Insight lists AI, security and 5G among channel opportunities

If the channel struggles to grow revenues this year, it will not due to a lack of opportunity signposting from a range of sources across the industry.

Already artificial intelligence (AI), security, cloud and managed print have been signalled as areas for growth from the likes of Softcat, Quocirca and JumpCloud, and further thoughts have now been shared by Insight Enterprises. The channel player’s 2025 Trends report outlines six technology trends that it expects to have a major impact in 2025 and beyond.

Not surprisingly, the evolution of AI models is on the list. The speed of evolution around the technology, which saw DeepSeek emerge out of nowhere at the start of the year, underlined the pace of change. Insight is expecting generative AI (GenAI) technology to evolve its capabilities and the integration of the technology with robotic process automation (RPA) to be trends worth following.

Elsewhere on the list is security, with the impact of AI causing a shift in the security landscape as the technology is used to drive more attacks and is increasingly being leant on to improve defences.

And although it’s been around for a while, there is still growth to be found in hybrid cloud as companies continue to determine where applications will sit across a widening infrastructure.

Insight is also expecting software rationalisation to be a main theme this year as customers look to streamline the tools they use to reduce operational costs and improve security posture.

Those four would all be expected on a list of growth areas, but Insight included other areas that it expects to have an impact, such as spatial computing and the rise of private 5G connectivity.

On the spatial computing front, the expectations is that technology – which has so far largely being confined to gaming – will become more widespread as it chimes in with the internet of things (IoT) and is combined with AI. Meanwhile, the 5G connectivity opportunity is a result of demand from corporations for high-speed access within their own buildings, providing decent performance and improved security.

Phil Hawkshaw, Insight’s EMEA CTO, said that those who were able to recognise market trends were not only able to generate revenue opportunities, but would be well-positioned to deepen their customer relationships: “Today’s most successful organisations seamlessly integrate information technologies across all corners of their operation and customer experiences.

“To remain competitive, businesses must leverage technology not only to drive operational efficiency, but to enable innovation for future growth. The industry is buzzing with developers advancing technology at a high pace and organisations striving to capitalise on these advancements, which could be in AI, cloud, mobile or spatial computing,” he added.

Hawkshaw stressed that the channel remained a crucial element in delivering and supporting the adoption of AI, security, cloud and mobile services: “In a fast-changing world, it is imperative for IT leaders to be flexible and stay on top of their digital infrastructure.

“Partner ecosystems can help in accelerating the development of their innovation engine and technical capabilities, while offering support in navigating the ever-changing IT landscape,” he said. 

The Insight 2025 trends report adds to other reports that have placed AI and security at the top of areas where the channel should be able to generate growth this year.