Google Cloud, Ensono, SADA, AllCloud Talk Key Trends for MSPs, Vendors
AllCloud, Ensono, SADA and Google Cloud took part in the first-ever closed-door discussion on cloud at CP Expo.
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“This was a huge year for everyone adjusting to the different culture changes,” said Jen Chason, director of enterprise at Google Cloud, the only cloud vendor to join the 2021 Cloud Roundtable. “We’ve enabled hybrid working, remote working, and now we’re planning for the return.”
Cloud, she noted, played (and continues to play) a huge part in all of that.
“The growth is phenomenal,” Chason said, pointing to the dual trends of remote/hybrid work and cloud adoption.
Indeed, Gartner predicts that, in 2022, 31% of all workers worldwide will be remote (a mix of hybrid and fully remote). The U.S. will lead the way, with 53% of the nation’s workforce remote. The U.K. will follow closely, at 52%. And remote workers in Germany and France will account for 37% and 33%, respectively.
Supporting remote work requires cloud technologies that deliver applications such as SaaS and collaboration platforms. Gartner forecasts end-user spending on public cloud services in just 2022 to reach $482 billion, up almost 22% from this year.
In other words, there’s no end in sight when it comes to the potential for channel partners to sell, implement and manage cloud services and infrastructure. Yet soaring cloud adoption leads to some issues partners must address. That discussion starts on the next slide.
Cyberattacks have only worsened over the last year and a half. And they will not ease up, probably ever. Even so, too many organizations keep looking the other way, as if ignoring their cybersecurity problems will prevent hacks and breaches.
“We are still having conversations with end users” about this issue, Google Cloud’s Chason said. “Some customers have chosen to be oblivious.”
Partners can’t keep their heads in the sand, either. And too many still don’t have a cybersecurity strategy, as evidenced by discussions at the recent MSP Summit and Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.
That needs to change, soon. MSPs and other partners are just as vulnerable to attacks as their customers. If nothing else, consider that cyber crime costs organizations $2.9 million every minute, per RiskIQ research. Major businesses alone lose $25 per minute from data breaches, RiskIQ says.
But maybe more to the point is that cloud providers are turning to the channel for cybersecurity expertise.
“That’s also where we need our partners,” Chason said at the Cloud Roundtable. “The direct model isn’t our way.”
Think about the business implications of not ensuring cybersecurity — either internally or for customers. The time will come when an MSP, VAR or other partner without this knowledge or practice will lose deals.
By 2025, 60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a primary determinant in conducting third-party transactions and business engagements. That’s according to Gartner. The research firm says investors, especially venture capitalists, are using cybersecurity risk as a key factor in choosing which companies they back. Thus, any channel player wanting to engage in M&A, private equity deals or similar financial transactions will have to prove its cybersecurity mettle. However, more end users also see cybersecurity risk as a component in choosing with whom they work.
“The result is more requests for data about a partner’s cybersecurity program via questionnaires or security ratings,” Gartner says.
Building a cybersecurity unit is no easy feat. It will only get harder with fewer professionals around to fill the requisite roles. ISC2’s 2021 Cybersecurity Workforce Study highlights that difficulty.
“For the second consecutive year, the Cybersecurity Workforce Gap has decreased, down to 2.72 million compared to 3.12 million last year,” analysts write.
That means the global cybersecurity workforce needs to grow 65% to effectively defend organizations’ critical assets, they added.
Channel partners will play a significant role both in fortifying their own cybersecurity strategies and helping customers with their defenses. Getting there may be tough, though. Frost & Sullivan predicts that the growing gap between available qualified cybersecurity professionals and unfulfilled positions will reach 1.8 million by 2022. Partners may need to think about teaming with peers who do have the capabilities they lack.
And that leads to the next trend identified at the 2021 Cloud Roundtable.
Partners and end users alike felt the impacts of this one: the skills shortage hit hard in 2021. Pandemic unemployment support prompted a lot of people to put off returning to work. That, combined with a glut of jobs, turned into a trend: Employers, including those in IT, can’t find new staff.
“It’s not going to go away in the next 12-18 months,” AllCloud CEO Eran Gil said at the Cloud Roundtable.
That talent shortage is costing the economy, creating a $1 trillion problem, according to a recent study published by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute.
That’s because people are taking their time deciding where to work. Some, like those in historically low-paying roles such as fast food, are demanding higher wages or moving into different sectors. Restaurants are notoriously short-staffed these days. Other people have gone back to school to learn disciplines for whole new careers. Still more have retired or left the workforce temporarily. No matter the reason, the skills shortage is real.
“We’re all feeling it,” said Gil.
Channel partners must find new ways to attract — and maybe even more importantly, retain — talent. These days, prospective employees want more than a good salary (though that’s still of huge importance). They are essentially demanding flexible work schedules and unique benefits that fit their lifestyles as well. (Unique benefits can include a number of non-traditional offerings, including student loan repayment and subscriptions for necessary home items).
