Top 7 Takeaways from CompTIA ChannelCon Online 2020
The virtual conference touched on many important conversations and movements in the channel.
August 7, 2020
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The conference opened with a virtual town hall meeting on “Diversity and Inclusion in the Tech Industry.” Moderated by CompTIA president and CEO Todd Thibodeaux, the session consisted of five executives — all current or former CompTIA board members.
The discussion touched on some extremely important and critical issues, providing perspectives about the state of diversity, actionable guidance, and ultimately, hope for real change.
Panelists shared their insight on a number of topics — from institutional change to having difficult conversations to the role of the media and how younger generations are part of the solution — before turning their attention to how the tech industry can better address diversity and inclusion.
“We have to have those hard conversations,” said Dr. Georgette Fraser-Moore, founder and CEO of Transformation Lead. “We need to find ways to communicate that don’t make people feel even more separated.”
“The typical blockers are fear and ignorance,” said Eric Hughes, partner of Agio Advisory. “These topics are hard, yes. But in order for us to advance this conversation, we have to get to a place where it’s not just [under-represented demographics] advocating for these human rights. It has to be the majority.”
CIOs are often tasked with determining how emerging technologies will make an impact on business, but the way IT leaders are thinking about integrating new technology solutions has evolved. And now, the question has become “is adoption accelerating amid COVID-19?” “What kinds of skills will IT pros need to keep up?”
Seth Robinson, senior director, technology analysis at CompTIA, sought to address these questions with panelists Jay McBain, principal analyst at Forrester Research, and Betsy Ziegler, CEO of 1871.
As a high-level concept, emerging technology is often discussed as a catch-all term for advances that have the potential to drive innovation or disrupt industries. But CIOs and tech leaders now see emerging technology as a part of the evolving and interwoven IT ecosystem.
Another session dove into the topic of what’s next for the channel. Industry experts discussed the impact the first half of 2020 has had on the channel and asked the question, “Where do we go from here?”
Experts discussed practical advice and strategies to keep partner businesses moving forward in these unprecedented times. Most solution providers and MSPs have found that their value to customers has increased during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s especially as clients view them as essential partners. Their role as trusted advisers has been critical. So how can one maintain and enhance that role moving forward?
“Many in the channel were trying to tread water in 2008 and make sure they didn’t go out of business, but those that were able to invest were more robust when things got better,” said Carolyn April, senior director of industry analysis at CompTIA, and moderator of the session. “That’s an economic dynamic that exists and hopefully we’ll see that in the channel today.”
Tim Basa, vice president of sales and operations at AppSmart, said many of his company’s partners have taken the time to educate and train their staff during COVID-19, a notion that should serve them well going forward. “They’ve said ‘What can I do?’ Maybe they haven’t sold this product suite before, or they didn’t sell SaaS, but they wanted to pivot to SaaS or a contact center were quick to get educated,” Basa said.
Juan Fernandez, vice president of managed IT services at ImageNet Consulting and vice chair of CompTIA’s Channel Development Advisory Council, agreed that creativity is often born from necessity, and he expects advances around powering the new mobile workforce and creating an improved customer experience.
“We have to innovate during this time. It’s 100% ‘have to think differently’,” Fernandez said.
The session “Maintaining (and Growing) Your Sales Pipeline in Times of Economic Uncertainty” discussed the tale of two channels.
In times of economic uncertainty, our first inclination is to hunker down and brace for the worst. But for any companies that want to be left standing after the dust settles, this is the time to nurture relationships, increase your audience and fill your pipeline. Heather Margolis of Channel Maven and Larry Walsh of The 2112 Group went through the ideal steps shops should take right now to ensure their success for the future.
“We now have no more excuses for waiting on digital transformation,” said Walsh. “The channel is grossly underprepared and not equipped for omnichannel. We need to figure out how to keep the customer. Even if you get them into the pipe, you have to figure out how to nurture the relationship. This has to happen through continuous engagement.”
“It is time to think about building relationships and helping MSPs/solution providers build relationships around the business outcomes that you can help them achieve,” added Margolis.
