Even though huge growth is predicted in the storage area network
(SAN) and network attached storage (NAS) markets this year, it
could potentially be hindered by an acute shortage of skilled
salespeople in those arenas.
A number of distributors believe the enterprise storage market
presents a real opportunity for enormous growth, but if the skills
shortage is not addressed, SAN and NAS manufacturers might bypass
the channel and go direct.Mark Walker, enterprise solutions
director at Ideal Hardware, said the distributor was seeking to
more than double its enterprise business in 2002. "In 2001 we saw a
sizeable increase in business compared with 2000, but next year we
will see a quantum leap in the level of demand," he insisted.
Walker believed there was definitely a sales skills shortage among
resellers, but distributors, including Ideal, were increasingly
partnering with resellers which are able to call on the services
and expertise they are lacking.
"The channel adds value but the worst case scenario [if the skills
shortages are not resolved] would be that manufacturers may go
direct," he said.
The number of skilled dealers in this space totals fewer than 20,
according to Rick Terry, general manager of enterprise storage
networking solutions at Avnet.
"It is a great opportunity for these companies to grow enormously.
Those which do not get in on the act will become casualties," he
said.
Terry suggested it was a sales skills shortage rather than a
technical skills shortage. "The problem is that salespeople do not
really understand the problems and how SAN and NAS can bring
benefits to businesses. This year, we will be spending time
training dealers, introducing them to vendors which can explain the
benefits and advantages of the products and help dealers to
understand their role," he said.
Hamish MacArthur, an analyst at MacArthur Stroud, said: "This year,
we expected the market to double. That is not going to happen,
though we are looking at around 70 to 80 per cent [growth]. But
this is nothing like the dire projections coming out of the
US."
MacAuthur agreed there was a shortage of skilled sales staff, but
added it went further than that - system integrators still did not
really understand it either because they were looking at it from an
applications and database viewpoint.
The skills shortage in NAS is not as acute as essentially it is
plug and play, commented Ray Rice, director of product marketing at
CMS Peripherals. "For SAN, I would agree there is a sales skills
shortage, but a lot of distributors and vendors are making their
services available to the reseller base," he said.
Rice predicted that if the situation was not resolved, demand would
still be there. "But what may happen is that the number of
resellers playing in that space may well shrink," he added.