Sage: Channel Feeling Impact of Talent Shortage

SAGE PARTNER SUMMIT — A new study shows the impact of the talent shortage on the channel — with U.S. partners mostly feeling the pinch.

Half of all U.S. channel firms surveyed by Sage noted difficulty finding both skilled management level staff and entry-level talent.

This research was released at the Sage Partner Summit, taking place in Dallas, Texas this week.

More than one-half of all U.S. resellers cited cloud computing (53%) and data engineering (52%) as required skill sets. Just under one-half listed cybersecurity skills (48%), coding (45%) and AI/ML development (44%) as desired skills.

By contrast in the UK, just under two-fifths of resellers placed cloud computing (39%) and cybersecurity skills (39%) as desired traits for new talent. Thirty-five percent are looking for coding skills.

Sage notes that the current business climate may have forced UK partners to focus more on the running of their business, with 36% actively recruiting for essential business roles.

Aziz Benmalek is president, Sage North America, and EVP global partner organization. He said partners are being asked to provide expertise in the most complex technological areas.

Sage’s Aziz Benmalek

“This requires the channel workforce to shift,” he said. “At Sage, we are prioritising providing our channel partners with the tools and technology tools needed to thrive.”

Addressing the Talent Shortage with Investment

Over the past year-and-a-half, 39% of the 1,000 channel resellers surveyed have invested resources to technically upskill their workforce. Additionally, 36% have adopted greater e-commerce functionality during the same period.

This investment in technology is unlikely to slow. Resellers predicted that by 2024, services requiring more specific technical expertise will be among those most demanded by clients. These include cybersecurity service provision (40%), SaaS application management (38%) and public cloud consumption (33%). Almost one-third (30%) also believe that customers will be looking to increase the efficiency, intelligence and automation of their business processes or operations (BPO).

Almost one-half (49%) believe customers will look to grow their data centre management revenue. Additionally, 40% have a focus on generating revenues from data analytics and AI software enablement.