Westcon-Comstor reveals trends driving channel growth and transformation

As the global technology provider and specialist distributor celebrates its 40th anniversary, Westcon-Comstor shares the trends driving channel growth and transformation.

Not many distributors have been around to witness the transformation of technology over the last four decades. For Westcon-Comstor, 40 years of enabling vendors and customers to achieve growth in the channel has been nothing short of remarkable.

Over the last four decades, the global technology provider and specialist distributor has gone through all and now has a global presence with the Asia Pacific region being a key component for it as well. With over 3,700 employees globally, Westcon-Comstor achieved record gross sales of US $5.24 billion in its latest financial year (FY25).

“Marking 40 years is a proud moment for everyone at Westcon-Comstor and is an opportunity to both reflect and look to the future,” said David Grant, CEO at Westcon-Comstor.

For Patrick Aronson, APAC Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Westcon-Comstor, celebrating 40 years is a powerful milestone, and in APAC, it’s a moment to reflect on how far they’ve come and how much opportunity lies ahead.

“The pace of innovation across the region is extraordinary, from the rapid adoption of AI and cybersecurity solutions to the digital transformation of businesses and the evolution of cloud and network architectures,” said Aronson.

To mark its 40th anniversary, Westcon-Comstor shared a series of industry trends that will define its focus in the coming months and committed to helping create a future-ready IT channel as part of its Future Ready initiative.

“Our channel partners and vendors are operating in a rapidly changing market while pursuing their own business transformation journeys. Our focus is on helping them become future ready, so they are prepared for tomorrow’s challenges as well as today’s. Our Future Ready initiative is the perfect way to spotlight our heritage along with our forward-facing priorities and our dedication to enabling sustainable, long-term success across the channel,” said Grant.

According to Weston-Comstor, there are six key trends driving growth and transformation of the channel. The first is the emergence of MSP and specialized partners as hybrid real winners. For Westcon-Comstor, while hybrid enterprise environments are proving to be a goldmine, only MSPs and specialized partners who succeed in building and selling services that allow them to own the ‘glue’ layer spanning automation, security, governance and data flow between platforms will truly be successful.

The second trend is the growth in cybersecurity to go beyond just an IT concern. The specialist distributor stated that cybersecurity is now part of the CFO’s risk model, the COO’s continuity plan, as well as the CEO’s brand reputation calculus. Effective channel partners will go beyond just selling security tools as they look to align security with enterprise priorities, from compliance and business resilience to risk management and M&A readiness.

The third trend is on how AI is redefining the role of the channel. As AI becomes the brain behind data movement, the channel is evolving, and partners are transitioning from infrastructure enablers to intelligence enablers. Partners who successfully ride the AI wave will be those who master the intersection of AI models, data governance and multi-environment orchestration to deliver not just efficiency, but foresight.

The next trend is on the cloud channel, which is now seemingly looking different from when it first started. Westcon-Comstor believes success in the cloud era requires new motions, new models and new skills with cloud marketplaces, partner-to-partner (P2P) selling, usage-based billing and ecosystem co-selling transforming how the channel works. Partners must now embed themselves into hyperscaler programs, drive consumption growth and deliver value-added services. The key to success for partners in this new world is to view hyperscalers as platforms, not suppliers or rivals.

Another trend which is also AI related is in how technology is forcing a network rethink, with the channel having the blueprint to it. Given the increased use of AI, real-time data and distributed compute, static networks are no longer fit for purpose. The opportunity for the channel lies in helping customers adopt intent-based networking, zero-trust architectures, and network observability at scale. Weston-Comstor believes this is the beginning of a new arms race, and the partners who triumph will be those who can design networks that think, heal and secure themselves.

The last trend is on how SMBs will drive the channel’s next global growth engine. As millions of previously underserved SMBs are entering a new phase of digital urgency, channel partners who deliver repeatable, scalable and automated solutions – backed by vendor support and distributor orchestration – will unlock a vast, margin-rich opportunity.

“Our Future Ready initiative is about more than just anticipating change - it’s about empowering our partners to lead it. By investing in enablement, platforms, and regional expertise, we’re helping our partners unlock new growth, deliver greater value, and build sustainable success in a fast-moving digital economy," said Aronson.

Grant added that being future-ready means staying close to partners’ and vendors’ realities, investing in the right tools, platforms and capabilities, and keeping an eye on the horizon.

“This anniversary is a foundation for what comes next as we look to accelerate our journey to becoming the world’s leading specialist value-added distributor across cybersecurity, networking and cloud,” he concluded.

This story was originally published on our sister site, CRN Asia.