Creating the Future of the IT Services Industry

Putting the “rubber to the road,” as the saying goes; the IT Services and Support Executive Forum meeting in Toronto spent the second half of the afternoon focused on new initiative discussions. Sticking to the CompTIA Communities philosophy of sharing ideas and industry experiences, attendees offered up a variety of potential programs and topics in this part of the meeting. These sessions provide an opportunity for attendees to submit subjects that matter to their business and the industry in general. As mentioned before, CompTIA is a member-driven community and the future of the programs depends heavily on the group interaction and team efforts to push for valued programs.

While some ideas offered up may turn out to be part of other CompTIA Community’s initiatives, or are already in development by a task force within the group, these workshops identify the topics that will drive the future of the services industry. There is usually a flurry of conversations around managed services, while other topics may be just as critical but generate less discussion. At each meeting, a list of potential initiatives is created on a poster board in front of the room, and each is discussed and voted on by members during the workshop. This forum allows for interactive debate, and allows each participant to voice their support or objection.

Another objective of these workshops is to determine the topics and objectives for new CompTIA research. These studies are developed to support each community’s goals, with information on a particular technology, industry, market, or segment. The extensive research CompTIA conducted around managed services last year is a great example of this member-directed program, developed from an initiative of the IT Services and Support group (created at a meeting just like this one)! This study showed the need for a new group at CompTIA, as well as a series of additional industry programs, now known as the Managed IT Services Executive Forum.

With the workshop complete, the official meeting was concluded in Toronto and members of the IT Services group headed off for some quality networking time. The IT Services and Support Executive Forum will convene again at the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting April 7th-8^th in Chicago.