Monday Morning Impact – June 6

Gartner: Marketing Budgets on the Rebound

TA recent survey by Gartner shows a surge in marketing investment by a wide range of companies. Seventy percent of respondents reported their budgets had increased this year, however with marketing budgets increasing to 9.5% of total company revenue, it is still down from the average budget between 2018 and 2020 of 10.9%, according to the market research firm.

“In the face of telling macroeconomic considerations, CMOs hold on to a belief that their own economic outlook is strong,” said Ewan McIntyre, chief of research and vice president analyst in the Gartner for Marketing Leaders practice. “Despite inflation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, supply chain issues exacerbated by China’s lockdown measures and unprecedented talent competition, CMOs appear sanguine. For example, the majority of CMOs surveyed thought inflationary pressures hitting their business and their customers will have a positive impact on their strategy and investment in the year ahead.”

CMOs have apparently made the shift from digital-first to hybrid multichannel strategies. When asked to report the proportion of their 2022 budget allocated to online and offline channels, online channels take the largest share (56%). However, offline channels account for almost half the total available budget (44%). Looking at the average spend across industries, social advertising tops the list, closely followed by paid search and digital display.

“There has been a lot of discussion around COVID-19 shifting consumers to a digital first mindset. However, as Western Europe and North America relax pandemic protocols, customer journeys have recalibrated,” added McIntyre. “Post-lockdown, CMOs need to listen carefully to their customers and pay attention to the channels they are using, as this more closely resembles a hybrid reality.”

Average marketing spending has increased across almost all of the industries surveyed, with some significant variances. Financial services companies recorded the highest budget, at 10.4% of company revenue, up from 7.4% in 2021. While eight out of the nine industries surveyed reported budget increases, spending for CMOs in consumer goods firms has stagnated, moving from 8.3% in 2021 to 8% in 2022.

The annual Gartner 2022 CMO Spend and Strategy Survey was conducted between February through March 2022 among 405 CMOs and other marketing leaders in North America, as well as Northern and Western Europe across different industries, company sizes and revenue, with the majority of respondents reporting annual revenue of more than $1 billion.

Channel Impact^®
The data provide comparative guideposts for marketing spend, as well as provide some clues as to where channel partners might add additional value.

TD Synnex Expands Solution Offering with Google Cloud

TD Synnex has expanded its cloud services portfolio with the addition of Google Cloud offerings.

“The addition of Google Cloud products and solutions enhances the TD Synnex Cloud stack and provides greater access to Google Cloud’s capabilities in AI, ML, data analytics, infrastructure, collaboration and more,” said Reza Honarmand, senior vice president of the distributor’s Global Cloud HyperScalers. “This complete Google Cloud solution set integrates seamlessly into the global TD Synnex cloud portfolio.”

“Global businesses are accelerating their digital transformations, and partners will play a critical role in delivering solution completeness and deep Google Cloud expertise to these organizations,” said Eric Buck, director of Commercial Partners and Global Distribution at Google Cloud. “TD Synnex’s support will bring partners even more opportunities to help customers utilize transformational products, solutions, and Google Cloud’s trusted, global infrastructure.”

TD Synnex offers resources to support customers in building cloud practices and delivering cloud offerings including Rapid Risk Security Assessments, GCP Migration Assessments. The distributor also provides a variety of enablement and acceleration programs and platforms for growth, including end-user support.

Google Cloud diversifies infrastructure-as-a-service options customized to company size and solution complexity.

Channel Impact^®
The alliance combines a multi-cloud experience with opportunities for channel partners to extend end-to-end cloud solution offerings to accelerate customer transition to cloud infrastructure.

CTERA Announces Mid-Market Cloud File Services Partnership with Wasabi Technologies

New York-based CTERA has announced a new partnership with Wasabi Technologies to provide integrated file and object data service for mid-sized companies. The new offering combines CTERA’s file system technology with Wasabi’s object storage in service bundles designed for delivery and support by channel partners.

Capabilities include an integrated file and object cloud service in which CTERA’s Global File System creates a single global namespace for all files and delivers infinite cloud storage leveraging a cost-effective object storage repository powered by Wasabi. Edge Filers accelerate file access speeds for remote users, ensure availability even when disconnected from the cloud, and enable users to maintain familiar workflows. The system also supports ransomware protection and disaster recovery as well as automated data discovery and migration from legacy NAS.

“CTERA has been delivering cloud file services for large enterprises for many years,” said Oded Nagel, Chief Strategy Officer of CTERA. “We are excited to partner with Wasabi to deliver our technology to the mid-market, enabling CTERA and Wasabi resellers to leverage our extensive multi-tenant portal capabilities to deliver much-needed managed data services to their customers.”

“Our partnership with CTERA is a great example of how a leading application vendor can leverage Wasabi to create a better-together offer,” said Mark Vella, Vice President, Global Business Development, Wasabi Technologies. “The tightly integrated solution and provisioning experience delivers a user-friendly Cloud File Management and Storage solution for both partners and customers without the complexity or high costs. We are thrilled to be working with CTERA and growing our global presence together.”

Channel Impact^®
Companies of all sizes struggle to close IT gaps as they shift from traditional workplace models to new post-pandemic hybrid environments. Cloud object storage is intended to augment scale and cost-efficiency.