For more than 30 years, Nottingham- based Agilitas IT Solutions Limited has been supporting vendors, IT resellers and MSPs with a range of channel services that enable them to take on more business, embrace opportunities presented by new technologies and deliver better customer service. John Hayes-Warren was appointed Chief Revenue Office last September to grow the company’s services business which today encompasses five key offerings: inventory-as-a-service (multi-vendor hardware maintenance), technical services (professional services, remote support and technical resourcing), training services, lifecycle services (from product sourcing and maintenance to secure disposal at end of life) and dedicated hardware sales, with in-depth knowledge of server, storage, networking and workplace products. Here, Hayes-Warren presents his view from the channel
Technology Reseller (TR): How’s business? Better or worse than 12 months ago? And how confident are you about the future?
John Hayes-Warren (JH-W): At Agilitas, we recently announced our new leadership team who are responsible for driving our ambitious business strategy. This places customer experience transformation at the heart of our strategy and is set to make FY24 a defining year in our history. The business has shown strong signs of growth in the last two quarters, with a key focus on revenue and ensuring our cost base
is optimised.
TR: In what areas are you experiencing strongest demand?
JH-W: Agilitas’ mission is to enable our customers to scale and innovate with confidence, delivering global, sustainable, innovative technology services that provide the foundations for customer success and efficiency.
We are continuing to invest in the UK and international Technology Channel, with a focus on partnerships to digitise their operating models. As a result, we have seen a significant increase in demand for outsourced logistics expertise from Channel partners needing to focus resources on their core capabilities.
With digital transformation breaking down international barriers, we are also seeing strong demand for services that allow our partners to expand without geographical limitations. This includes global Inventory Assurance contracts to support environments for global customers, specifically those in the networking and data centre sectors.
In addition, we are seeing a convergence of requirements for the entire ecosystem to support key revenue streams for end customers and to maintain the productivity of dispersed workforces. This is driving increased demand for the deployment of network and wireless projects, as well as a boom in sustainability alignment and investment.
TR: What recent wins are you most proud of?
JH-W: We’re extremely proud that within the last three months we have transformed four new accounts into top 10 buying accounts. This is testament to our dedicated team, the key driver of our growth strategy, which is already having an impact and successfully growing our customer base at speed.
TR: Where is business proving most difficult?
JH-W: At Agilitas, one of our biggest challenges is when customers procure maintenance services tactically, irrespective of our need to maintain system availability for end customer productivity and the overall customer experience.
In terms of the wider Channel, one of the biggest difficulties is continued supply chain disruption which has massively impacted product availability. This has caused some disintermediation of the Channel value chain, as businesses have streamlined or chosen a different route to market in order to reconfigure logistics networks and delivery partners.
The sector is also having to adjust to changes in Channel partner programmes as technology providers react to demand for digital transformation, often by choosing to bypass traditional partners to work with specialists that offer opportunities for high-value collaboration. Today’s Channel ecosystem is all about ensuring value and alignment for both parties, which prioritises quality over quantity – signing as many partners as possible can quickly become unsustainable and unproductive.
TR: How have you changed/are you changing business operations to exploit new opportunities?
JH-W: We are continually reviewing our portfolio and investments to increase efficiency and to meet demand for global services. With that in mind, our team is focusing on three core areas, Inventory Assurance, Professional Services and Smart Logistics, all underpinned by Agilitas’ sustainability initiatives.
Inventory Assure is based on our ability to maintain end-customer environments globally, with Professional Services acting as an extension to a customer’s engineering capabilities to accelerate time to revenue and to give them the skills and resources to streamline deployment. Smart Logistics is based around optimisation of our warehouse, logistics and circular economy services so that our clients can scale with confidence, knowing they have the right OPEX business model that adjusts in line with their business growth and allows them to invest in new capabilities to stay ahead of the curve.
TR: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing channel businesses today?
JH-W: For us, the biggest challenge is investing in the right areas to stay ahead of customer demand, whilst managing strained operational conditions caused by supply chain disruption and increased costs.
We are addressing this by investing significantly in our people and managers, to enhance their skills and to enable them to deliver a better customer experience to our growing client base. We are also working on system integration to automate workflows and on enhancing digital access to all services, reinforcing Agilitas’ ethos of putting customer experience at the core of everything we do.
TR: Could vendors and distributors do more to help overcome these challenges? And if so, what?
JH-W: The entire Channel community is working hard to overcome the challenges in our market. With the democratisation of technology, more power is moving to the customer, and their focus is on rapid digitalisation and achieving outcomes. Whether their aim is to improve customer experience or to boost operational efficiency, organisations in the Technology Channel need to re-evaluate how they do business to find the right balance between profit and purpose. Taking this one step further, I think we will start to see a greater degree of transparency in exposing challenges to mitigate these risks.
It’s not an overstatement to say that this period is a pivot point for many Channel businesses, as they look to restructure their business processes and talent to stay relevant in tomorrow’s fast-paced world. Those who can weather the short-term pain at this moment of inflexion will reap the rewards as they move forward.
TR: Are customers becoming more demanding, and if so, in what ways? JH-W: The digital explosion and global opportunity are not abating with customer experience, which is key to consumer retention and attraction in 2023 and beyond. Businesses in the Technology Channel are competing primarily on the customer experience they deliver, so they are continually looking for ways to improve the experience they provide through the onboarding process, ongoing support and at the time of contract renewal.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that Channel companies don’t just sell technology now; they must also ensure a customer consumes technology efficiently. For this reason, organisations are looking to leverage the growing portfolio of tools, integrated touch points and customer service processes to improve their customer experience in the longer term.
TR: If you could change one aspect of your job, what would it be
and why?
JH-W: I would not change anything about my job – I love what I do and the people I work with
Be First to Comment