The Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA) has acquired The ASCII Group, expanding its member community while increasing investment in the programs, resources, and experiences that support IT service providers (ITSPs).
The acquisition brings together GTIA’s leadership in research, education, cybersecurity, and industry strategy with The ASCII Group’s business tools and peer-driven community model.
“We’ve been in the room at ASCII Edge events, collaborating on world-class, vendor-agnostic research and working side by side with this community because we believe in the same things,” said Dan Wensley, CEO, GTIA. “This is a relationship that’s been building and strengthening for years. This acquisition lets us go further together, and we do it with deep respect for the legacy Alan Weinberger built and the community that legacy created.”
GTIA and ASCII build on a longstanding partnership
Nancy Hammervik, Chief Channel Officer, GTIA, and Jerry Koutavas, CEO, The ASCII Group, told Channel Insider that the acquisition serves more as a deepening of the friendship between longtime collaborators and a natural progression of the longstanding partnership between the two organizations.
“Both organizations have gone through some leadership changes just in the past year … and I don’t think there could be a better time – given what is happening in our industry right now – in this rapidly evolving landscape that we have, and the increased need for community-led engagement,” said Hammervik.
READ MORE: We spoke with Hammervik about her role as GTIA’s channel chief when she stepped into it last year.
ASCII members gain GTIA resources and membership benefits
Hammervik added that GTIA is committed to preserving the intimate, community-led experience that happens in ASCII. She said the combination brings together complementary strengths, expands GTIA’s research, and provides more IT solution providers, MSPs, and practitioners with access to resources.
ASCII members will immediately become GTIA members, giving them access to expanded resources in the GTIA portal – including its training and education library – and a broader global channel community through GTIA’s international meetings, forums, and ChannelCon events.
“GTIA has such a wonderful research team, and now, if our members have a question, we have the resources to tap into that wonderful team to get the information and intel that we can share back to the community,” said Koutavas.
The two organizations see harmony in their approaches, with ASCII focused closely on practitioners and day-to-day peer relationships and GTIA focused on broader industry initiatives.
The ASCII Group members will receive a $350 credit in their accounts for member dues. Hammervik noted, however, that the exact effect on annual dues can vary depending on how members pay.
Chad Kempt, the president of Fast Computers and an ASCII member, said in a Channel Insider: PPOV interview that the teaming of GTIA and ASCII is the best-case scenario – with the worst case being a sale to private equity.
“Where all the value is, to me, is the people,” said Kempt. “You can get access to some documentation and some vendor discounts that you wouldn’t have had otherwise, but for me, even if you strip away the vendor discounts and you strip away the other things – there is so much value in the people.”
How members can engage immediately
Hammervik encourages ASCII members to begin engaging with GTIA through the member portal, where they can build profiles and receive announcements and directions.
Hammervik and Koutavas will also be hosting three webinars to walk members through their new accounts, the member portal, and available benefits.
“Please go to the GTIA member portal, where there will be lots of announcements and directions,” said Hammervik. “It’ll be an hour-long webinar where we walk them through building their GTIA account, understand the member portal, and the benefits that they can leverage right away from that.”
Acquisition expands AI training and guidance for MSPs
Koutavas noted that MSPs are confronted with a large amount of information in the age of AI and can have difficulty determining what is genuinely useful to their businesses, but GTIA’s tools, research, and collaboration provide opportunities for ASCII members to cut through the noise.
“There are a lot of voices out there. It’s hard to sift through what is really valuable, and I immediately see that value within GTIA,” said Koutavas. “By providing more visibility to our community, they’re going to start opening their eyes to things that I’m seeing that are going to be incredibly powerful for their businesses.”
Hammervik explained that members can look forward to the tools GTIA is providing to address gaps identified in research the two organizations recently conducted on AI adoption among MSPs and ITSPs.
These tools include guidance on implementing AI policies and guidelines, as well as formal AI training, through the AI Essentials library. These tools can help MSPs and ITSPs move toward more structured AI adoption.
“Our members and our AI Council have put together a resource guide on how to implement policies and guidelines in your business,” said Hammervik. “It’s a step-by-step how-to. We have a partnership with CompTIA on their AI Essentials so they can get formal training and even validate their skills for the competency certificate.”
GTIA sees opportunity to globalize ASCII’s community model
Hammervik says the combination immediately expands GTIA’s membership, while also creating opportunities to serve more people.
She noted the potential to extend ASCII’s peer-led community model into additional regions, saying that GTIA can “help start to globalize ASCII.”
In the immediate future, the upcoming ASCII Edge in Chicago will give both organizations an opportunity to discuss the combination directly with members and explain where the relationship is going.
Koutavas anticipates members bringing ideas and suggestions for future initiatives, while Hammervik adds that the event will include opportunities to celebrate the combination, honor Alan Weinberger by inducting him into the IT Industry Hall of Fame, and hold an AMA-style town hall where members can ask questions and provide input.
“We’re going to get a ton of ideas like, ‘Oh, you guys should do this, you should do that.’ And I say, ‘Bring it on,’ because we’re all about helping people move forward,” Koutavas said.