XChange LATAM 2025: The IT Channel Faces The Challenge Of Selling Value In Times of Change

The inaugural XChange LATAM conference in Argentina brought together vendors and solution providers looking to forge strategic alliances, share perspectives and understand how to evolve in an increasingly challenging market.

In a context of accelerated transformation, the IT channel is facing the challenge of reinventing itself to capture new business opportunities. From Bariloche, Argentina, XChange LATAM 2025 made it clear: The future lies in understanding the customer, selling value and building long-term relationships.

Bariloche became the epicenter of the Latin American IT business from May 19 to 21. For the first time, the XChange event—organized by The Channel Company in partnership with ITSitio Group—landed in the region with its exclusive networking proposal connecting vendors and integrators. The goal: to forge strategic alliances, share perspectives and understand how to evolve in an increasingly challenging market.

One of the most discussed topics was cybersecurity—not only as a growing business vertical but also as a critical space to rethink the relationship between vendors and their partners.

“Today, the problem isn’t technological and it’s not about price,” said Juan Marino, regional cybersecurity manager at Cisco Systems. “The challenge is how to have a value-based conversation with the client—how to offer them long-term support.”

Shifting The Mindset: From Sellers To Consultants

Marino stressed that the market still clings to a “product sales” mindset, preventing integrators from positioning themselves as true advisers.

“We need to change the chip—stop leading with product sales and start acting more like consultants,” he said. In this regard, he noted there are no one-size-fits-all security solutions: “To implement properly, you need to understand the organization’s maturity level. It’s not just about selling and deploying; it’s about enabling adoption so the client can see the return on their investment.”

This need for deep understanding and active support was echoed by Gastón Ignacio Margueritte, CFO of ThinkHub. Speaking from his experience in the Argentine market, Margueritte noted that a reactive logic still prevails: “We’re still trying to convince clients that this is not an expense but an investment. And the market tends to be reactive—clients only come knocking when there’s a phishing incident or some problem has already occurred. It may sound like a challenge, but it’s actually a huge opportunity.”

For Margueritte, the key lies in education and support—especially at a time when, thanks to certain economic and regulatory improvements, there’s a growing window of opportunity to implement more robust solutions, including global products that require more agile financial operations.

Understanding The Client’s Business: A Priority For The Channel

This view was shared by Gabriel Cirnigliaro, general director at Taisa, who also participated in the event. From his perspective, partners need to be closer to the client’s business than to the technology itself. “Today, the channel needs to truly understand the customer’s pain points and build their value proposition from there,” he affirmed.

Cirnigliaro also highlighted the value of XChange as a collaborative space that brings together different parts of the ecosystem: “It’s not the same to discuss these topics over a video call as it is to sit down at the same table with the vendor, the distributor and the partner. This is where real relationships are built and where the gap between needs and solutions is shortened.”

The Rise Of Managed Services: Talent, Scale And Opportunity

One of the key trends that emerged from the event’s sessions and meetings was the steady rise of the managed services model. According to Marino, “Buying behavior is shifting strongly toward managed services. In Latin America, 58 percent of security purchases are now managed services because clients simply don’t have enough hands or talent to buy, implement and manage these solutions themselves.”

This trend represents a clear opportunity for integrators—not only to deliver technology but also to manage it, providing sustained value over time. But as the Cisco executive pointed out, “If it were easy, it would be commoditized. When it’s complex, when it requires expertise and a business model, that’s where the opportunity to improve margins lies.”

The overall consensus at XChange LATAM 2025 was clear: The future of the IT channel in the region depends on its ability to reinvent itself, move beyond a transactional mindset and take on a leading role in clients’ technology strategies. The demand is there. While the regional market shares similar challenges with the global one—low maturity, talent shortages, pressure for results—it also has one key advantage: the opportunity to grow by walking alongside the client.

In the words of Marino, “When the client feels that the integrator knows them, understands them and makes a meaningful proposal, that’s when a value-based sale happens. The vendor who just shows up with a product pitch has no place anymore.”

Bariloche was the starting point for many of these conversations. Now the challenge lies in turning them into real business and lasting relationships.

Desirée Jaimovich is Editorial Director of ITSitio.