Gauging the State of the Solution Provider
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Hiring Across the Channel
A full 87% said they plan to do the same amount or more hiring in 2014 as 2013; 46% say they will hire more. -
Drivers of Hiring Across the Channel
Of the solution providers surveyed, 77% report they are hiring more people to support new clients; 65% are now relying more on outsourcing to support those clients. -
Most Growth Comes From SMB Space
Companies with 28 to 99 employees were cited by 48% of the respondents as providing the most business growth. -
Average Hourly Billable Rate
Well over half (61%) report getting $101 to $150 an hour on average for their services. -
Growth Drivers
New client requests were cited by 65%, while the need for new skills (49%) and geographic expansion (32%) were the second and third biggest drivers. -
Top Technologies Driving Customer Requests
Security at 54% tops the list, followed by cloud apps (52%), mobile-device management (46%) and data management (45%). -
Cloud Reliance on the Rise
Seven out of 10 use cloud apps to service customers; cloud contracts are up 5% year over year. -
Drivers of Customer Renewals
Improved customer service was cited by 59%, followed by better client communication (44%) and an increase in managed services demand (41%). -
Measuring Technician Value
Technical knowledge was cited as the primary measurement by 34%; followed by customer satisfaction (20%) and billable hours (17%). -
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Strong growth, particularly in the small and midsize business (SMB) space, is driving a significant uptick in demand for IT services, according to a new global survey of 1,300 solution providers conducted by Decision Tree Labs on behalf of Autotask, a provider of professional services automation software. As a result, the majority of solution providers across the channel are looking to hire additional IT professionals. The downside, however, is that the survey makes it clear that most solution providers are not getting the most out of potential billable hours. The Autotask report notes that 60 percent of solution providers want 80 percent of the time the technicians work to generate billable hours, but only 18 percent achieve that goal. For a variety of reasons, the total number of customer renewals has fallen year over year, even as communications between solution providers and their customers improve. The reasons for that could range from customers going out of business to a desire on the part of solution providers to focus on more profitable customers. As is the case with the rest of the IT industry, security, cloud computing, mobile computing and data management are driving most of the demand for increased IT services. The major challenge right now appears to be finding the people with the right skills to service that demand. Here are key takeways from the Autotask study.
What Partners Need to Know About HP, ...
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