Monday Morning Impact – October 8

Gartner Says 28% of Spending in Key IT Segments Will Shift to Cloud by 2022

Twenty-eight percent of spending within key enterprise IT markets will shift to the cloud by 2022, up from 19 percent in 2018, according to a new report from Gartner. According to the report, (“Market Insight: Cloud Shift — 2018 to 2022”), growth in enterprise IT spending on cloud-based offerings will be faster than growth in traditional, non-cloud IT offerings. But despite this growth, traditional offerings will still constitute 72 percent of the addressable revenue for enterprise IT markets in 2022.

“The shift of enterprise IT spending to new, cloud-based alternatives is relentless, although it’s occurring over the course of many years due to the nature of traditional enterprise IT,” said Gartner research vice president Michael Warrilow. “Cloud shift highlights the appeal of greater flexibility and agility, which is perceived as a benefit of on-demand capacity and pay-as-you-go pricing in cloud.”

By 2022, almost one-half of the addressable revenue will be in system infrastructure and infrastructure software, according to Gartner. System infrastructure will be the market segment that will shift the fastest between now and 2022 as current assets reach renewal status. Moreover, it currently represents the market with the least amount of cloud shift. This is due to prior investments in data center hardware, virtualization and data center operating system software and IT services, which are often considered costly and inflexible.

More than $1.3 trillion in IT spending will be directly or indirectly affected by the shift to cloud by 2022, according to Gartner. Providers that can capture this growth will drive long-term success through the next decade.

Channel Impact^®
Technology providers can use cloud shift as a key data point in determining market opportunity. Other key data points worthy of consideration include growth rates and addressable market size in each of the targeted areas, including system infrastructure, infrastructure software, application software and business process outsourcing.

BlueJeans Forges Distribution Agreement with Ingram Micro

BlueJeans Network, Inc., a Mountain View, California-based vendor selling video meetings solutions, has announced a U.S. distribution agreement with Ingram Micro Inc., extending the two companies’ year old relationship, which has been focused on Asia-Pacific and EMEA. Under this expanded agreement Ingram Micro-aligned channel partners in these designated regions will have access to BlueJeans Meetings, BlueJeans Rooms and BlueJeans Events solutions.

The company offers a platform connecting desktops, mobile devices and room systems into a single video meeting.

“BlueJeans is a cloud-native meetings platform and a natural fit within our growing unified communications and collaboration portfolio,” said Jeff Yelton, Executive Director, Ingram Micro. “Demand for intelligent workplaces is building among businesses of all sizes, and we’re excited to extend our relationship with BlueJeans and expand our U.S. portfolio to include BlueJean’s one-touch video, audio and web conferencing solutions.”

BlueJeans also announced that Barry Ruditsky has joined the company as SVP, Global Channels. Ruditsky spent nearly 11 years at EMC where he managed indirect sales including OEM, resellers and channel partners with a global sales organization. Most recently, Ruditsky was part of the executive team at Actiance, Inc. where he developed ISV and OEM relationships with IBM and launched a global VAR program.

“There is a terrific market opportunity for BlueJeans as we continue to work alongside the industry’s best partners, including Ingram Micro,” said Ruditsky.

The distribution agreement follows the announcement of the company’s recently expanded channel program for UC-focused partners. The program offers additional benefits and incentives to partners who invest in training and certifications.

Channel Impact^®
The relationship with Ingram Micro is likely to open up new doors as BlueJeans competes with a variety of vendors well entrenched in the UC space.

Comm100 Launches Reseller and OEM Partner Program

Comm100, a Vancouver-based vendor specializing in digital customer engagement solutions, has announced the launch of its new partner program. The three-pronged program will focus on traditional channel partners reselling Comm100’s products, a white label channel for larger global or vertical-specific partners/BPOs/MSPs, and an OEM channel that embeds the vendor’s solutions within other customer engagement platforms. The complete Comm100 platform includes live chat, AI and non-AI chatbots, social media, email, and self-serve knowledge base solutions.

“In response to the digital ‘revolution,’ the customer engagement industry is growing quickly with vendors from every segment seeking to expand their offerings and gain market share,” said Kevin Gao, co-founder and CEO of Comm100. “Through our unique reseller, white label and OEM programs we are building a bench of trusted partners and increasing our market reach. This will position us for accelerated growth as the market for digital customer engagement solutions continues to expand.”

Comm100 will also allow qualified partners to white label its solution. This is expected to help channel partners and OEM partners to fast track their entry into the digital engagement sphere while also maintaining expectations for customer experiences.

The company claims a customer list that includes HP, Advance Auto Parts, Stanford University, and Veridian Credit Union.

Channel Impact^®
The company hopes to leverage the channel towards a larger customer base and increased uptake of digital engagement solutions. For the partners, the new program will likely provide an additional opportunity for differentiation, especially through the white box aspect.