By the Numbers: ChannelCon 2016 Explores Key Trends

By Channel Insider Staff

In addition to the great educational and networking opportunities at ChannelCon 2016, CompTIA’s research team will have a wealth of industry data to discuss at the conference, which runs from Aug. 1 to 3 in Hollywood, Fla.

Conference sessions will focus on key markets, ranging from the cloud to the internet of things to managed services.  Providing data to augment speeches and panels covering all facets of the channel, CompTIA’s research team will discuss both its recent and soon-to-be-released studies.

At the conference, CompTIA will cover in detail its latest study on the internet of things—which spans from basic sensors and apps to highly sophisticated systems. The study notes that the IoT has “moved from an ambiguous buzzword to market-ready products and services having real-world impacts across the U.S. economy.”

Meanwhile, conference sessions on managed services will include data from CompTIA’s report on that topic, which came out early this summer. CompTIA researchers and other ChannelCon speakers will examine the outlook for managed service providers and their roles in offering increasingly advanced services, inside and outside the cloud, as well as the skills, revenue models, and sales and marketing strategies to help MSPs succeed in the future.

CompTIA researchers will also examine the role of analytics in managed print services, the concept of building digital organizations and the intersection between the cloud and mobility.  Several sessions will touch on CompTIA’s workforce-related research, which includes data on the IT skills gap, education and training, career paths and diversity. 

Examining industry data from the vantage points of both customers and channel partners helps underscore some of the parallels and disconnects between the two, noted Tim Herbert, senior vice president of research and market intelligence at CompTIA. “We’ll be looking at some new areas that are early in their life cycles and not a market yet and other markets that may be entering a new phase,” he added.