CompTIA's Channel Arm Becomes the GTIA

Are you evolving as a partner? Are we, as a channel, evolving? When we decided to change this column's name a few years ago from "The Changing Channel" to "The Evolving MSP," it was meant to recognize that the channel had changed sufficiently and that "resellers," "VARs" and others had been pretty broadly replaced by managed service providers (MSPs). Just as the original name was meant to emphasize that "changing" was a key characteristic of the channel, the new name was meant to emphasize that "evolving" is what every MSP needed to do, and keep doing from now on. Evolve or vanish.

As we begin a new year, I thought it would serve to discuss evolution, with a big focus on how we want to evolve and why. From the beginning, we talked about partner specialization. Instead of being generalists, we would focus on determining and pursuing superiority in a specialty. Cloud service providers (CSPs) and Internet service providers (ISPs) were already out there, but how about data service providers, Internet-of-things service providers, storage service providers, messaging service providers, ad infinitum? The list is as long as your imagination.

Fifteen years ago, Microsoft made it clear it wanted all partners to declare their specialty to offer to customers, and plan to partner for whatever else was needed. At that time, partners with as few as a dozen or so employees could hold all of the 30 then-available Gold Certifications if they had four techs who were particularly good at taking tests. Many small partner companies fell into the trap of trying to be all things to all people.

Then Microsoft introduced the "exclusivity rule." Any four techs could only take and pass tests for one Gold Certification and no more. If a partner company wanted to hold all 30 Gold Certifications, they would need to have a tech staff of at least 120 people. It changed the game. Many partners have since seen the wisdom of that strategy and have worked to specialize in any of a number of specific disciplines.

Rising Above the MSP Morass
Since that time, the nature of the channel has changed again. Many "resellers" determined that their future lay in upping their game. They started having their teams take much more advanced training, hired higher-level people and developed formal methodology. They recast themselves as professionals.
Many of those people are now viewed as peers of the lawyers, accountants and other professionals that businesses turn to for critical services; IT is now seen as being every bit as business-critical as law, finance or any other professional service.

Others decided to call themselves MSPs. They had MSP crash-imprinted on their business cards. They turned "MSP" into something that business executives were advised to avoid by CISA, the FBI, the New York Times and others. They muddied the waters for everyone else.

So how are the partners who made the investments supposed to distinguish themselves from these pretenders? Some work to do it by stepping up the quality of their marketing. Others remain focused on promoting themselves through their personal networks. Many are banding together to figure that out.

The Channel Community
I'm a big advocate of channel communities and what they bring to each of us.

Decades ago, I joined the cleverly named Association of Better Computer Dealers (ABCD). Many of us did. We encountered great advice, best practices and many vendors clamoring for our attention. Later, that organization was renamed The Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). I've written recently in this column about that association and I'm now bringing it up again because there have been huge changes -- and each of you needs to figure out how much, if anything, you want from this new organization, and how much you want to participate.

The training and certifications parts of CompTIA and the brand have been sold to Thoma Bravo, which in return created an endowment for the remaining group that serves the channel. That group has now renamed itself the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA).

The beginning of anything is a great time to become involved with it, if you feel it's worth your while. Right now, GTIA has its member board of directors and several executives in place. They are seeking a new CEO. Imagine having an association that never has to do any fundraising and how free it would be to really benefit its members. That is what GTIA is.

As of this writing, I haven’t seen any information about how GTIA will be restructured, or if that is even being discussed. If it were to default to something resembling what that side of the organization looked like previously, that would be an unfortunate waste of an opportunity. So if you've ever thought about joining any of the many organizations supporting the channel community, now is a great time to consider GTIA and bring your voice to the direction of our community.

Now Is the Time
GTIA includes the word "industry" in its name and has said it is a "trade" association. I beg to differ. A trade association promotes the sale and purchase of products; an industry manufactures them. To properly support our community, GTIA needs to be a professional association promoting and supporting professional practices, conduct, ethics and more among our colleagues.

That's as much as I will contribute to conversation at this point, but it would be great to hear from you. What would you want from this association? How would you like to see it directed? What are you willing to bring to it? What do you want it to bring to you?

My strongest suggestion is that you get connected to GTIA now, at the start. Raise your voice in support of yourself, your business and your colleagues.

If you'd like to discuss further with me, please email me at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.

Posted by Howard M. Cohen on January 29, 2025