CompTIA ChannelCon 2014 CEO Keynote: Millennials

More opportunities for companies to make mistakes. Technology is moving at a rapid rate, but people are moving even faster, Thibodeaux pointed out. What does this mean? There’s more room for companies to make mistakes.

Democratization of IT. Geeks aren’t the only ones with IT knowledge. He said more and more people are understanding technology because they’re using it more often than they have in the past. Think: Less people are calling their neighbors over to fix a computer issue.

What makes millenials unique?. Thiboxdeaux said nearly 50 percent want to own their own business. That’s a top life priority; they want to be entrepreneurs. “This is a very entrepreneurial generation,” he said. “They’re realizing now they need to make their own way.”

Technology transforms businesses. “It’s no longer about the technology alone,” Thibodeaux explained. Millennials are now becoming both your employees and your customers; this generation will demand more.

Brand disposability. Millennials dispose of brands when they’re unhappy, he said. Make them happy by understanding their needs, wants and desires.

Brand loyalty. “This generation is much more likely to adopt more brands, rapidly,” Thibodeaux said. Brand loyalty is something you’ll have to earn and keep, because it can go away pretty quickly.

Millennials are coders. Generation Y was brought up coding, creating applications, he said. He expects this generation to apply that knowledge to cloud, mobile and M2M.

The future of IT training. IT training will and must be different in the future. How will CompTIA do this? “We’re going to have to create a new environment,” he said.

IT geeks have changed over time. Millennials are now focused on usability and user interface, and how these two can be brought together, Thibodeaux said.

Think you don’t need millennials? Think again. He said 75 percent of the workforce will be millenials by 2015, meaning 40 percent of the individuals in the room will be retiring in 10 years.