Tech to drive your profits next year

CRN has donned its fortune teller’s turban, dimmed the lights and peered deep into its crystal ball to see what’s going to be hot in 2007.

We are predicting that the following technologies will continue to experience strong growth and drive sales next year: Voice-over-IP, security, Microsoft Office 2007, software-as-a-service, Gigabit Ethernet and WiMAX.

We have come to this conclusion based on our own research determining which technologies show the most promising signs to keep resellers profitable.

To help you make your own fortune in 2007, we asked a range of industry analysts, vendors and channel players to read the signs and tell us what’s on the cards in these areas for next year.

Over the coming pages they will tell you how you can approach these growth markets and what strategies you need to put in place in order to profit from them.

In 2007, customers will become more aware than ever of the fact Voice-over-IP should be a business-enabler rather than just a cost-saver, predicts Ovum research director David Kennedy.

“The value-add of VoIP can be summed up as presence, mobility and collaboration,” Kennedy says.

“Presence means workers can customise their IP communications to ensure they are in contact at all times. Mobility means workers can access the resources of the company from any IP device anywhere in the world. Collaboration means workers can better coordinate and communicate using a variety of applications and their combinations. These will require resellers and integrators to have strong skills in business process analysis.”

Success in the channel also requires a “three-ring circus” of sales, implementation and support, says Craig Neil, managing director of integrator NSC Group.

“In the early days it was a bit of a Catch 22 – you can’t build your support business and use the resultant revenue for growth without first making the sales and completing the implementation. Therefore it’s critical to have sufficient funds, and a favourable corporate reputation.”

Selling VoIP to businesses requires a clear understanding of the differences between residential and business-grade services, says Gavin McDougal, managing director at VoIP provider ISPhone.

“Today your customer might be primarily interested in saving money, but if that is their only motivation then they may try a residential service and as a result lose faith in the quality as a business application,” McDougal says.

“Educating your customer on the benefits of IP telephony will ensure they receive a long-term return on their investment and will give you a solid platform to sell additional products and services,” he says.

A lot of customer training and education is still required for advanced features such as call relay, voice/fax to email and presence management, says Howard Liu, managing director at reseller Lebenton Technology.

“A good reseller will discuss how these can ultimately contribute to work efficiencies, provide an enhanced customer service experience and change the way people communicate. But a great reseller will also continue to manage customer expectations throughout and after the implementation,” Liu says.

VoIP is a business grown and maintained through a comprehensive technical capability, says integrator Matrix CNI’s managing director Deni Saupin. “You need to tie this technical capability with good, focused

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