Channel Business Index Q4: What VARs Really Think

Solution Providers Have A Positive Outlook

As the U.S. economy slowly improves, so does the outlook of solution providers, according to the Channel Business Index for the last quarter of 2011. The average CBI for the quarter was 57.1, an indication that the market grew at a healthy clip. By comparison, the average Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI) compiled by the Institute for Supply Management was 52.5.

The CBI, CRN's monthly survey of solution providers, measures business activity, sales, employment, business outstanding, vendor deliveries, finished product inventories and input costs so that each factor may compare with the national average for 18 industries.

The CBI is modeled after the NMI, a reliable economic indication of the health of the services market. For the CBI, CRN surveys the same panel of solution providers each month and asks them to assess their organization's performance comparing the current month to the previous month.