I am writing this blog in a state of disbelief. Yes, this is often said, but I really mean it this time: this year has flown by so quickly. And I find the best way to help us deal with this sort of shock is to do a bit of reflection and set our sights firmly on the very bright future ahead of us—bring it on!
So, queue the inspirational music as we look back on the UK Channel Community’s wondrous and inspirational 2015.
First off, we are delighted to announce our new EC members for 2016—take a look at the new leaders helping to shape the our community. Unfortunately, while we’re quite excited about our new members coming on board, there’s still some sadness in the air. It’s a heartfelt farewell we must bid to Mark Williams, CEO of 
Pensar, who is stepping down after serving his two-year term as chair of the Executive Council. Mark has been a massive driving force and evangelist of CompTIA and the UK Community, and his contributions have been immeasurable.
You will be missed Mark, but such is the UK Channel Community circle of life.
Next up: the success of our latest initiatives. Over the last year, our community has been instrumental in introducing the Dream IT and Regulated Industries initiatives to the UK. Next, we’ll be introducing a monthly focus-group call to continue moving these initiatives forward, a resource we are very excited about. Among other benefits, it offers the community more opportunity to get involved and help us continue to produce valuable resources.
Our success with Dream IT also reflects one of our ongoing goals, to create awareness of the positive impact initiatives like these are having on the IT industry. We often reach out to different organisations to let them know we can work with them in our efforts to make the industry more successful, and to encourage more people to consider IT as a viable career option. With these initiatives, we’ve had quite a few successes doing just that.
I’d also like to highlight a wonderful recent event. It was great to be at The Skills Show with one of our newest Executive Council members, Ian Vickers, MD at MET. This is just one of the many events and efforts that CompTIA supports in order to help make more students aware of the career options in IT. Here is a great resource that was developed for students, parents and educators to learn more about IT careers: http://skillsboost.comptia.org/en/.
We are also excited to introduce some new thought-leadership content detailing how MSPs can break into regulated industries—take a look at some of the infographics we’ve created to help get you started and guide you on your way. We will also have a panel discussion from your peers in the industry on how they did it at the UKCC Leeds Meeting in February 2016.
Finally, I would like to end by giving you a peek into 2016 to see what fantastic content and speakers we have lined up. Be sure to mark these dates on your calendar so you don’t forget about them!
- 13 January Online Webinar - Upskilling your Partners to sell your Solutions.
- 28 January Wales Road show – Meet and Greet, find out about CompTIA over a few drinks and attend a session on how to market services and succeed.
- Save the date: 23 & 24 February Regional Meeting in Leeds – Join the UK Channel Community at a dinner with over 160 peers in the industry, and attend a day of thought leaders sharing industry best practices.
Remember, you become like the people you surround yourself with, so be sure to join us and start 2016 by collaborating with the amazing, positive and successful people that make up our UK Channel Community.
As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to get involved in any of the initiatives mentioned.
Thank you for making this year such a success and here's to next year!
