Hey channel insiders, welcome back to channel insider partner POV. I'm your host Katie Bavoso. On September 15th, 2026, the Global Technology Industry Association, better known as GTIA, announced it acquired another longtime channel community, the ASI Group, automatically bringing about a thousand members into the GTIA network. GTIA leaders said the ASKI group will remain an independent brand within their community, but what does that really mean?
I spoke with leadership and members to find out. I'm now joined by the chief channel officer of GTIA, Nancy Hammer. Nancy, welcome. >> Hi, Katie. How are you? >> I am well. I am well. Thank you so much for being here and making time today on this very busy week for you. I know that you've been going back and forth from meeting to meeting to webinar to webinar, introductory calls, introducing the ASKI group members to GTIA because as we know by now, GTIA has acquired the ASI group.
Congratulations. Are you exhausted yet on this Friday? Has it been that big of a week for you? >> You know, I I I'm not going to say I'm exhausted. Maybe a little bit exhilarated. I'll feel it over the weekend. It has been a fantastic week. The media response to it has been wonderful to manage and the member response has just been really positive and uh we're really excited to move forward together. It's been a very exciting week. >> I want to dig first into a little bit of the the few details just to set the tone.
Would you mind just kind of explaining to the audience very briefly what GTIA is and why the ASKY group was the perfect fit to bring into your organization? >> Yeah, sure. So GTIA is the Global Technology Industry Association. We are the IT Channel Trade Association and we've been around for about 42 years now, which is a very interesting part of the story because I don't think that there are two organizations that were more fit to be together that have traveled the journey together since the early 80s.
So we originally our roots were under CompTIA formed 42 years ago and ASI was formed about 40 years ago and the two organizations have been partnering along the way all of those years. So as the global trade association we embrace the ecosystem of the IT channel vendors distributors MSPs ITSPs and all the associated service partners that you know might be in the channel. ASI is exclusively a peer-driven community for the practitioners, for the ITSPs, and for the MSPs.
Our goal and our mission is to serve the IT channel. And I don't think there's ever been, and I've been in the channel for a long time now, I don't think there's ever been a more pressing time for folks to stay engaged with their community, to leverage resources, um, as the channel is evolving very rapidly through the advent of AI. So we saw a great opportunity to expand our footprint in serving the ITSPs and the MSPs and giving them the resources and the tools that they need to excel and grow.
We're advocates for the IT channel for the IT industry. So we saw an opportunity to benefit more you know and help more and share the resources and it was just a natural evolution of our partnership. There have been times where we have shared membership programs together. Just recently, we worked together on a groundbreaking um AI readiness and adoption research um study and we've been bringing the results of that to the ASI edge events. Um they have eight a year.
We've been through six together where we've been keynoting and sharing the research and bringing that insight to the ASI members. So, we're just thrilled to welcome more ITSPs, more MSPs to the fold. Our intention is to protect the great peer-driven community that they have and kind of have the walls around that. So it will continue to be just MSP and ITSP members. And ASI will now be a GTIA community. >> Now, as you stated, GTIA has been around for more than 40 years.
ASI has also similarly been around for more than 40 years. You've had this ongoing relationship for decades, but I'd really like to know how this conversation got started, how the process got started. Did GTIA, were you looking to be able to bring more members into the fold and found out that ASI was interested, or did ASI come to you and say, "We need a home?" Obviously, we know that the founder, Alan Weinberger, passed away a little over a year ago now, and I'm sure some of these conversations were already starting to happen a little bit under the hood, but how did that process begin?
Yeah, you know, it was a little bit of both like you said and because we work together so closely and we have a very strong relationship. Dan Wensley, who's our CEO, he's relatively new to GTIA as well. He joined about a year and a half ago now. Jerry Gustavis was taking over the reigns from Allen at ASI and all of us were talking as we were out at the industry events together how we could be better together. you know, we could kind of solve for each other's goals, right?
And ASI absolutely wanted to provide more resources for their members and protect their growth. And we wanted to bring more members into the fold. We do have a growth strategy. You know, like I said, you know, our mission is to be where the IT channel connects and grows. That's our vision actually. And to um support as many as we can with the people, the resources, the community, and the advancement opportunities that we offer. and it was just a natural fit to kind of bring them inside the fold. >> Now, you stated that ASI will remain its own independent brand within the GTIA organization.
