Channel Insider and CompTIA announced Aug. 4 their new partnership to develop and facilitate the Channel Vanguard Council, a new collaborative forum that will provide strategic, actionable guidance to the entire channel community.

Channel Insider, the leading source for channel intelligence and analysis, will chair the Channel Vanguard Council, which will comprise invited executives of solution providers, integrators, vendors, distributors and services companies. The forum will tackle pressing issues including new technologies, services, business models and processes, and best practices, market influences and conditions, and supplier relations.

“The channel is dynamic, and the IT marketplace is undergoing tremendous, unprecedented change. Channel Insider’s mission is to provide guidance and intelligence to the community, and we’re proud to partner with CompTIA on the Vanguard initiative to provide deeper insights and analysis,” said Lawrence M. Walsh, vice president and group publisher of Channel Insider.

The Channel Vanguard Council is the continuation of a longstanding partnership between Channel Insider and CompTIA, the leading international association of solution and service providers. Channel Insider and CompTIA recently completed a joint survey of opportunities in security products and services, and collaborated on the development of this year’s Breakaway conference.

Channel Insider and CompTIA struck upon the idea for the Channel Vanguard Council as a means to collaborate on rapidly changing market conditions and the desires of CompTIA members to become more engaged in the community.

“We are gratified by the response in the last several months from channel executives looking for ways to get more engaged with CompTIA. The Channel Vanguard Council provides a home for those individuals who want to help shape the future of CompTIA and the overall channel community. We think Channel Insider will be a great partner in delivering a high-quality experience for Council members,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA.

The Channel Vanguard Council will begin inviting select executives for participation this month and announce its first meeting in September.