Sage: Upskilled Workers are the Number One Investment Priority for Channel

A study by Sage, a Dallas-based company specializing in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and medium-sized businesses, shows the channel ecosystem is increasingly prioritizing technical expertise in both hiring and investment.

According to the report, challenges in finding and keeping talent are hitting the channel sector, with US resellers mostly feeling the pinch. Half of all US respondents currently in the process of recruiting noted difficulty finding both skilled management level staff, while 49% also cited difficulty attracting skilled entry level talent. Competition was only slightly tapered within the UK, with 46% and 40% also struggling to source these levels.

Over half of all US resellers cited cloud computing (53%) and data engineering (52%) as required skillsets, while just under half listed cyber security skills (48%), coding (45%) and AI/ML development (44%) as desired skills. By contrast, in the UK, just under two fifths of resellers placed cloud computing (39%) and cyber security skills (39%) as desired traits for new talent, while 35% are looking for coding skills. Interestingly, the current external business climate may have forced UK reselling companies to focus more on the running of their business, with 36% actively recruiting for essential business roles.

“Customers are looking to their channel partners to help make digitalization a reality as they embrace new revenue streams and invest with an eye on the future,” said Aziz Benmalek, President of Sage North America, and EVP of the company’s Global Partner Organization. “They are being asked to provide expertise in the most complex technological areas – from protection against the latest cyber threats to the enablement of AI and ML.”

Over the past 18 months alone, 39% of the 1000 channel resellers surveyed have invested resources to technically upskill their workforce, while 36% adopted greater eCommerce functionality during the same period.

This investment in technology is unlikely to slow. Resellers surveyed predicted that by 2024, services requiring more specific technical expertise such as cybersecurity service provision (40%), SaaS application management (38%) and public cloud consumption (33%) will be among those most demanded by clients. Almost one-third (30%) also believe that customers will be looking to specifically increase the efficiency, intelligence and automation of their business processes or operations (BPO).

When predicting areas of investment for their customers over the coming months, almost half (49%) believe customers will look to grow their data center management revenue, while 40% have a sharp focus on generating revenues from data analytics and AI software enablement.

‘The Channel Landscape – Partnering for Success’ report by Sage included 1,000 responses from decision-makers in the tech industry whose company resells tech and IT supplies/ services: 500 within the UK, 500 within the US. Survey respondents were queried between April and May of this year.

Channel Impact^®
The data show areas of focus for channel partners, many of whom are tackling the same challenges.