Vox pop: Which emerging tech is the best bet for the channel?

Jason Garland
Director, Secure Access 

Focusing on the business aspect, the internet of things wrapped with business intelligence is a natural catalyst not only for our business, but all businesses. With the accumulation of internet of things devices, end users will be supplied with a lot of data from a lot of sensors. 

The driving force then will be how to understand the information they are receiving, how and why it is valuable to their business – and ways in which they may capitalise on this knowledge. 

Along with the sprawl of the internet of things in the future will come complementary channel work in networking, security and storage that resellers will need to be across to seize the opportunities presented. 

As a whole, while the internet of things is nice to have by itself, turning the investment into returns is what will drive the market space and its value to the channel to a new level.

Nicki Page
Chief executive officer, MOQdigital

I believe all four will be successful in their own right for very different reasons. 

For example, we are seeing 3D printing being used significantly in schools, changing the way the next generation is educated. But more excitingly we’re also seeing virtual reality become more advanced – the introduction of [Microsoft’s] HoloLens will only drive innovation further, particularly in universities and R&D centres. Virtual reality is already being used for advanced teaching in universities in Australia. 

However, one of my favourite tech topics is the internet of things. Not only because it’s close to my heart with MOQdigital having just won a global award for a health and safety IoT solution, but because I believe the advancement will be significant over the next three to five years. 

Then there’s the exciting world of artificial intelligence! 

Matt Sullivan
Executive director, Cirrus Networks

The internet of things is starting to grow significantly and the benefits are resonating with consumers, businesses and governments alike. IoT will drive huge growth in devices.

This in turn will result in opportunities for channel partners to provide services from consultancy and security to management around the full lifecycle. 

IoT is intrinsically linked to the value of data – how we access it and how we determine real-time value from information is the biggest competitive differentiator for any business. In a challenging economy, we can help our customers understand the process of examining large data sets for hidden patterns, unknown correlations, market trends, customer preferences and other useful information. 

The analytics results can lead to more effective marketing, revenue opportunities and better service to our customers.