CompTIA ChannelCon Attendees Urged to Embrace the Future

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Jul 31, 2013, 08:30 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., July 31, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Attendees at CompTIA ChannelCon 2013, the premier education and partnering event for the information technology (IT) channel, were encouraged Tuesday to embrace the future and all the "tremendous" industry opportunities that will be available in the coming years.

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"There are going to be massive changes in the technology solutions you're asked to sell," Todd Thibodeaux, president and chief executive officer, CompTIA, said in his state of the industry address. "The technologies to come are going to provide a world of opportunities."

Thibodeaux identified several fast-growing technologies – including 3D printing, smart buildings, cloud computing and security – that will create new business opportunities for the IT channel in the coming years.

He also touched on a demographic issue that will impact the future: the rise of the millennials as the soon-to-be dominant force in the workforce.

"They'll be your customers, your sales people and techs and maybe your boss," Thibodeaux said.

Also sharing his vision of the future was Robert Stephens, founder of the Geek Squad and former chief technology officer for Best Buy.

Stephens told his ChannelCon audience that the biggest opportunity in the coming years will be apps and solutions that allow for the "dynamic dispatch of excess capacity." He cited Groupon, the deal of the day website, and Open Table, a real-time online restaurant reservation network, as current examples.

"This is going to happen to every single industry," Stephens said. "Someone is going to have to hook all this up. That creates a huge opportunity."

Later in the day, a panel of top executives from three leading IT distributors shared their views on the current and future market for cloud computing.

In response to a bottom-line question – How do you make money at this? – all three speakers encouraged the solution provider community to focus on professional services.

"When you can build in 'sticky' services with the customer there is less opportunity for you to be replaced by the customer," said Jon Allen, vice president, product management, CLOUDSolv.

The market for cloud solutions is big and getting bigger with adoption growing fastest among small and medium-sized businesses.

Jason Bystrak, director, cloud services, Ingram Micro, cited data that shows 70 percent of new customers were driven to a purchase decision due to the availability of a cloud solution from their IT provider.

ChannelCon 2013 wraps up today. Visit the ChannelCon Blog for more on this week's conference.

About CompTIA
CompTIA is the voice of the world's information technology (IT) industry. Its members are the companies at the forefront of innovation; and the professionals responsible for maximizing the benefits organizations receive from their investments in technology. CompTIA is dedicated to advancing industry growth through its educational programs, market research, networking events, professional certifications, and public policy advocacy. Visit www.comptia.org, http://www.facebook.com/CompTIA and http://twitter.com/comptia.

SOURCE CompTIA