Managed Services, Cloud Solutions Spur Growth

Managed services

Managed Services, Cloud Solutions Spur Growth

Cloud and managed services solutions have shorter sales cycles, more predictable revenue and higher profits, a new survey of channel leaders finds.

Cloud Presence

Nearly three-quarters of channel execs/leaders said more than 10% of their total sales is tied to cloud-based solutions, with 15% saying more than half their total sales is tied to the cloud.

Managed Services Drives Revenue

Nine in 10 said more than 10% of their total sales is related to managed services, with 23% indicating that more than half their total sales is tied to managed services.

Business Reinvention

40% indicate that their company has developed new sales strategies for managed services and the cloud.

New Channel Strategy

34% said the new sales strategies for managed services and the cloud involve the targeting of specific industries/verticals and/or key issues; 27% said they involve focusing on initial projects and adding services and products over time.

Market Timing for Cloud and MSPs

34% said their sales cycles are shorter for cloud-based or managed-service solutions, as opposed to on-premise ones; just 14% said cloud and managed-services sales cycles are longer.

Cloud and MSP Revenue

50% said cloud-based tech and managed services revenue is more predictable than that of on-premise tech, and 80% said this revenues is either as profitable as on-premise solutions or more profitable.

Multiple Benefits

37% said managed services and the cloud improve their business valuation while nearly two in five said it increases service margins.

Team Effort

75% said both IT and line-of-business leaders act as decision makers for managed services and cloud-based offerings.

Skills Shortages

37% said hiring the right talent poses major challenges in selling managed services and cloud solutions, while 30% cited the need to deal with vendor support models.

Tight Cash Flow

24% said cash-flow availability poses major challenges in selling managed services and cloud solutions, while 23% said the design of business models do.