Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 59 | Page 21

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY partners to focus on what they are good at , which is creating high value solutions .
What will be Microsoft ’ s technology and solutions focus in the year ahead and how are you preparing your reseller and distribution partners ?
The market is maturing . Customers are maturing . We are seeing that more and more customers are starting to ask for more specialised ( next level ) types of workloads . Beyond infrastructure , we are seeing growth in data and analytics , application innovation ( modernisation ), and industry specific value propositions .
In fact , we have industry clouds , which combines Microsoft Cloud with business process accelerators , ISV products and common data models native to a particular industry or domain . We have the Microsoft Cloud for healthcare , sustainability , manufacturing , financial services etc .
Which region in the broader Sub- Saharan Africa is witnessing the highest channel growth and why ?
South Africa continues to see high growth , and we are a mature country in Africa . However , we are seeing strong growth and demand across all of Africa . It ’ s an emerging and untapped region . If you look at the ecosystem of start-ups the most vibrant regions are South Africa , Kenya and Nigeria .
What are your channel partners in the various regions you cover telling you they are finding challenging when they take Microsoft Cloud solutions to market ?
Keeping up with the changes and the speed of evolution of technologies and customer requirements ! We are all changing and evolving annually . Sometimes this can be challenging as a partner , but we work closely with them to balance the current needs and at the same time build for the and want to get worldwide reach with their products , without having to worry about local presence , customer credit profiles and collections , tax legislation etc . This is taken care of by Microsoft and enables our
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