Steven Ostrowski Posts

In a world where smart customers expect and demand more from their suppliers, a strong and vibrant services component is essential for long-term growth and success. IT services executives attending CompTIA’s Annual Member Meeting heard that message Tuesday during a meeting of the CompTIA IT Services and Support Community.“Service is ‘the’ business to be in for the next several decades,” said James Alexander, founder of Alexander Consulting and author of several books on successful service operat ...

CompTIA ChannelCon is the new name and identity of our premier annual event. The inaugural CompTIA ChannelCon is scheduled for July 29-31 at the Peabody Orlando Hotel in Orlando, FL. “Our premier event, known for many years as Breakaway, now has a name that truly reflects its scope,” said Kelly Ricker, senior vice president, events and education, CompTIA. “The quality of the meetings, partnership opportunities, hot topic sessions and channel-neutral training make ChannelCo ...

No business is too small to engage in strategic business planning. So says Scott Goemmel, business advisor with 4-Profit, who led a workshop on business strategy planning today at Breakaway 2012.“Most companies spend less than two percent of their leadership’s time on strategy, yet we’re the fastest changing industry,” said Goemmel. “That’s not nearly enough to take your company and move it forward.”In the IT industry especially, Goemmel said very successful technical people will start and grow ...

IT channel companies coping with a changing marketplace marked by cloud computing, mobility and recurring revenue models don’t need to go it alone. Instead, they can rely more heavily on their distributor partners for support.“We owe it to you to help you change and transform your business, and we have the capabilities to do that,” Joe Quaglia, senior vice president, U.S. marketing, Tech Data Corp., said Wednesday during the Distributor Power Panel session at Breakaway 2012.Distributors can “ins ...

In a world where bring you own device, cloud computing and mobility are rapidly changing the corporate technology landscape, a pricing expert who understands how to make money in this environment is the most important person an IT solution provider can have on staff.That message was delivered Wednesday by executives from four notable companies during the Breakaway 2012 Channel Chief Power Panel. Speakers shared their insights on how technology service and solution providers and survive and thriv ...

The continued convergence of traditional IT and telecom services is creating new business and partnership opportunities for companies in both sectors. But challenges abound for those firms that are ill-prepared. Those messages were shared Tuesday at Breakaway 2012 during a session on the current and future state of telecom agent and IT VAR partnerships.The topic was covered from two perspectives: joint research from Channel Partners and CompTIA; and the real world experiences of firms in the IT ...

Breakaway 2012 officially opened in Vegas this morning with an update on CompTIA’s activities on behalf of the IT industry, a unique perspective on how innovation occurs and two compelling, real-life stories on the positive impact of technology. CompTIA President and CEO Todd Thibodeaux opened the morning session with a look at where the association is headed in four core areas – education, certification, advocacy and philanthropy. Much of what CompTIA will do in the coming months ...

Cloud computing isn’t the death knell for IT channel companies, but it is creating a whole new set up challenges for firms offering manager IT services to their customers.“We’ve been using the cloud for a long time,” Rex Frank, founder and president of Sea-Level Operations, a Covington, Wash.-based firm focused specifically on the IT managed services industry, said during a panel discussion of the CompTIA MSP Partners Community Monday at Breakaway 2012.“I don’t think the cloud is going to make u ...

Building solid relationships with customers, partners and prospects and being responsive to their needs are critical factors in moving a small IT services business into a firm that’s expanding and growing. Panelists delivered that message here Monday during a meeting of the CompTIA Small Business Owners Community.“It’s definitely relationships,” said Steve Murphy, IT director for Caltrol, a Las Vegas-based provider of industrial process automation services, when asked about the biggest factor in ...

CompTIA’s Unified Communications Community was challenged Thursday to re-think what they think about unified communications.“Unified communications as we define it is a myth,” Lawrence Walsh, president and CEO of The 2112 Group, told the group. “We talk about it as if it’s a product, but it’s an outcome. It’s whatever the end user wants it to be, the outcome desired by the customer.”Because of that, unified communications should be viewed as a dream by IT solution providers and system integrator ...