2. The Onslaught of Outside Investment in the Channel Will Continue

Channel firms have remade their businesses to focus on recurring revenue services and CIO-level conversations, and deep-pocketed investors outside of IT have taken notice. 

Over the past year, outside equity has taken a stake in distributor Ingram Micro, security solution provider Optiv, Indian solution provider Mphasis, cloud business applications provider Intermedia and Microsoft Azure superstar 10th Magnitude. 

And with owner-operated solution providers continuing to struggle with landing public financing – no company has gone public since CDW in July 2013 – tapping into private equity or outside investors is still a great way to access additional capital.

Solution providers looking to attract private investors should look to get their combination of EBITDA and revenue growth above 30 percent, focus on cloud, telephony and application services, and create a staff heavy in account executives, system engineers and client advocates.