Westcon-Comstor marks 40 years by sharing key channel trends and future-ready vision

Westcon-Comstor has shared a series of industry trends that will define its focus in the coming months and years as it marks its 40th birthday and commits to helping create a future-ready IT channel.

Founded on 24 June 1985, today Westcon-Comstor employs about 3,700 people globally and achieved record gross sales of US $5.24 billion in its latest financial year (FY25).

The distributor has published the channel trends as part of the launch of its Future Ready initiative, which is designed to enable channel partners to stay ahead of rapid technological change and evolving market dynamics.

The key trends identified by Westcon-Comstor as driving the growth and transformation of the channel are:

MSPs and specialised partners are emerging as hybrid's real winners

Hybrid enterprise environments will prove to be a goldmine, but only for managed service providers (MSPs) and other 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.

Cybersecurity is now a business function, not just an IT concern

Cybersecurity has outgrown the office of the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) and is now part of the CFO’s risk model, the COO’s continuity plan and the CEO’s brand reputation calculus. The most effective channel partners won’t just sell security tools, they’ll help align security with enterprise priorities, from compliance and business resilience to risk management and M&A readiness.

AI-driven data orchestration 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. The smart money is now focused on building adaptive data fabrics that learn, respond and optimise in real time. The 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 cloud channel is here, and it looks very different

Success in the cloud era requires new motions, new models and new skills. Cloud marketplaces, partner-to-partner (P2P) selling, usage-based billing and ecosystem co-selling are transforming how the channel works. Partners must now embed themselves into hyperscaler programmes, 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.

AI Is forcing a network rethink, and the channel holds the blueprint

As enterprises embrace AI workloads, 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. 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 SMB digital wave is the channel’s next global growth engine

With rising cybersecurity risks, cloud-native apps, AI tools and remote work becoming baseline requirements, millions of previously underserved small and mid-sized businesses (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.

Westcon-Comstor will be exploring these trends in more detail as part of its Future Ready programme through research, interviews with partners and vendors and insights from channel leaders.

“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. “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.”

“We believe being future-ready means staying close to our partners’ and vendors’ realities, investing in the right tools, platforms and capabilities, and keeping our eyes on the horizon,” added David Grant. “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.”

“Staying ahead of technological and market changes is a major focus within our European business – both in how we work and how we support our partners and vendors – so we’re looking forward to exploring these ideas and trends in more detail through our Future Ready initiative,” said Rene Klein, Executive Vice President, Europe at Westcon-Comstor. “As our business celebrates a major milestone with its 40th birthday, it’s pleasing to say that the role we play in the channel and the broader tech ecosystem is more central and strategic than ever. Looking ahead, the trends we’ve identified offer significant growth opportunities for partners and we’re excited to enable and empower them on that journey.”