Is PLS connected to managed services and everything-as-a-service buying behaviors?
Absolutely. As a matter of fact, this was a discussion we’ve been having for the last few months. I believe this -- the future is as a service. And if the future is as a service, that means our value-added resellers have to become service providers. Well, they may not be in business, if they don’t make that transition, they have to. I mean, I sit down with a customer, and I say: “Hey, what are the three most important things we could help you with through our partners?” And they said: “Make it predictable. A monthly predictable spend or consumption spend. Allow me to know exactly how I want to buy it on a subscription and/or consumption basis. Enable me to provision something, because I’ve got changes in my world as changes, new employees, M&A activities, or whatever else, I need to be able to provision services across my organization seamlessly, effortlessly.”
There [is a] war on talent that’s going on in the world right now. I, as the customer, can’t afford to hire people, train them and retain them. I want to use a partner because I don’t want to be in that business. I’ve got my business; I want you to do that for me. So, if you look at everything that must be predictable and make spending seamless, what [is the customer] saying? They’re saying: “I want you to be my service provider.” This is the world we have to move into.
