As you might expect, the rise of artificial intelligence in the IT ecosystem is undoubtedly the low-hanging fruit of 2024 technology predictions, but it remains critical for us to learn its potential and, more importantly, anticipate how to monetize its capabilities in the channel.
As we close a rollercoaster 2023, we reached out to our TD SYNNEX leadership staff, comprised of CRN Channel Chiefs, Women of the Channel and award-winning thought leaders who keep a constant pulse on tech, to get their take on what to expect in 2024. We asked for their boldest takes on the biggest surprises to expect in the new year.
1 – AI Will Accelerate Productivity and Efficiency Even More Than Expectations
If you thought AI was the term of the year, you’re probably right and we won’t be surprised to be saying the exact same thing a year from now.
The emergence of generative AI is already revolutionizing how we do our jobs, whether its through automation of tasks, generation of content at scale or boosting creativity while in a rut. Companion apps like Microsoft Copilot are already providing assistance to everyday tasks for enterprise co-workers, and the technology is only getting better. Amazingly, we’re only scratching the surface of generative AI’s capabilities and over the course of the next year, AI will make an even bigger splash:
“AI will take another massive leap in usage, especially by the everyday worker. This will lead to higher productivity by some who use it effectively, [but] could lead to the reduction in creative thought as we pass that skill to the AI tools.”
— Clay Davis, Vice President, Global Analytics & IoT, TD SYNNEX
IT ecosystem organizations that master the abilities of generative AI will start to earn a competitive edge over those who fall behind:
“IT solution providers that master generative AI will establish a commanding competitive lead by crafting cutting-edge solutions that harness AI’s power for automation, personalization, and enhanced customer engagement. Their growth will outpace those lagging behind, and this gap is projected to widen as generative AI permeates the industry mainstream.”
— Reza Honarmand, Senior Vice President, Global Hyperscaler Transformation, TD SYNNEX
So, what can the channel do to find the optimal balance between core technologies and the rise of AI?
“[My] prediction for 2024 is the integration of AI and ML models into a large percentage of existing software solutions. This will drive increases in productivity and operational efficiency across multiple use cases and areas.”
— Sergio Farache, Chief Strategy Officer, TD SYNNEX
As AI starts to drive operational efficiencies, channel partners will have more freedom to shift their focus to driving business outcomes:
“AI ISV innovation [will be] everywhere; we are the hardware engine behind Vision AI and we will continue expanding our reach to other growth markets like Cyber AI and Analytics AI. We will continue investing our custom hardware offerings that aligns with ISVs requirements and provide a turnkey model. This will allow ISVs to focus on software development and provide a full solution to their partners.”
— Willa Flemate, Senior Vice President, Sales, TD SYNNEX
2 – IT Selling Models Will Evolve to Incorporate More Services
As presented in the 2023 TD SYNNEX Direction of Technology Report and its complementary MSP Special Report, channel partners are already charting their journey toward managed services. 50% of survey respondents in this year’s survey identified as a managed service provider (MSP) and 38% of respondents identified managed services as a top skill they are hiring for in the next 12-24 months, both trends that mirror industry-wide market analyses, which find that the market for MSPs is expanding exponentially.
With this change, the industry can no longer operate like it always has in the past, and that means new sales and deployment models:
“Services will become the lead-in for partners as they work to transform their selling models to meet the needs of the market. Partner-delivered services will play a ‘tip of the spear’ role from an opportunity standpoint. The gaps in cybersecurity skills will drive an enhanced need for partners to leverage/outsource their services.”
— Jessica McDowell, Senior Vice President, Business Development & Security Strategy, TD SYNNEX
This shift toward managed services will open a tremendous opportunity for organizations that invest in the right skill sets over the next year:
“The focus on AI and specifically the emergence of Gen AI will propel new types of ecosystem partners that will evolve and invest in skill sets to participate in new end user opportunities that drive efficiency and use cases across industries leveraging Gen AI. As an example, we will see an evolution of AI MSPs to support data modeling, security, and compliance in regulatory areas.”