Providing an exceptional customer experience (CX) has been a top-of-the-list goal in the age of digitalization. Today, we have a newer concept to consider in the technology industry: the partner experience.
The session covered how technology vendors and the indirect channel partners that sell, refer or consult around their products relate to one another in today’s market. It also provided insights on the following key questions:
Do vendors now include nontransactional partners along with transactional partners – i.e. influencer types, alliance partners, consultants? How are we addressing the new ecosystem and their differing needs?
Does the cloud-based world diminish the channel’s role? If so, how are channel companies pivoting to retain their value?
How do we measure success, both on the vendor side and partner side AND customer side?
“What is the partner experience? It is relevant in the partner context, not in the supplier or vendor context,” said Bob O’Malley, CEO, O’Malley & Associates.
“It seems to be becoming less important who the vendor is on the back end. Partners really need to home in on presenting their capabilities,” added Larissa Crandall, vice president of worldwide channel and alliances, Gigamon. “It’s more about business continuity. It’s definitely evolving.”
The panel of experts assembled for this session discussed the emerging technology trends they expect to accelerate in the post-corona world, and why. The discussion took a deep dive into artificial intelligence, blockchain and biometrics, with panelists going into the short and long-term impact these technologies will have post-COVID-19.
“There is innovation happening every single day in every single category,” said Ryan Morris, principal consultant, Morris Management Partners. “Some of these innovations happen years into the future and we won’t see the commercial opportunities until that time. Other innovations happen in new feature sets and capabilities with existing technologies. In between, there’s a very interesting category of technologies that are not brand-new, but they are just now starting to become commercially viable and practical for tech companies in the channel.”
The global impact of COVID-19 is still significant, both economically and socially, but the future looks bright for many companies in the business of technology. Emerging technologies, cloud and cybersecurity are among the growth areas available to tech vendors, distributors and solution providers around the world, according to IT leaders in a “Global Perspectives” panel during ChannelCon Online.
“A lot of our partners had their best March and April ever,” said James Bergl, regional vice president of sales, APAC, at Datto, and chair of CompTIA’s ANZ Business Technology Community. “The channel has been a savior in a lot of this. MSPs and the IT channel have been leaned on to get businesses up and running, more so than in the past.”
The pandemic is also driving new opportunities and new services. Admittedly, it’s been a lot of hard work for MSPs, but they’re generating new revenue they didn’t have before, according to Hannah Lloyd, vice president of channel sales at inSOC UK, and vice-chair of CompTIA’s UK Business Technology Community.
The industry has also seen a strong demand for tech solutions, and has accelerated the adoption of new technologies, new solutions and new projects.
The global impact of COVID-19 is still significant, both economically and socially, but the future looks bright for many companies in the business of technology. Emerging technologies, cloud and cybersecurity are among the growth areas available to tech vendors, distributors and solution providers around the world, according to IT leaders in a “Global Perspectives” panel during ChannelCon Online.
“A lot of our partners had their best March and April ever,” said James Bergl, regional vice president of sales, APAC, at Datto, and chair of CompTIA’s ANZ Business Technology Community. “The channel has been a savior in a lot of this. MSPs and the IT channel have been leaned on to get businesses up and running, more so than in the past.”
The pandemic is also driving new opportunities and new services. Admittedly, it’s been a lot of hard work for MSPs, but they’re generating new revenue they didn’t have before, according to Hannah Lloyd, vice president of channel sales at inSOC UK, and vice-chair of CompTIA’s UK Business Technology Community.
The industry has also seen a strong demand for tech solutions, and has accelerated the adoption of new technologies, new solutions and new projects.
Friday marked the end of ChannelCon Online 2020, the virtual conference presented by CompTIA. The conference attracted more than 20,000 views during the three days it was live.
The “Future Focused” event covered a wide array of topics, from diversity and inclusion in tech, to maintaining (and growing) your sales pipeline in times of economic uncertainty, to a global perspective on what the future looks like for tech businesses after COVID-19.
Click through our slideshow above to view the top seven takeaways from ChannelCon Online 2020.
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