And for the foreseeable future, these candidates have the upper hand when it comes to hiring. By 2030, demand for skilled workers will outstrip supply, resulting in a global talent shortage of more than 85.2 million people, according to multinational consulting firm Korn Ferry.
The trouble is immediately pressing, however.
“Signs are already emerging that within two years there won’t be enough talent to go around,” the firm writes in its 2021 report, “Future of Work: The Global Talent Crunch.”
Left unchecked, Korn Ferry noted, the financial impact of this talent shortage “could reach $8.452 trillion in unrealized annual revenue by 2030, equivalent to the combined GDP of Germany and Japan. The United States alone could miss out on $1.748 trillion in revenue due to labor shortages, or roughly 6% of its entire economy.
The MSPs who participated in the 2021 Cloud Roundtable are all too familiar with the problem. We’ll explore their hiring challenges and ideas for addressing the skills shortage in another slideshow. For now, know that the issue will not let up any time soon. Partners of all sizes must give serious attention to the question of how they are going to bring on new, and hold onto existing, employees.
The onslaught of data generated by applications, databases, social media, IoT devices, and more, represents another key trend of 2021.
“Data is the new oil,” said Duan Van Der Westhuizen, senior vice president of public cloud at global MSP Ensono.
He’s right. 451 Research projects revenue from the data market to hit $146.1 billion next year. Organizations are feeling the pressure to move data out of silos and into data lakes for cleanup so they can figure out what to do next. For partners, that involves a lot of hands-on work (and a lot of opportunity). The key question to answer is, “How do you harness the power of data and bring business outcomes to customers?” said AllCloud’s Gil.
Partners might recall that responsibility for data used to fall on the CIO. Now, though, organizations are understanding the strategic decisions they can make when they harness their data.
“Data is the new currency,” Van Der Westhuizen said.
And leaders are understanding that all the work data requires calls for dedicated expertise. That’s why partners are seeing a new title — chief data officer — popping up within their customers’ executive suites. Expect to interface more with these professionals.
Finally, software as a service also rose to the occasion in 2021, building on a year of frenzied deployments spurred by COVID-19. In April, Gartner predicted SaaS adoption would top $122.6 billion by the end of this year. That’s a lot of money, and MSPs want their share. So, making sure SaaS developers build on the right cloud proved an important trend.
“There’s a sprawl of SaaS companies solving very specific problems,” said Tony Safoian, CEO of SADA, which only works with Google Cloud. “For us, it’s about sure we find those companies early and engage them early to convince them to build on Google.”
Getting SaaS companies to attach a specific cloud eases the way for MSPs. If an application lives natively within a certain public cloud environment, the one — or one of the ones — where the MSP specializes, then the MSP doesn’t have to do any heavy lifting.
Perhaps more to the point, though, is that end-user demand for SaaS won’t relent. Next year, spending should reach almost $172 billion, per Gartner.
So there it is. From adjusting to new work expectations to uncovering the gold mines hidden in data and SaaS, cloud partners and vendors alike embraced a range of trends in 2021. These trends brought — and will continue to bring — a variety of challenges, too. Indeed, they will spill over into the coming year. In terms of advice, partners should consider the following:
· Vet suppliers with care. Make sure vendors will be around for the long haul and that they are dedicated to the channel.
· Team with fellow experts. This could be managed security service providers and other specialists who may offer services and capabilities you don’t or cannot easily spin up.
· Find new ways to retain talent. It’s imperative not to lose time and money investing in a rotating door of people. That’s especially true given the talent shortages that stand to last for years and coinciding with growing demand for modern skills.
So there it is. From adjusting to new work expectations to uncovering the gold mines hidden in data and SaaS, cloud partners and vendors alike embraced a range of trends in 2021. These trends brought — and will continue to bring — a variety of challenges, too. Indeed, they will spill over into the coming year. In terms of advice, partners should consider the following:
· Vet suppliers with care. Make sure vendors will be around for the long haul and that they are dedicated to the channel.
· Team with fellow experts. This could be managed security service providers and other specialists who may offer services and capabilities you don’t or cannot easily spin up.
· Find new ways to retain talent. It’s imperative not to lose time and money investing in a rotating door of people. That’s especially true given the talent shortages that stand to last for years and coinciding with growing demand for modern skills.
Another year, another 12 months of operating in a pandemic. The backdrop of COVID-19 colored and influenced the range of trends channel partners and vendors encountered in 2021. Cloud technologies once again stood out as indispensable facilitators of remote and hybrid work.
With that in mind, three managed service providers and one cloud provider convened at the first-ever closed-door Cloud Roundtable at November’s Channel Partners Conference & Expo. They met to discuss pressing issues. In this first slideshow (above) in our series covering the Cloud Roundtable, participants talk about the trends that defined 2021 and that will continue into 2022. Look for commentary from AllCloud, Ensono, SADA and Google Cloud.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Kelly Teal or connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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