The ChannelPro SMB Forum series of five live, regional events started the year in Dallas on March 5 with a full house of attendees. With a 2020 theme of “Game Theory,” the full-day events are designed to help IT consultants, VARs, integrators, and managed service providers win big in business.
Through educational and highly interactive sessions delivered by industry experts, the ChannelPro SMB Forum provides attendees with sales, marketing, product, and operational insight to grow revenue and boost profits. Attendees also receive detailed information on the latest technology trends and solutions, network with peers, and browse an exhibitor showcase featuring dozens of well-known vendors and exciting newcomers.
“Running an IT business may not be a game, but it’s just as competitive,” said ChannelPro President and Publisher Michael Siggins. “We’ve crafted every aspect of our Game Theory tour to give attendees advice and information they can use to score big, win deals, and outplay the opposition.”
The educational sessions included:
Mastering Managed Security—A panel of managed security pros, Scott Beck, Robert Boles, Angela Hogaboom, and Joshua Liberman discussed how to combine the ever-growing need for cybersecurity services with the magic of recurring revenue.
Escape to Higher Profits!—Managed services experts Rayanne Buchianico and Manuel Palachuk used an “escape room” theme to teach profit-boosting financial and operational best practices while feeding attendees clues to unlock higher profits.
IoT Playbook Live: Do Try This at Home—Mark Smith, host of the IoT Playbook podcast, had a one-to-one conversation with MSP Luis Alvarez, who shared how he built a money-making Internet of Things service—and how others can too.
Tech Trends 2020: Let’s Play the Feud!—This game show-like session tested attendees’ knowledge of the latest trends in SMB hardware while they competed with fellow audience members for prizes.
Peer to Peer: Best Practices for Big Challenges—-Hiring and retaining good people. Generating sales leads. Adopting a vertical industry specialty. All three are important. All three are incredibly difficult too. MSPs Seana Fippin, Bruce McCully, and Joanna Sobran chatted one-on-one about how they are tackling these common and demanding challenges.
Building Cloud Solutions—A panel of experienced cloud service providers, Eric Long, Ro Kolakowski, and Chris Ploessel, talked about how to turn commoditized cloud products into profit-heavy cloud solutions by bundling applications together, combining them with services, and incorporating unique intellectual property.
“We’re privileged to have relationships with some of the smartest, most accomplished channel pros and consultants in the industry. It’s enormously gratifying for us to share their expertise every year at our SMB Forum events,” said Rich Freeman, ChannelPro’s executive editor. “Our audiences clearly appreciate it too, because we’ve added a fifth event to our annual lineup this year to accommodate the continually growing interest in attending.”
The event concluded with attendees honoring vendor sponsors with the following awards:
- Best Cloud Solution: Datto and Kaseya IT Complete (tie)
- Best Hardware Solution: Carbon Systems
- Best New Solution: Cytracom
- Most Innovative Solution: Vade Secure
- Best Partner Community: Datto
- Best Software Solution: SolarWinds MSP
- Best Revenue Booster: Trusted Tech Team
- Best Add-On Product: RapidFire Tools
- Best On-Stage Presentation: Trusted Tech Team
- Best Expo Hall Presentation: (Diamond, Platinum, Sapphire, Gold): Datto
- Best Expo Hall Presentation (Silver): VIPRE
- Best Distributor: Tech Data Cloud
- Best Selfie Video: bvoip
- Best IoT Solution: Kaseya IT Complete
- Best Product/Tech Support: Webroot
- Best in Show: Datto
Thanks to our Diamond sponsor SolarWinds MSP, Platinum sponsor Dell Expert Network, Sapphire sponsor Datto, Premier Gold sponsor Kaseya IT Complete, and Gold sponsors Cytracom, Exclusive Networks, Ingram Micro, Tech Data Security Solutions, Trusted Tech Team, Vade Secure, and Webroot.
And thanks to our Silver sponsors ABC Solutions, The ASCII Group, bvoip, Carbon Systems, Clint Arthur, ConnectMeVoice, CoreSpace, CrowdStorage, Eaton, Egnyte, ELO Digital Office, Erick Simpson, Makaye Infosec, Manuel Palachuk International, Marketopia, Mindmatrix, MSP360, OKI Data Americas, Ooma, RapidFire Tools, SMB Nation, SMB TechFest, Sophos, SYNNEX, Tech Data, Trend Micro, US Signal, and VIPRE.
Next up in the 2020 ChannelPro SMB Forum is the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area on May 6.
Attendance and sponsorships are filling up fast. Find more information here.
And don’t miss ChannelPro’s upcoming IoT Online Summit on March 25. Registration details are here.
Three additional upcoming online summits are:
- Canadian IT Service Provider Online Summit – June 3
- Cybersecurity Online Summit – August 5
- Cloud and Managed IT Services Online Summit – December 2
For more information on all ChannelPro events go to: events.channelpronetwork.com.
