For years, connectivity has been the foundation of most EXPO.e Channel partners' service wraps. It is reliable, understood, and consistent. But it is also increasingly commoditised. Margins are tightening, price competition is aggressive, and differentiation is harder than ever.
And most importantly, customer expectations have evolved…
Modern businesses are operating in hybrid environments. They are running workloads across private data centres, public Cloud platforms, edge locations and multiple SaaS environments. They need scalable compute, secure hosting, disaster recovery, compliance alignment, and continuous performance optimisation.
This shift changes the nature of the entire conversation.
For Channel partners, this is not just a question of expanding their portfolios - it is a powerful commercial opportunity to take that all-important step from provider to strategic infrastructure partner.
Connectivity gets you in the door, infrastructure keeps you there.
Board-level conversations are no longer centred on bandwidth alone. Instead, they take a holistic view of the ongoing digital journey, encompassing:
- Cloud readiness and migration strategies.
- Resilience and business continuity.
- Data sovereignty and compliance.
- Cost predictability.
- Cyber security posture.
- Performance across distributed workforces.
Infrastructure now underpins digital transformation, and so partners who can support customers in this regard move beyond transactional engagements and into long-term, embedded relationships.
Why It's Margin-Rich
Managed infrastructure is not a single revenue line. It is a layered commercial model that combines:
- Hosting and compute revenue.
- Backup and disaster recovery services.
- Monitoring and management contracts.
- Security overlays.
- Ongoing optimisation and consultancy.
Each of these layers adds value and improves blended margin.
Unlike resale-only models, where margin compression is common, managed infrastructure allows you to build recurring service revenue with stronger protection against price erosion. It also creates opportunities for incremental expansion, capacity upgrades, new workloads, additional resilience services, all of which increase lifetime account value.
Critically, this is not about replacing existing connectivity revenue, but rather attaching higher-value services to it, driving deeper, more profitable partnerships.
Why It's Sticky
Infrastructure is deeply embedded and so migration projects are inherently complex. They involve application mapping, dependency management, risk mitigation, and operational planning. Once environments are successfully transitioned and stabilised, customers are understandably reluctant to move again, as switching providers introduces operational risk, potential downtime, and cost.
As a result, infrastructure contracts are typically multi-year for one, simple reason - stability matters!
When you manage a customer's core infrastructure, you are no longer just a supplier. You become part of their operational backbone. And that level of integration creates natural retention.
The Strategic Positioning Shift
Connectivity conversations are often led by procurement. In contrast, infrastructure conversations involve a range of key individuals from across an organisation, including (but not limited to) CIOs, CTOs, Heads of IT, and transformation leaders. With this diversity of perspectives and long-term goals, the dialogue moves from "cost per meg" to a long-term strategic view, encompassing performance, resilience, risk management, and end-to-end Cloud transformation.
That shift elevates your role within the customer's organisation, increasing the perceived value of your relationship and transforming your revenue profile. It also provides a foundation for further cross-selling opportunities, including security services, SD-WAN, LAN refresh, ITSM and digital transformation initiatives, acting as the anchor around which broader managed services are designed and delivered.
From Transactional to Foundational
Connectivity remains essential. It opens conversations and supports robust long-term partnerships.
But infrastructure is foundational - a true growth multiplier rather than an add-on. It positions your business at the centre of your customer's technology strategy, shifting your role from reseller to long-term partner. This, in turn, strengthens margin, extends contract length, and deepens integration, resulting in:
- Higher average order value.
- Increased customer lifetime value.
- Improved revenue predictability.
- Stronger executive relationships.
- Reduced risk of churn.
Get in touch today to explore how you can make yourself a key element of your customers' future success and fundamentally transform your revenue streams.
Get in touch
Read our
Partner Brochure
As a trusted partner, our deep expertise and capabilities in Networks, Cloud, Data Centre Solutions, Unified Communications, Cyber Security and Professional Service enable your sales teams to increase your average order values. We design and deliver Channel Partner solutions ranging in value from £5,000 to £1,000,000 per year. Find out more by downloading our Channel Partners Brochure.
