L-R: Lie Heng (Synnex Metrodata Indonesia); Florent Bellahsene (Crayon); Jaideep Malhotra (Tech Data); Mark Tan (Innovix Distribution); Francis Choo (Ingram Micro) and Craig Gledhill (ACA Pacific)
With “huge volumes” of unstructured data in the current digital world, Choo of Ingram Micro emphasised the importance of businesses adopting a defined workflow of data collection, backed up by enhanced security and protection through “cleansing, crunching, utilisation and storage”.
“With the increasing accessibility of AI and analytics tools, partners should not only provide storage of data, but also leverage on that data to mind key insights with actionable business directions,” Choo added.
Security
Smart technology presents new security challenges however, as cyber attacks increase in scale and ambition.
Today, hackers are managing to squeeze through the smallest of security vulnerabilities causing maximum damage, creating heightened levels of customer concern across Southeast Asia.
“With cyber criminals utilising AI and big data to go about their means, it is crucial that cyber protection becomes a key part of the customers’ installation,” said Tan of Innovix. “Most SME customers would not be able to afford sophisticated and manned security technologies to protect their infrastructure, network and cloud.
“Opportunities exist for channel partners to protect their customers’ from cyber threats. Partners should therefore start integrating and offering security services through the infrastructure, network and cloud."
According to IDC, worldwide spending on security-related hardware, software and services is forecast to reach $103.1 billion in 2019, representing an increase of 9.4 per cent compared to 2018.
Such pace is expected to continue over the coming years as multiple sectors increase investment in security solutions, in response to a rise in cyber attacks.
“The security landscape is changing rapidly, and organisations continue to struggle to maintain their own in-house security solutions and staff,” said Martha Vazquez, senior research analyst, IDC.
Consequently, Vazquez said organisations are turning to managed security service providers (MSSPs) to deliver a “wide span” of security capabilities and consulting services.
“These include predicative threat intelligence and advanced detection and analysis expertise that are necessary to overcome the security challenges happening today as well as prepare organisations against future attacks,” Vazquez explained.
Specifically, managed security services will represent the largest technology category in 2019 with customers spending more than $21 billion for around-the-clock monitoring and management of security operations centres.
Of note to partners, demand is also increasing for network security hardware, which includes unified threat management, firewalls, and intrusion detection and prevention technologies, alongside integration services and endpoint security software.
Delving deeper, Choo of Ingram Micro said for businesses of all sizes, "it is not a question of whether you will have a security breach or not, but when it will occur".
“Data is becoming more pervasive with the rising number of endpoints and with businesses moving to a hybrid multi-cloud model, the level of risk exposure is increasing inevitably,” he cautioned. “Businesses need to protect and ensure adherence to regulations and policies on multiple levels.
“Partners can play a key role in not only the solution offerings, but also through providing professional services in terms of education, consultation and managed services.
"Ingram Micro will continue to play our role as a solution aggregator and trusted advisor to our partners to continue maximising their core strengths, developing new capabilities and offerings to meet their customers’ needs in this transformational journey.”
Dismantling the data centre
In swinging open the doors of the data centre, a new market reality is emerging across Southeast Asia. Battered, bruised and blind-sided by new and emerging technologies, businesses are turning to the channel to rebuild infrastructure strategies in the pursuit of innovation.
Looking forward, spending on data centre systems is expected to increase, spanning servers, storage and network equipment.
But as the pace of business increases, demands placed on the data centre are changing at pace, with IT departments no longer required to merely keep the lights on.
“The ASEAN market presents some immense opportunities for channel partners, particularly in next-generation technologies like modernised data centres, cloud and analytics,” added Malhotra of Tech Data. “Data centre modernisation is being driven by the relentless pursuit of digital transformation and adoption of these multi-cloud application environments will continue to fuel growth.
“At Tech Data, we see opportunities in the transformation of traditional data centres to new age, next-generation data centres which adopt software-defined infrastructure, hybrid cloud, hyper-converged infrastructure, flash and containerisation.”
With this, Malhotra said the channel will also see further adoption of open-source software including big data, IoT, DevOps and micro-services applications to support both traditional and new workloads.
“Our ecosystem is rapidly maturing from a digital perspective meaning businesses need to accelerate and evolve to remain ahead,” he concluded. “Tech Data is strategically investing in our channels ecosystem, training and enabling our partners so they can drive next-generation transformation and opportunities.
"Looking ahead, collaborative go-to-market strategies will be the new norm. Customer-driven, premium solution stacks and marketing services engines will be key to success.
"With the ever the growing complexity in the market, partners need a distribution partner who can aggregate these complex next-gen solutions and take them to the next era of IT."
