Monday Morning Impact – October 31

Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Increase in 2023

According to Gartner, worldwide IT spending is projected to total $4.6 trillion in 2023, an increase of 5.1% from 2022, driven by digital business initiatives in response to economic turmoil.

“Enterprise IT spending is recession-proof as CEOs and CFOs, rather than cutting IT budgets, are increasing spending on digital business initiatives,” said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Economic turbulence will change the context for technology investments, increasing spending in some areas and accelerating declines in others, but it is not projected to materially impact the overall level of enterprise technology spending.

“However, the report also notes that inflation has cut into consumer purchasing power in almost every country around the world. Consumer purchasing power has been reduced to the point that many consumers are now deferring 2022 device purchases until 2023, driving spending on devices down 8.4% in 2022 and 0.6% in 2023.”

There is sufficient spending within data center markets to maintain existing on-premises data centers, but new spending continues to shift to cloud options, according to the report, which projects growth of 11.3% for software spending in 2023.

In a down or deteriorating economy, conventional wisdom calls for reducing costs, including IT costs. However, a July 2022 Gartner survey of more than 200 CFOs found that 69% plan to increase their spend on digital technologies, while the 2023 Gartner CIO and Technology Executive Survey found that CIOs are being tasked with accelerating time to value on digital investments.

“Companies will use digital technology primarily to reshape their revenue stream, adding new products and services, changing the cash flow of existing products and services, as well as changing the value proposition of existing products and services,” said Lovelock. “This trend has fed the shift from buying technology to building, composing, and assembling technology to meet specific business drivers. This shift is foundational to the growth of cloud over on-premises for new IT spending.

“However, as organizations look to also realize operations efficiency, cost reductions and/or cost avoidance during the current economic uncertainty, more traditional back-office and operational needs of departments outside IT are being added to the digital transformation project list.”

More information is available to Gartner clients in a report entitled, “Gartner Market Databook, 3Q22 Update.”

Channel Impact^®
While the report introduces a mixed bag of positive and not-so-positive information for channel partners, it underscores some potential areas of focus for the near-term.

GroupSense Delivers New Ransomware Negotiation Training Service

GroupSense, an Arlington, Virginia-based digital risk protection services company, has rolled out a new Ransomware Negotiation Training service offering. During an immersive three-day, in-person training session, participants will learn recommended strategies to combat the negative consequences of an attack from negotiation experts at both GroupSense and Max Negotiating, a negotiation advisory firm that specializes in training lawyers and legal professionals.

As part of the three-day training, participants engage a case simulation, putting the “response team” through a fire drill to consolidate their strengths and highlight vulnerabilities, and prepare the team for worst-case scenarios.

During the first day, participants begin by learning the components of a ransomware attack, including how they are conducted, the roles involved and the ransomware ecosystem. The trainers then provide a framework for conducting ransomware negotiations and delves into core principles as they apply to cybercrime and ransomware.

Day 2 features a multi-party simulation of a ransomware attack. The simulation is recorded for future review and coaching on the third day.

On Day 3 the team provides feedback as participants review recordings of the previous day’s negotiation simulation. The team leads participants in exercises to strengthen the vulnerabilities identified in the simulation. The training is then concluded by building out a team response plan.

In addition to the new training, GroupSense has additional ransomware offerings, including its Ransomware Response Readiness Assessment (R3A) and Ransomware Negotiation Services.

Channel Impact^®
As a result of the training, participants will be able to help their client organizations identify threat actors, learn key cyber negotiation principles and strategies, protect brand reputation, avoid unnecessary business losses, and stay ahead of emerging threats.

NetApp Announces New Partner Program

NetApp has announced its intent to launch a new overarching channel program intended to help partners drive digital and cloud transformation through modern business models with highly specialized services, and capabilities. By consolidating and simplifying multiple programs into one that includes all partner types, business models and routes to market, the company hopes to enable partners to evolve their business more efficiently into the cloud.

The program offers training and support to help partners capture cloud market share and provides rewards for partners’ investments in competencies and services. An accelerated growth structure allows partners to contribute transformational value to joint customers.

The program’s tiers range from Approved, to Preferred, to Prestige, to Prestige Plus – recognizing partners based on value and competencies. Benefits and support will grow as partners ascend tiers, with the partners generating the most impact seeing the broadest and most customized benefits, including solution specific marketing campaigns and enablement, proposal-based market development funds, and preferred value-based incentives.

As part of these strategic changes NetApp will shift away from Specializations to identify partner capabilities and utilize Solution Competencies aligned to key NetApp focus areas – Cloud Solutions, Hybrid Cloud and AI & Analytics. These competencies will be included in the NetApp Partner Sphere program requirements. Partners will be able to begin earning associated competencies within each category, showcasing their ability to deliver customer success across the NetApp portfolio by the end of the calendar year.

Channel Impact^®
The new cloud-focused and services-led NetApp Partner Sphere is intended to deliver a flexible path to advancement and growth for all partner sales motions.