Wireless technology could be the saviour of the channel this year, with many VARs believing it will be their main growth area.
More than half of the resellers responding to a survey by Imark Communications said they are looking to sell more wireless technology in 2004, and that is expected to boost supplementary sales in maintenance, laptop upgrades, security, firewalls and broadband access routers.
Liz Wood, portfolio director at Imark Communications, said: "Wireless networking has been around for a while but only now, with the launch of new technologies, is it showing signs of solid growth."
Dean Murphy, head of mobility at wireless reseller Satsuma Solutions, said: "We are seeing a lot more interest in wireless. There are a lot of companies with the components in place, but they haven't put them together yet.
"This year, wireless will be used more and more by companies for salesforce automation, checking emails and calendars."
The findings are supported by a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which claimed that 84 per cent of companies believe mobile computing solutions boost workforce productivity.
Its survey of 309 executives across 17 industries found that more than 58 per cent of senior executives use mobile computing at least twice a day.
About 48 per cent of respondents expected mobile computing to have a significant impact on their business within the next five years.
"Companies are looking to get more for less, and wireless can help them achieve this, because more of the workforce will be able to access information remotely," said Chris Knowles, networking and security practice leader at Computacenter.
"Barriers such as security and poor manageability hindered wireless in the past, but most of these have been removed now."
But according to the Imark survey, PCs will still top the list of products resellers are looking to sell this year, with 68 per cent saying the desktop and laptop market is their priority.
VARs were optimistic about 2004, with 56 per cent saying they expect to expand their customer base this year. This contrasts with last year's survey, in which 65 per cent said customer retention was their main priority.
But only one-third of resellers predicted that overall IT investment will increase this year. More customer education about the benefits of new technology is needed to increase sales, resellers said.
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