Rob Elliss, EMEA Vice President for Sales, Thales
2021 will see a dramatic rise in the channel offering subscription services in order to help businesses get through the tough COVID period.
Aiming to reduce capital expenditure in light of reduced growth targets and profit margins, businesses will look for lower initial costs through subscriptions-based offerings, rather than the traditional up-front payment perpetual licences that have fuelled channel growth. As such, providers will need to adapt their processes to meet the changing circumstances facing customers and grant a purchasing and payments/billing flexibility that can help the businesses they serve, survive.
Positively, this switch will see two primary benefits. The first is that channel providers will experience more stable annuity revenues, meaning their top and bottom lines will be more robust should we encounter further disruptions. The second is that providers will engage on a more regular basis with customers and start to gain increasing insights into how their solutions are being used in real-time, enabling greater decision-making around future product/service development. Ultimately, this approach will put the channel industry in a stronger position at the end of 2021.