BETWEEN FACTS AND TRUTH

As a sector, it must quit adhering to established truths and openly disseminate fresh information.

The industry functions on two realities: truth and fact, which are mutually exclusive, as a result of the years of work done in and around technological businesses.

Truth and fact are conflated in the minds of far too many individuals. Anything that is true must also be a fact. The conversation had so begun.

A fact is an unarguable assertion supported by actual data and quantifiable indicators. Facts are superior to hypotheses. They are either something that has unquestionably happened in the past or they are verified via calculation and experience.

Truth is something altogether different; it might contain fact but it might also contain belief. People frequently accept things as true because they are more in line with their comfort zones, assimilate readily into those zones, or correspond to their preconceived ideas about what is true.

Fact is absolute, undeniable. Truth is somehow preferably more approvable.

How a fact can be defined is well-explained by comedian Ricky Gervais. The distinction between fact and truth—which he refers to as belief—can be inferred from this. The same experiments would provide the same results, therefore even if we destroyed every science book and fact, they would all be back after a thousand years.

It's simple to lie with statistics, but difficult to convey the truth without them, according to economist and author of "Naked Economics" and "Naked Statistic" Charles Wheelan.

Truths include facts. Sadly, context can shape facts; information taken out of context can create a new narrative, which in turn can provide a different truth. For instance, it is true that channels account for the sale of 70% of all commodities. All consumer and business goods make up that 70%. You don't purchase toilet paper, canned green beans, or automobiles directly from Ford, Charmin, or Del Monte. You purchase these items through middlemen (retailers and dealers).

Some people might interpret the "70 percent" figure inappropriately. Since channels account for the indirect sale of 70% of all goods, they also account for the indirect sale of 70% of IT products and services. If you wanted to extend the context any further, you might say that 70% of all PCs and servers are sold through the channel. Or you could say that the channel is where 70% of all blockchain implementations are sold.

Only the first statistic—that 70% of all goods are sold indirectly through channels—is accurate since, as stated earlier, this 70% includes all channel sales. But not all goods fall within that category. Around 60% of IT products are sold in an indirect fashion. A approximate estimate puts the percentage of PCs and servers sold through the channel at around 50%. Additionally, the channel only sells a few number of blockchain implementations each year.

People frequently use statistics and data points that are out of context in the technology industry as a whole and in the channel. The 80/20 rule, which claims that 80% of channel revenue travels via 20% of the partners, is arguably the most well-known "fact." Although each vendor's channel program is unique, 2112 shows that for the majority of vendors, the percentages are even more skewed, with less than 5% of partners producing 80% of indirect revenue. But because it is widely believed to be "true," the 80/20 rule continues to be a fact.

The difficulty for the sector has been the evolution of popularly held beliefs. Management teams and channel leaders all too frequently adhere to conventional wisdom while actively avoiding new information. "We can't talk about new things because it attracts too many questions and will impede progress," they will argue. Also, "We've already socialized this story, and they [top executives] already understand what we've already showed them," they will add.

Ironically, performance disruptions are caused by delaying the introduction of new information. Vendors will implement strategies based on false information (facts), which can result in disappointment or, even worse, negative returns.

The IT sector and the channel require data to make informed judgments, but they cannot afford to take as gospel the preexisting truths. New information enhances business intelligence, offers chances to explore uncharted territory, and allows us to modify our route. Businesses that experience setbacks and failures are foolish to insist on generally held beliefs.