— Lisa McGarvey, Vice President, Vertical Markets, Alliances and Solution Aggregation, TD SYNNEX
3 – Blockchain Technology Will (Re)Rise with Increased Attention on Cybersecurity
You probably saw “blockchain” in plenty of 2018 predictions articles, but you probably didn’t expect to see it again in 2024. However, with cybersecurity cementing its place as a necessity in all verticals, there are new use cases for blockchain use:
“The (re)rise of blockchain technology. Specifically, DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) which operate on blockchain technology. DAOs utilize smart contracts for decision making and are managed without centralized control. This could completely change how organizations are structured and how decisions are made.”
— Clay Davis
In the cybersecurity industry, AI is being leveraged to strengthen security solutions for individuals and businesses. Unfortunately, that also means threat actors are equally using AI in their own malicious tactics to infiltrate valuable data and information.
“The rise in AI will drive increased security spend (especially in incident response category) as AI-driven attacks become more sophisticated, making them tougher to defend against. This, coupled with the increasing gap in cybersecurity skills across the market, will drive enhanced focus and spend to ensure solid remediation plans and products are in place.”
— Jessica McDowell
The ultimate outcome as cybersecurity pairs with core advanced solutions and modern infrastructure will be to drive organizations toward true digital transformation:
“Convergence of Cloud, Security, Data combined capabilities and practices – which are the primary technologies drivers of Digital Transformation (DX) – will continue to accelerate. This acceleration is driven by the massive market opportunity of DX which is projected to reach $4T by 2027 at 16% CAGR (IDC).”
— Ed Morales, Global Vice President, Security & High-Growth Business Development, TD SYNNEX
4 – Election Year Presents Opportunities in the Public Sector and Other Markets
2024 represents a US election year, which historically is a good sign for public sector technology growth:
“I think we will see faster adoption or catch-up by the public sector. This is a factor of it being an election year, which will increase spend and drive opportunities.”
— Steve Jow, Executive Vice President, Sales, TD SYNNEX
Other industries, like the healthcare sector, may also see growth in 2024 as a result of significant impact from the rise of AI technologies:
“Healthcare has traditionally been a technology laggard, but as we look at the impact of AI, we see relevant, immediate use cases being adopted by healthcare in 2024. AI will be disruptive in a number of traditional industries like printing, manufacturing and supply chain, education, banking, legal as the art of the possible to automate, changes how these conventional industries operate and provide services to their customers.”
— Lisa McGarvey
Reza Honarmand took the legal vertical as a prime example of how generative AI can revolutionize the way legal professionals operate (as long as they’re doing it the right way):
“Within the legal sector, generative AI will automate tasks like contract drafting, analysis, and dispute resolution. This will reshape the roles of legal professionals and potentially impact the integrity of the legal system.”
— Reza Honarmand
5 – The Endpoint Device and Accessories Market Has a Reason to Rebound
Notably, 2023 represented a down year for the endpoint and device market, but a rebound could be on the horizon.
We’ve become accustomed to generative AI in the form of software and programs; in the coming year, we’re likely to see an emergence of AI PCs, where AI and ML capabilities are built directly into the processor for faster speeds and the smartest computing we’ve ever had available at the consumer level. The launch of AI PCs could represent the much-needed reboot that the device market needs.
“As we see AI at the desktop, that may open up more opportunities around AI devices, better networking and more innovation in mobility.”
— Steve Jow
This introduction of AI at the PC level presents monetization opportunities for the channel:
“The introduction of AI is likely to accelerate the growth of Hyperscaler services, the launch of AI PCs, and significantly increase service opportunities for partners in managed services, adoption, and implementation. The monetization will start but will be lower than expected and several current manual activities will start to be replace for automation.”
— Sergio Farache
What technology trends do you expect to grow in 2024? Let us know in the comments!
*Please note, this article does not constitute legal advice or serve as a forward-looking statement for TD SYNNEX. It represents the viewpoints of individual TD SYNNEX thought leaders and has been curated by TD SYNNEX Corporate Communications.
