On October 11th, the Atlanta Marriott Northeast/Emory was buzzing with energy as managed service providers and IT consultants gathered for a full day of networking and business-boosting educational sessions. Notable channel experts led interactive sessions throughout, making this event one of the most engaging in ChannelPro’s 2023 regional tour.
ChannelPro SMB Forums are known for covering the topics that MSPs care about and creating newsworthy moments and Atlanta was no different. Sessions included hot topics such as monetizing artificial intelligence, adopting financial best practices, and how tech-focused businesses can avoid legal jeopardy.
One of the major highlights was the product and services expo luncheon, where attendees witnessed product demos, took advantage of exclusive show specials, and learned about the latest partner programs. And of course, tchotchkes and marketing collateral were available to educate, build brand awareness, and facilitate conversations.
“Atlanta was our seventh forum of this kind in 2023 and that felt both lucky and special. Our guest speakers, vendors, and audience were all incredibly engaged,” said Michael Siggins, president and publisher of The ChannelPro Network. “We do have one more in-person event this year, which is ChannelPro Defend on November 1st and 2nd. Although that’s a different animal [a two-day educational experience for MSPs that are interested in cybersecurity] I know the same SMB Forum magic will carry over,” he concluded.
Attendees in Atlanta also had the opportunity to participate in a pre-day of activities on October 10th, which included a Dell Technologies workshop, a facilitated peer discussion by ChannelPro association partner MSP-Ignite, and a welcome reception in the evening.
Educational sessions included:
How to Reach Your Next Million Dollars in Revenue – Successful MSP business owners Steve Alexander and Stanley Louissaint discussed their revenue goals and how they achieved them. Then they shared strategies on setting competitive prices, attracing new clients, and ways that MSPs can improve overall business efficiency.
AI Tools to Increase Productivity Today – Consultant Adam Bielanski and MSP owner Chris Ploessel shared practical approaches that IT services companies can take to leverage artificial intelligence. They demonstrated how AI can distill technical information down for a non-technical audience, and shared how ChatGPT can be trained to offer MSP owners relevant advice. They also explored how AI can speed up decision-making, improve service delivery, and create effective marketing campaigns.
Building Your Business for the Ups and Downs in the Economy – Business owners Mike Semel and Steve Alexander talked through ways that MSPs can build business resilience in the face of inflation, higher interest rates, and a shortage in tech labor. Their advice included ways to add profitable clients and contracts, the metrics that matter most, and much more.
Recurring Revenue Streams You Cannot Afford to Miss Out On – Longtime MSP leaders Chris Ploessel and Lisa Shorr talked about business diversification with personal experiences and stories. They discussed some of the new high-margin services that MSPs can offer such as VoIP and UCaaS, physical security, disaster recovery as a service, advanced cybersecurity, and more.
Attendees also voted to award Atlanta sponsors the following:
- Best Add-on Product – Threatlocker
- Best Cloud Solution – US Signal
- Best Distributor – TD Synnex
- Best Expo Hall Presentation (Silver) – Monjur
- Best Expo Hall Presentation (Gold and above) – Mailprotector
- Best Hardware Solution – CarbonSystem / Epson (tie)
- Best New Solution – SOCSoter / Red Sentry (tie)
- Best On-Stage Presentation – Kaseya IT Complete
- Best Partner Community – Pax8
- Best Product/Tech Support – ConnectWise
- Best Revenue Booster – Kaseya IT Complete
- Best Software Solution – Mailprotector
- Best Vendor Participation – Red Sentry
- Most Innovative Solution – Huntress / US Signal (tie)
- ROI Lightning Round Winner – Red Sentry
- Best in Show – Kaseya IT Complete
Participants from the facilitated peer discussion on day one of the event
Many thanks to Titanium sponsors Dell Expert Network and IT Complete, the Kaseya Platform; Gold sponsors Allied Telesis, ConnectWise, Epson, Hornetsecurity, Huntress, Ingram Micro, Mailprotector, NUSO, OITVOIP, OpenText, Pax8, TD SYNNEX, ThreatLocker, US Signal, and Vanta.
And thanks to our Silver sponsors Avast Business, Barracuda MSP, Carbon Systems, Climb Channel Solutions, Monjur, Probax, Red Sentry, SOCSoter, and Wildix; and Bronze sponsor Snapcom.
Next up on the 2023 ChannelPro event schedule is the all-new ChannelPro Defend: SMB Cybersecurity Strategies for IT Solution Providers, our first-ever national cybersecurity conference in collaboration with CompTIA on November 1-2 in Southern California. To register, click here.
Our final event of the year is our ChannelPro Online Summit, Managed Services and Cloud: Operational Excellence, on December 6. For more information, go here.
If you are an IT integrator, managed services provider, consultant, or VAR serving small and medium businesses, these events are designed specifically to help you grow your business. To learn more, visit our events page here.
