TABLE 18. Is your entire infrastructure cloud-based? Yes PPAI 100 Distributors 40% Distributors $250M+ 40% Distributors $50M-$250M 38% Distributors $10M-$50M 40% Distributors $1M-$10M 65% Distributors Under $1M 40% The State of Innovation 2023 | Must Read “In today’s market, with sales reps and CSR reps all over the U.S., I expect more of the top distributors to have a cloud-based infrastructure rather than in-house or sitting in a local data center,” Hemani says. It makes sense for less than half of distributors with under $1 million in revenue to have 100% cloud-based infrastructure considering that 42% cited money and resources as the biggest obstacle hindering their integration process (see Table 16). TABLE 19. How do you check suppliers’ inventory status (most of the time)? Leverage live inventory if available Email Call PPAI 100 Distributors 83% 17% 0% Distributors $250M+ 100% 0% 0% Distributors $50M-$250M 78% 22% 0% Distributors $10M-$50M 93% 7% 0% Distributors $1M-$10M 100% 0% 0% Distributors Under $1M 75% 0% 25% Feigenblatt is hopeful that distributors who still prefer emailing and calling soon realize the powerful benefits of live inventory at their fingertips. “Oftentimes, the supplier is retrieving inventory levels from the same data source that is pushed to the web,” Feigenblatt says, “so why not help reduce the added busywork on both sides? Distributors and suppliers alike have much to gain in productivity and profitability by shifting our time to tasks and projects that will yield maximum impact. Reduced friction and increased efficiency is a win-win for all.” TABLE 20. Which communication tool does your company use primarily? Microsoft Teams Slack Cisco Webex Workplace Other PPAI 100 Distributors 77% 10% 3% 3% 27% Distributors $250M+ 86% 0% 0% 0% 14% Distributors $50M-$250M 78% 11% 6% 6% 17% Distributors $10M-$50M 79% 7% 0% 0% 29% Distributors $1M-$10M 43% 43% 0% 14% 43% Distributors Under $1M 55% 18% 0% 18% 18% Common answers in the “other” category were Skype, Google Workspace and Google Chat, which come as no surprise to Hemani. “A lot of the emails we send out to Google,” he says. “We definitely need to pay attention to the lack of security there is on Google Workspace and Google Business Suite.” PPAI • OCTOBER 2023 • 57
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