon, Westcon-Comstor
Were there any hair-raising moments for you?
The statement about marketplaces – and the level of business that’s going to go through them in three to five years – was a really interesting stat to look at. I think as a channel, we need to be prepared for that.
From a Westcon perspective, I think we’re a year or two years ahead of our competition when it comes to marketplace with DSOR [AWS’ Designated Seller of Record programme] and some of the acquisitions we made around AWS in general.
Was there anything you disagreed with?
Not really. We always find Canalys a really useful source of information. Generally what they say is reasonably accurate.
It would be great to see some of the big cybersecurity vendors and some of the newer emerging AI vendors on stage.
To be honest with you I’m bored to death listening to the same conversations on AI. [Steve Brazier] is right, we all need a strategy around it. But there are very few partners in the channel today that are properly ready for this AI revolution.
“There were some eye-watering bits around cyber insurance”
John Pepper, CEO, Managed247
Were there any hair-raising moments for you?
The AI stats were quite eye-watering.
Certainly, there were a few eye-watering bits around MSPs and the fact that cyber insurers are now looking at that potential risk.
[Robin Ody] basically said MSPs are potentially at risk because cyber-insurance companies may not insure end users if they’re using an MSP, because MSPs can maybe be seen as a higher risk than having internal teams. The way to mitigate that is to make sure you have the right accreditations – but that is a lot of work for the smaller MSPs.
Was there anything you disagreed with?
Not really. I’ve got my own views on how channel partners can make money from AI, and it comes down to how AI requires good documentation. Over the last three months, we’ve created a team that floats into organisations and creates documentation, and that’s upped our professional services tenfold.
I was quite surprised that nobody was on stage today (and this might still happen because there are sessions this afternoon) and gone ‘here’s the opportunity, and this is exactly how you go to market to create that’.
“There should have been more specificity on SMB and midmarket”
Brian Dunleavy, Chief Commercial Officer, Viadex
Were there any hair-raising moments for you?
The urgency on partnering. Hearing Jay and Alastair’s comments on how that is accelerating, for us the co-selling and co-GTM is a big part of what we do. See the vision, be very specific about what you want to do, and co-collaborate. People need to communicate and collaborate.
Was there anything you disagreed with?
The Microsoft piece for me didn’t really focus on SMB and again from the Dell side it was quite [focused on] enterprise AI factories. Most people in the room don’t sit in those top customers and there should have been more specificity on what they are actually doing to help SMB and midmarket.
“It was nice to see a lot more positivity”
Anita Beaumont-Blake, Strategic Sales Director, Westcoast, Hayley Roberts, CEO, Distology and Sarah Geary, CCO, Distology
Were there any hair-raising moments for you?
Anita: It felt like there was less doom and gloom [than last year].
Hayley: I think what they tried to do as well is not just go ‘AI’ but also [look at] the infrastructure around AI – looking at what that means for everyone in the channel. I liked it and thought the tone was really positive.
Sarah: The biggest thing for me was the difference from when they kicked it off last year and it was all doom and gloom. I think they were trying to be quite controversial, with it being so negative, so it was nice to see a lot more positivity.
“At every event I come to there’s more clarity on AI”
Paul Barlow, CRO, Advania UK
Were there any hair-raising moments for you?
The AI opportunity for the channel just keeps growing and you’re either going with that wave or you’re going to become irrelevant. That’s what Steve was getting at – you’ve really got to focus down on that and make sure you’re working hand and hand with the customer base.
I think the trick for the channel is to make it relevant to them. And that’s a bit of a challenge. Certainly, at every event I come to there’s more clarity, but there’s still work to do there.
Was there anything you disagreed with?
I don’t think there is. I was on board with what they said and how it was delivered.
