Brian Sherman Posts

Innovation in the computer industry is occurring at breakneck speed. With increasing internet capabilities and other technological advances, along with a continually escalating competitive environment, it’s extremely hard to keep track of it all. Those are a few of the points covered in the Tomorrowland: Meet the New IT session at ChannelCon 2016.

Channel professionals typically use B2B as a reference to the general indirect model, but Austin McChord, founder and CEO of Datto, Inc. gave the term a whole new meaning in his keynote at ChannelCon 2016. In his case, it refers to the way he started his business 8 years ago, in his parent’s basement with $80,000 in debt. By the end of last year Datto was valued at a billion dollars and had become one of the exclusive "unicorn" club according to respected business experts

CompTIA IT Security Community members broke into three separate groups during their ChannelCon meeting to discussing the details of various security portfolio offerings.They discussed where each MSP sits on the security continuum (foundational, comprehensive or advanced) and then focused their efforts on defining that particular level of service.

The CompTIA Managed Services Community took their best practice discussions to the next level at ChannelCon 2016. The standing room only audience was treated to a unique experience as community leaders turned the tables and made them into expert panelists.

One of the toughest things for new IT services business owners is planning out their portfolios. What services do you need to offer to satisfy existing clients and attract new customers? Security has become one of the biggest differentiators for MSPs today and the topic of expanding those offerings created some interesting conversations in the CompTIA Partner Advisory Council meeting at ChannelCon 2016.

Encryption should be a normal part of the channel security discussion today, ensuring that clients understand the options and benefits these technologies provide. That conversation should also extend to email and backup and disaster recovery solutions. If data could eventually be transmitted across the internet, it’s a prime candidate for encryption.

A recent CompTIA survey found that 44% of managed services firms only support cloud services at the request of their customers. In other words, between a third and half of managed services providers are not capitalizing on what is likely the biggest IT delivery model shift of our time! Here's why that needs to change...

What will customer service and help desk communications look like in the future? How will solution providers change the process to address the Millennial audience? Learn how social media and other technologies will play a bigger role in future channel communications, and how savvy providers will get started even faster.

When the news that Microsoft intended to purchase LinkedIn came out this week, the initial response of those in the channel ranged from disbelief to bewilderment. Many wondered why a company so heavily focused on line of business applications and infrastructure would want to own a social media site. An even larger question filling the comments sections of several publications was why would they ever pay so much?

The conversations at CompTIA’s latest Canadian IT Business Community meeting centered on both activities, as members discussed a number of tech challenges and opportunities before they headed out for an afternoon on the links.