Channel Mastered News
The latest updates and news for Channel Mastered
Recent News
September 29, 2023
Supply chain issues have impacted everything in IT in recent years except chatter about artificial intelligence. That’s been available in seemingly unlimited quantities since the release of ChatGPT last November, and I haven’t exactly been an innocent bystander. What most interests me about AI at the moment is how channel partners can make money on…
September 22, 2023
If you’re like most people, hearing the word “blockchain” immediately gets you thinking “crypto,” and thinking “crypto” quickly leads to visions of plummeting asset valuations, massive fraud prosecutions, and (everyone’s favorite) ransomware payments. When Curtis O’Neal hears “blockchain,” by contrast, he sees something very different: the future of our industry. “It’s going to be the…
September 15, 2023
A couple of weeks ago I referenced a post on LinkedIn by Canalys analysts Lisa Lawson and Jay McBain about the $15.4 billion channel ecosystem players will make on generative AI this year and the $158.6 billion they’ll collectively be making by 2028. Those are eye-catching numbers, obviously, and they raised a lot of questions…
September 8, 2023
Devoted readers may recall that I quoted Janet Schijns, CEO of channel consultancy JS Group, in last week’s Channelholic. As it happens, I spoke with her one business day after that piece ran about a big bunch of people her company just hired. Believe it or not, the conversation got me thinking about Stephen Jay…
September 1, 2023
According to a recent report from Gartner, 47% of digital workers struggle to find the information they need to do their job effectively. Hey, channel chiefs, raise your hand if you can relate. Sure, you can probably name your top partners, or some of them anyway, based on sales made or certifications earned. But how…
August 25, 2023
Is there any managed service out there with a bigger gap between partner enthusiasm and end user need than compliance? Hard to imagine there is. Sure, 39% of managed service providers globally plan to offer compliance services, if they don’t already, according to Kaseya’s 2023 Global MSP Benchmark Survey Report. Yet just 27% of them…
August 18, 2023
PitchBook’s latest assessment of private equity merger and acquisition activity, published late last month, suggests the downward trend in aggregate deal value that began late in 2021 rolls on unabated. In all, North American PE investors put $960 billion into M&A transactions across industries in the first half of 2023, an impressive-sounding sum that’s nonetheless…
August 11, 2023
I’m not a big fan of the term “lifestyle business,” at least when it’s used to imply lack of ambition. There’s nothing wrong with a business that chugs along steadily, allowing its owner and employees to lead happy, financially secure lives. That said, if you’re an IT provider looking for something more than a lifestyle…
August 8, 2023
Man oh man was there a lot going on at CompTIA’s ChannelCon event in Las Vegas last week. I’d tell you all about it but, you know, what happens in Vegas… That said, I’ve finally gotten around to writing up my take on several stories that broke during the show. And since two other interesting…
August 4, 2023
Seems like just yesterday we learned that the Microsoft Partner Network, along with its 19 competencies and coveted Gold and Silver designations, would soon be replaced by a new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program offering most members a single designation to pursue (“Solutions Partner”) in six cloud-oriented areas like Azure infrastructure, business applications, and security. Actually,…