HTG Peer Groups is
extending its peer-to-peer business development and leadership facilitation
mission by creating a new forum for chief executives and business leaders of
solution provider organizations called CEO
Forum.
CEO Forum, which will hold its second
meeting in June in Denver, will
provide senior leaders of IT resellers, solution providers and services
organizations with guidance on business leadership and management skills
through the experience of seasoned executives in the IT industry and other
successful business executives.
Arlin Sorensen, founder of HTG Peer Groups,
says the CEO Forum was born out of a
perceived need among veteran solution providers to provide up and coming
leaders with skills for growing vibrant businesses.
“There’s a whole generation that’s been leading the industry that’s going to
exit in the near future, and I see leadership gap,” Sorensen says.
The type of skills CEO Forum will foster
among its participants include an understanding of key performance indicators
and metrics, organizational structuring and management, business development
strategies, and personal development strategies.
“I see some in the industry changing things, and I don’t think a lot of VARs
see the tsunamis coming their way and they’re not heading for higher ground,”
Sorensen says.
CEO Forum is an extension of the HTG
Peer Group model, which helps participating solution providers develop their
skills and business through regularly meeting groups of noncompetitive peers.
The groups share experiences and data to foster a sense of camaraderie. Peer
group members often assist one another in market development and building
domain expert practices.
The CEO Forum will differ in that it’s
reserved for company leaders and will draw upon the experiences of successful
business leaders, Sorensen says.
HTG Peer Group’s CEO
Forum is the latest entry in executive-level peer collaboration and education.
Last summer, CompTIA and Channel Insider formed the Channel Vanguard Council, a
group of senior VAR and vendor executives
who collaborate to develop best practices and metrics for maturing channel
practices. The Solutions First Council, a project initiated by Vertical Systems
Reseller Magazine, has a similar mission and makeup among solution providers in
the computing mobility and data capture segment of the channel.