On your marks! Channel should get ready for big Apple Watch opportunities

The channel should be on standby to get ready for opportunities around the Apple Watch as it starts to officially ship from tomorrow (24 April).

Alessandro Porro (pictured), VP international at network monitoring firm Ipswitch, has outlined the opportunities for the channel.

He said: “A handful of organisations with a legitimate business need will be buying Apple Watches for staff. However, the real challenge and opportunity for the channel lies within BYOD and working with customers to update policies and technologies to take into account wearables.

“As businesses start to see their staff bring Apple Watches into the workplace, there is an opportunity for the channel to provide consultancy, services and training, as well as selling complementary products.”

He said: “However, I’d urge the channel not to just think product, but to think about more of a broad package to address “wear your own device’ (WYOD). Customers will be a step ahead of regulators and anyone with malicious intent. But if the Apple Watch is managed well, it will ensure wearables do not become an issue for a business.”

Porro said that any business that handles sensitive information, such as financial, legal and healthcare organisations, will “be quick to listen”. The same goes for those other organisations that are heavily regulated. The rest of the market “may take a little longer”, he added.