For the IT channel partners, things are becoming more competitive now. It used to be competition among themselves on various capability acquisitions’ front earlier but now with the emergence of IoT, Digitisation, Social media integration, their competition is going into a different level – with the OT players.
They are now aligning with the OT players and sharing revenue. But basically IT partners are losing momentum here. OT players used to be their customers earlier but with IP coming in every product, for example in cars or vehicles, lights, vending machines, traffic signals, household goods, so and so forth, they are not only bringing out the IP enabled products but also entering into consulting but integration by just adding some expertise. So in Ideal situation beyond the products, creation all other things till the final integration, including consulting, the IT partners should be taking care of but fortunately or unfortunately the IT partners are losing the bus by not sensing the flow of the wind and giving the cherry to the OT players. And this momentum is just starting and it will become a trend. We will see a whole set of new partners coming into the market and we have to welcome them all.
This piece is not to criticise anyone but to make a fair assessment of the market. No one knows about the future but with some predictability around: as the technology is moving forward and things are getting connected, there will be a lot of crisscrossing of domain expertise, and the journey for fulfilling the landscape will be addressed by a complementary mode. Of course there are large partners who are capable enough to do a-to-z and about whom I do not have any opinion too as their number is too small and they know where to move. But certainly it is for the large number of small-to-medium size partners it is a matter of choice as to where they want to see themselves – whether they want to take a bigger role in the piece or will be contented with a smaller role – it all will depend on the partner’s appetite and preparedness – opportunity is galore.
