PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
“Too many boxes, too little time.”
This may sound familiar if you are a reseller specialising in IT storage. Trying to figure out your storage portfolio at a time when cloud storage is gaining momentum with the enterprise, can force resellers into making rash decisions thus betting their future earnings on one type of technology to win.
Consumerisation of IT (CoIT) in the workplace is demanding more resellers to present their customers with a technology service which enables them to work remotely and securely from any mobile device.
Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) has learned a lot from its free, consumer-grade cousins about what modern IT users like in the workplace.
However, resellers need to look at other external factors that are forcing them to change their business models. So, do you know how to spot an upsell opportunity with your customers? To help you figure this out, here’s my checklist of the most common client requests coming from the UK channel:
1. My client wants to move to the cloud
This is a typical request from customers, and in my experience you want a product that gives clients the answer they are looking for before they even have to ask the question. Most clients want to move only certain data to the cloud.
Offering a solution with multiple deployment options – cloud, on-premises, or hybrid – lets companies move to the cloud on their terms.
2. My client is concerned about security
Moving to the cloud will inevitably come with questions such as data locality or increased pressure from regulators, asking their resellers if they comply with security mandates in X and Y situations.
Smart resellers should closely monitor this issue, as it will become a particularly prominent issue in the UK and the EU as data protection laws are set to get a facelift.
3. My client needs an easy way to collaborate between numerous offices
A remote workforce requires mobile technology. As a company grows, so does the complexity of collaborating and sharing data between numerous office locations.
Providing your clients with a file services solution enables the benefits of a mobile, remote workforce, such as productivity, whilst ensuring their data is securely available no matter where they are.
4. My client has large files they need to revise and share
Moving and storing large files, like CAD and multimedia files, can be a huge challenge. An effective file sharing solution should allow users to work directly from local storage devices in any office location to eliminate bandwidth issues when editing increasingly large files.
Once the user is finished editing the file, it should sync to the cloud during non-peak work hours, providing access to these files from any location – in the office or on the go.
Helping your customers select an enterprise-grade solution, which harnesses the power and flexibility of the cloud and combines it with the security and performance of on-premises storage, makes you the type of reseller that customers will turn to over and over again.
