Building a value machine to service the growing digital ecosystem is a strategic imperative for Axiz Advanced Technologies.

Jacques Malherbe, Axiz Advanced Technologies executive, says distribution is rapidly evolving and thus the role and impact on the channel will be felt.

Moving away from the dependence on edge and adopting a digital platform and more focused approach to the related services, Malherbe says the channel will not look the same in five years.

“Axiz has a strongly defined strategy to build a value business and is working closely with both vendors and resellers to create a digitally inspired ecosystem. No longer only a traditional hardware vendor, Axiz is developing a platform and building a hub of integrated cloud-related software, services, and capabilities,” says Malherbe.

He says that digitisation is reshaping traditional industries and the associated boundaries, and the channel is no different: “Customer demand will centre on emerging intelligent technologies and all players within the ecosystem need to basically transform or die,” he adds.

In what he calls value-added distribution, Malherbe says that Axiz inserts itself further down the customer’s value chain, providing a platform and ecosystem with a broad array of services and solutions focused on the digital landscape: “We are developing a consumption based income model, which is a very different approach to traditional distribution.”

That aside, he says that the company’s traditional edge business remains strategic and while edge transformation may swing in favour of digital services and solutions over the next few years, it will remain a strong contributor to the overall business.

Malherbe is a believer in the theory of a gradual ascent towards singularity: “The evolution is taking place already, digitisation is real and already shaping and disrupting traditional industries. It’s not a matter of when changes will affect business, but rather how we prepare for them as they already start impacting the bottom line and aggressively challenge business longevity,” says Malherbe.