The digitization of product and service-based businesses is the recipe for their success and is imperative for modern businesses to adopt. The Value Added Reseller industry is undergoing a significant transformation due to the digital revolution.
Most modern-day small to medium businesses have SaaS and public cloud to manage their IT needs. Hence, the scope for VARs to provide their services is a bit limited. However, digital transformation is also working as a remedy to the disruption in the VAR industry.
By helping businesses integrate digital technology in all areas, VARs can stay relevant and thrive in this competitive market. Let’s move ahead to learn more about digital transformation in the VAR industry and how it is helping VARs to move from chaos to sanity.
Table of Contents
Understanding Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is integration technologies to manage business operations, sales, marketing, accounts, finance, customer service, etc. The goal of digital transformation is to utilize technology, enabling businesses to drive innovation, efficiency, and growth.
Phases in Digital Transformation
One of the key mistakes that many VARs make is that they confuse digital transformation with taking business online. Most businesses think that simply making a website for their business will make their business digital. Understanding that making a website is just a small part of digital transformation is vital.
The digital transformation process is a long and constantly evolving practice with multiple phases:
- Digitization: The first phase of digital transformation is digitization which involves converting analog information into digital formats. This process involves making a website, taking all the customer data into a digital format so that it is easier to store, access, and analyze.
- Automation: The second step, which is highly important for gaining a competitive advantage, is automation. This involves using technology to automate repetitive and manual tasks, freeing up time for more strategic work to which the employees can put their skills to work.
- Optimization: As digital transformation is always evolving, it is important to have some metrics to measure growth. For that, businesses rely on the use of data and analytics to identify inefficiencies and optimize business processes.
- Innovation: Another thing that provides businesses a competitive edge through digital transformation is innovation. This involves the use of digital technologies to create new products, services, and business models.
The Need for Digital Transformation in VAR Industry
It can be quite difficult for VARs to compete with SaaS and Public Clouds since small and medium businesses tend to favor these options. Therefore, VARs must adapt to the changing market and customer demands.
In the modern sphere, customers need a VAR that can provide them with complete assistance from the beginning to the very end. To remain relevant, they must be able to provide value-added services that meet their customers’ unique needs.
This requires embracing digital transformation and leveraging new technologies to improve operational efficiency, enhance customer experience, and gain a competitive edge.
Digital Transformation and VARs
Digital transformation is a critical response to the disruptions facing the VAR industry.
VARs need to adapt and evolve to the latest standards and requirements of the clients. This is mainly because most businesses are now moving to the cloud.
VARs must use digital transformation to their advantage to stay relevant in the competitive market. They can achieve this by developing new competencies, expanding their service offerings, and adopting new technologies.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that digital transformation offers for the VAR industry:
- New Revenue Streams: One of the main benefits of digital transformation for VARs is that it opens up new opportunities for them. VARs can develop new revenue streams by offering additional services like cloud-based solutions, managed services, and consulting services. In the modern era, a customer wants to feel valued, and the era of personalized service is back. VARs can benefit from this digital transformation by providing some core and valuable services.
- Improved Customer Experience: Another key benefit of digital transformation is enhanced customer experience for VARs. In the B2B domain, customer retention plays a vital role in the revenue stream for the business, and for that, customer experience plays a vital role. Digital transformation can help VARs deliver a better customer experience by providing self-service portals, real-time reporting, and analytics.
- Increased Efficiency: Taking the entire business digital and online helps businesses automate their entire processes. This helps streamline the workflow and make it more efficient. With an efficient workflow, it is easier for businesses to be more efficient and then get more profit and cut down unnecessary costs.
- Competitive Advantage: In this competitive market where countless VARs are competing for the same customers, even a small competitive advantage can prove to be a game changer. VARs embracing digital transformation will have a competitive advantage over those not. This is because they will be better equipped to meet customers’ changing needs and adapt to new market realities.
The Role of Cloud Computing
SaaS and Public Clouds are two main factors that are disrupting the VAR industry. Instead of competing with them directly, it is better to integrate the two as part of the services offered by VARs to grow in a competitive market.
Cloud computing is a vital aspect of digital transformation in the VAR industry. By leveraging the cloud, VARs can provide customers with on-demand access to computing resources, software, and services without needing on-premises infrastructure.
This enables them to scale their services rapidly, reduce costs, and deliver services more efficiently.
Closing Thoughts
As we move towards a new era of technology where AI, Blockchain, 5G, Cloud Computing, etc., will be key enablers of digital transformation, the VAR industry needs to be agile and adaptive to the new technologies to stay relevant and grow. Undoubtedly, digital transformation is the remedy to disruption in the VAR industry. By embracing new technologies, VARs can improve operational efficiency, enhance customer experience, and gain a competitive edge.
