With many major tech breakthroughs and rapid shifts in demand, 2024 changed the game for OEMs in every industry vertical. And as we move into 2025, the pace of change is only accelerating. Competition is fiercer than ever, and customers expect their suppliers to go above and beyond to win their business.
Staying ahead means anticipating new challenges and preparing ahead of time. Let’s explore the biggest challenges facing OEMs in 2025, so you can build an effective strategy for success.
#1: Delivering reliable performance
OEM markets are growing, and with growth comes competition. Customers have more options than ever before, and will opt for solutions that meet their increasing demands for computing power, uptime, and scalability—especially for high-stakes deployments in industries like healthcare or finance.
For OEMs, this means providing robust, edge-ready infrastructure that delivers high performance without compromising reliability. It’s also important that you ensure your tech’s compatibility with each customer’s existing technology, and back it up with long-term maintenance services and 24/7 local support.
#2: Offering custom configurations
Unique challenges require unique solutions. Your customers want to work with OEMs who provide solutions built specifically for their business case, so make sure to offer customizable hardware and software that can adapt to specific workloads, industries, and environments.
Be ready to adapt to different configurations after deployment to meet customer needs as they grow and change. The more you’re able to personalize solutions, the more you’ll build trust with customers and grow your reputation in the market—drawing more prospects and creating repeat business opportunities.
#3: Faster sales cycles
Industries across the board are under pressure to deliver outcomes faster, and customers expect the same from their suppliers. Shorter timelines mean OEMs must accelerate every stage of the sales process, from answering technical queries to finalizing proposals.
Whether you have an in-house team or work with reseller partners, upskilling your sales specialists can give you a competitive edge. Equip them with deep technical knowledge of your solutions so they can quickly respond to demands. The faster you can meet customer needs and establish trust, the sooner you can drive revenue.
#4: Global Scalability
Expanding into new regions presents major growth opportunities for OEMs—provided you have the right capabilities to do it. Navigating local regulations, managing complex logistics, and scaling sustainably requires significant resources and expertise.
Having an established global support network will help you tackle these challenges efficiently, offering faster resolutions at a lower cost. Work closely with procurement partners who can position you for minimal disruption and maximum profitability in new markets.
#5: Future-proofing
With tech moving faster than ever, standing still isn’t an option. OEMs must have a solid foundation in new and evolving technologies like AI, cloud computing, and virtualization to stay competitive.
AI in particular holds incredible potential, but is still taking shape in many ways. Your AI innovations must be built on ethical, secure, and responsible principles to gain market trust. A strong R&D program and partnerships with innovative suppliers will help you spot new opportunities and lead your market.
How Avid Technology tackles these challenges with HPE OEM
Avid provides media management tools for creatives working on blockbusters and hit series worldwide. It faced these very same challenges while growing its business: Avid needed to shift from bare-metal servers to a virtual solution to meet current customer demands for scalability and performance. And it needed a reliable partner to help make it happen.
By partnering with HPE OEM, Avid overcame each of its challenges with:
- Market-leading infrastructure. HPE ProLiant servers deliver the compute power Avid needs for resource-heavy media projects, along with 7+ years of maintenance support to ensure long-term reliability and help Avid’s customers secure more value from their investment.
- Custom configurations. Avid can now offer configuration options down to the last detail, with HPE helping it recommend server models, disk type, and memory requirements for customers as part of its value-added service.
- Accelerated pre-sales. HPE’s experts help Avid field any technical questions during negotiations, while also training Avid’s distribution partners to sell virtualized solutions—all helping to significantly speed up sales cycles.
- Localized global support. With support from HPE-authorized partners worldwide, Avid can expand into new markets without worrying about logistics issues or unexpected overheads.
- A platform for AI and cloud innovations. Avid is actively working on new AI-powered media solutions, using HPE's AI development tools to steer its pilot projects. Avid is also exploring HPE GreenLake’s pay-as-you-go services to reduce overheads and offer its customers flexible pricing options.
With support from HPE OEM, Avid can strengthen its product offering and exceed customer expectations in a highly demanding industry.
Everything is easier with the right partner
You don’t need to prepare for 2025’s challenges alone. Choose a strategic partner that can cover gaps in your resources, freeing you up to focus on innovation and growth.
HPE OEM is here to help you make 2025 your business’s best year yet. Reach out to me to talk about how we can turn your challenges into valuable opportunities.
MattQuirk
With a passion for innovation and technology, I am lucky enough to work within high-growth opportunities across multiple industries including manufacturing, healthcare, energy, media and entertainment and security - with technology innovations that are advancing the way people live and work such as AI, autonomous everything and 5G.