Carbonite Inc., a provider of cloud and hybrid business continuity solutions for small and midsize businesses, has released its latest business continuity and channel research in a report titled, “Business Continuity: A Growing Opportunity in a Digitalized World.” The research, conducted through Spiceworks Voice of IT, identifies trends, challenges, and strategies related to business continuity.
According to the results, 67 percent of channel partners reported an increase in demand for business continuity solutions, and 77 percent expect the demand to continue growing over the next three years. 87 percent of channel partners agree that business continuity solutions are worth the investment, but they are faced with two key challenges when selling related products: lack of customer education (45 percent) and budget concerns (45 percent).
Businesses see the value in b
usiness continuity solutions as 73 percent of respondents said demand comes directly from clients, but a shortage of knowledge on the topic combined with the need for comprehensive, yet affordable, solutions leads to the lack of adoption. To overcome these challenges, channel partners are looking for business continuity providers that go above and beyond. A majority of respondents, 92 percent, indicated they want vendors to offer more information and resources about packaging products and services into the comprehensive solutions that clients are asking for.
“There is a clear disconnect between the need for business continuity solutions and SMBs making the decision to purchase them for their organizations,” says David Maffei, VP of global channel sales at Carbonite. “This research underscores the opportunity channel partners have to become strategic advisors to their clients by providing education, powerful solutions, and ongoing service and support. As technology vendors, we need to support channel partners and make sure they have the resources and tools they need to educate and empower their clients.”
As the business continuity market continues to thrive, channel partners and solution providers must seize this opportunity and work to provide SMBs with comprehensive solutions and the resources required to address their pain points. According to the survey, the most effective tools and resources used to sell business continuity services and solutions are:
- Information about data loss – 51 percent
- Information about compliance standards/requirements – 41 percent
- Information about security breaches/threats – 39 percent
- Information about productivity loss – 33 percent
- Information about financial loss – 27 percent
