The ChannelPro SMB Forum Mid-Atlantic, the fourth of five in-person regional conferences planned for 2021, took place in Raleigh, N.C., on October 6. Attendees at the day-long event, which was also livestreamed for virtual participants, heard a stellar lineup of presenters reflect on challenges and opportunities in the IT industry and provide actionable advice for capitalizing on current technology trends. In addition, MSPs, IT consultants, VARs, and integrators who attended had the opportunity to interact with panelists, network with peers, and browse the vendor expo.
The Mid-Atlantic event also featured a half-day workshop on October 5 on vertical industry opportunities in the Internet of Things, hosted by The ChannelPro Network and RIoT, an economic and educational organization focused on accelerating startups and creating IoT opportunities. The workshop was designed to expand attendees’ understanding of IoT solutions and learn best practices for starting and growing an IoT services business. It featured 1:1 interviews with channel pros who shared their real-world experience of how they turned the IoT from drawing-board concept to money maker.
“Our 2021 SMB Forum events are focused on learning from 2020’s challenges and presenting strategies and key technologies to help channel pros meet the evolving needs of SMBs while growing their own businesses,” said Rich Freeman, executive editor of The ChannelPro Network. “Our educational sessions on cloud computing, security, customer service, best business practices, and more, offer attendees insight they can put into practice immediately.”
On the main day on October 6, the educational sessions included:
Secrets to Bigger Cloud Margins – Margins on cloud services, according to conventional wisdom, are always and permanently slim. Channel pros Corey Kirkendoll, Lisa Shorr, (pictured) and Jamison West shared how they are proving that stereotype wrong.
Peer to Peer: The New Normal Customer – Channel pros who not only survived last year’s recession but continued to thrive are those who figured out how to serve customers well in a time of changed needs and expectations. In 1:1 Q&As, top-performing MSPs Juan Fernandez and Peter Melby shared tips on how to engage with, sell to, and protect today’s SMBs.
Principles of Zero-Trust Security – Everyone says a zero-trust strategy is the only way to secure work-from-home environments and everything else. What does that mean in practice though? Our panel of security experts, Rebecca Herold, Bruce McCully and Michael O’Hara, provided practical, concrete advice on building a zero-trust architecture.
Stump the Sales Pro – Sales expert Mike Schmidtmann provided real-time, real-world advice on the thorniest sales and marketing challenges from our audience.
The Channel Pro’s Strategic Roadmap to Success – Market-leading channel pros don’t get there by accident. Business coach Manuel Palachuk outlined the four steps best-in-class IT providers take to build and execute a winning business strategy.
“ChannelPro is happy to be connecting in-person in 2021 with local MSPs, integrators, and other channel pros, and we’re grateful for the sponsors that make that possible,” said Michael Siggins, president and publisher of The ChannelPro Network. “As we look toward a post-pandemic future, ChannelPro remains committed to presenting top-notch, meaningful events designed to help attendees with all aspects of their business.”
The ChannelPro SMB Forum Raleigh concluded with attendees honoring vendor sponsors with the following awards:
- Best in Show – Graphus and N-able (tie)
- Best Cloud Solution – ThreatLocker
- Best Hardware Solution – QNAP
- Best New Solution – Egnyte
- Most Innovative Solution – Graphus
- Best Partner Community – Nextiva
- Best Software Solution – Acronis
- Best Revenue Booster – Cytracom
- Best Add-on Product – Egnyte
- Best On-Stage Presentation– Graphus
- Best Expo Hall Presentation (Gold and Above) – N-able
- Best Expo Hall Presentation (Silver) – Armor
- Best Distributor – SYNNEX
- Best Product/Tech Support – Datto
Many thanks to our Titanium sponsor Dell Technologies/Dell Expert Network; Platinum sponsors N-able, Nfina, and ThreatLocker; Sapphire sponsor Datto; Premier Gold sponsors Huntress, The 20, and WatchGuard; and Gold sponsors Acronis, Cytracom, Egnyte, Graphus, Sophos, and Webroot/Carbonite.
And thanks to our Silver sponsors Armor Defense, The ASCII Group, CompTIA, Dark Cubed, Mindmatrix, Nextiva, QNAP, SuperOps.ai, and SYNNEX; and Bronze sponsor Domotz.
ChannelPro is hosting one more in-person event in 2021 on November 16 in the Los Angeles area, with a live stream option for virtual attendees. Find out more here.
And on December 8, join us for the Managed Services and Cloud Solutions Online Summit: Best Practices for Accelerated Success. Find out more here.
For more information on all ChannelPro events, go here.
