The need for speed: delivering on growing bandwidth demands

We live in a data-hungry world where businesses and individuals are demanding faster connectivity with little to no downtime.

Whether it’s for business activity within the office, or for supporting remote and hybrid workers, robust, quick and reliable connectivity has never been more important.

To thrive in the era of digital transformation, businesses must proactively get into pole position now, or risk falling behind, and recognise that choosing the right partner will give them a winning edge.

Businesses want to go full speed ahead

Businesses are already embracing the new connectivity landscape. From over 320 million active monthly users on Microsoft Teams to over 60% of the UK gaining FTTP coverage, it’s clear we’re in a new era of connectivity.

In recent years, the move to all-IP has fuelled digital transformation initiatives, empowering businesses to capitalise on new opportunities. The shift away from legacy networks means that access technologies are now dominated by dedicated fibre services and the rollout of these is happening at pace across the country with Openreach having passed 12.5 million premises in 2023.

What’s more, as businesses continue to embrace new ways of working, hybrid connectivity and cloud solutions are in demand. Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions are now essential for seamless collaboration and the market is rapidly growing – with it set to be worth over £155 million by 2030.

But it doesn’t stop there. Innovation and the emergence of new technologies is being driven by real uses cases to alleviate pain points. In particular, new technologies are being deployed where it is impractical to receive fibre-based services. For example, in places where there are geographic constraints or other barriers, such as lack of fibre infrastructure, rural islands, cliff tops and winds farms or because of cost prohibitive factors like ongoing construction.

Instead, alternatives such as low earth orbit satellite, 5G or Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity are being deployed. These wireless solutions avoid the need to dig up roads and lay new fibres, so are appropriate for listed buildings that may require planning permission or landlord consent and areas with environmental concerns.

There are a wide range of connectivity solutions that can support businesses making the shift to digital. Channel partners who can offer a variety of solutions that customers can mix and match to address their unique needs will come out on top.

Get into pole position with BT Wholesale

Whilst there is a huge opportunity for channel partners as businesses go full speed ahead with digital transformation, it’s important they realise they’re not alone. Partnering with an experienced, trustworthy vendor is key to diversifying portfolios and retaining customers whilst attracting new ones.

Finding a vendor to partner with can be daunting, so resellers and MSPs must have a clear check list of what they want from a partner. The three key factors to consider are:

1. The network

It may seem obvious, but a vendor’s network is crucial when making a partnership decision. Factors such as coverage and reach are important, but others such as resilience, overall availability and the commitment to invest and evolve at the pace of the market are often overlooked.

At BT Wholesale, we’re continually investing and growing our 1Gbps+ network so that we can support our partners and their customers. Our mission is to expand our footprint across the UK so anyone, anywhere can stay connected.

In fact, we’ve completed the first stage of shared rural network ahead of schedule to ensure more people can access our award-winning connectivity.

Increased investment on our side not only means a stronger, more resilient network, but lower costs for our partners, better availability and faster delivery. 

2. Breadth of portfolio

Another factor to consider when choosing a vendor is the portfolio. Being able to offer a large range of solutions and services to customers means resellers and MSPs have the flexibility to design and operate a connectivity solution that works best for them. As customer needs change in a rapidly evolving landscape, this is crucial.

For example, our recent research shows that 70% of end-users will invest in mobile connectivity as a top priority. So, channel partners need to work with a vendor who is at the forefront of mobile solutions.

BT Wholesale’s Complete Mobile solution – exclusively available to Partner Plus members – allows resellers and MSPs to give their customers the benefits of the UK’s best mobile network 10 years running, in a way that suits you. With flexible pricing and services, Complete Mobile gives partners full control of their mobile solutions whilst ensuring they can capitalise on the BT Wholesale brand name. 

3. Easy to do business with

Ultimately, resellers and MSPs want to work with vendors who are straightforward and responsive. This can range from providing partners with the latest digital portal experiences and API interfaces which allow for a frictionless operating model, to account teams that feel like an extension of your team.

At BT Wholesale, we’ve been taking steps to ensure we can be the best partner and accelerate you into a winning position.

We do this not only by providing world-class connectivity solutions but also by encouraging feedback alongside educating employees and customers about digital transformation and emerging technologies.

Explore our products and services now or get in touch with your account manager for more information on how to partner with us.