What exactly does that look like considering now obviously as you see in the label behind you, ASI, a GTIA community? What does it mean that they'll remain independent and how will they also kind of take on that culture of GTIA? How do they live in both worlds? >> Right. I know. Great question. Um, so our intention is to do no harm, right? Not to make any significant changes. We understand the value of the ASI community. In fact, our chief community officer, MJ Shore, he was a member of ASI for many years and he helped to build his own MSP practice through his engagement with ASI.
And so here our chief community officer, he understands better than anybody what the value of that protected safe space was and that peer-driven community. So we really want to reassure all of the ASI members that all of the elements that they loved about ASI is not going to change. They're still going to have their ASI link platform that will only be for members where they can connect and share best practices and challenges and opportunities. They are still going to have the ASI edge events. a year that culminates with the ASI cup.
A lot of the benefits that they offer to their members, even that GTIA does not, marketing services, social media services, tax guides, all of the practical day-to-day tools that the practitioner needs, they will have all of that. The benefit of it though now is that they are supported by a well-funded, wellstaffed global trade association and we are going to share as many resources as they want. So one of the things that maybe they were missing was the insight but they were leveraging CompTIA or GTIA anyway to get the research to get the insight to get the highle strategies.
Um we offer a lot of training and education and through our partnership they were leveraging that. Now that will all be available to them if they want to add it to their programs. ASI's always been run by an advisory committee. That advisory committee is going to remain intact and they're probably more important than ever as being stewards of the ASI community as we move forward. Making sure they're protecting what they value and what's of benefit and being liaons with the GTIA organization where they're learning a little bit more about what they can add to their programs and they how they can leverage some of the resources that we have.
So for the ASKI member, they're not going to see many changes moving forward. The big change is we've actually lowered their dues because they're now backed by an organization with more funding. They're not as reliant on funding uh to to operate. So, we've actually lowered the dues considerably and increased the value proposition. >> Those dues are lowered, we kind of work the math out a little bit, to about 25% reduction. and you're putting a credit into the accounts of those practitioner members that are coming over from ASI and they're automatically like you said becoming GTIA members at no additional cost. >> So, so when you know you're talking about some new things that they'll have to navigate, I think they're very used to being in that peer-driven community.
And to your point, now they are all granted complimentary access to all of GTIA's benefits and GTIA's events and our flagship events like Channel Con. And now they have an opportunity to participate in the full ecosystem of the market as well. And so it's just understanding, you know, what we talk about in our peer-driven member-to-member communities and what we get value out of and focusing on that there. And then when they engage on the GTIA side of things, they have a broader perspective in that we do include vendors and distributors.
And I really feel now being in the channel as long as I have and sharing how it's evolving so quickly, there's never been a more important time for the ecosystem to work together. That will only happen on the GTIA side. you know, they'll have their peer-driven member conversations and benefits here, but I think it's actually a benefit for them to have an opportunity to meet with many vendors if they so choose to understand, you know, we're not selling speeds and feeds and products anymore.
We're selling outcomes and the vendors do need to work um with the MSPs and with the ITSPs and work together. So, I think they'll have an opportunity for that. Also, we are a global organization. We have communities around the world in Europe and Asia pack and there's an opportunity that ASKY may want to expand but that will come from the membership and from the advisory leadership committee there and uh we'll take small steps there. >> I just want to double click on that topic that you just brought up because for our audience that is just learning about the differences between these organizations uh to reiterate ASKI members the vendors can't be members of the ASKI group they can only be sponsors that's kind of how that sponsorship model broke down.
So just to clarify what you're saying again is that that's still going to remain the same model on the ASI side. Vendors will only continue on the GTIA side. >> Correct. Um vendors cannot be members of the ASI community. They can only be sponsors, you know, like you shared. And that business model's been around for a long time for the ASI community. Again, I think it's an opportunity for them to make the connections with vendors, new products, um, speak with vendor reps that they might need to during the year, but they cannot be members.
Uh, vendors are only members on the trade association side. >> Got it. Thank you so much. When it comes to the leadership portion of of ASI, who's making the decisions now moving forward? Is it still going to be the same names that we see associated with ASI, whether that be Dan, whether that be Jerry, or is it going to be more of a melded uh conversation between the GTIA leadership and the ASKI leadership? >> So, for both organizations, I think it's really important that we stay member driven, that we listen to our members, that we engage with the members, and we understand what they need and what they want from their communities.
So still very much um member-driven rolling up to that advisory committee like I shared that will report still directly into Jerry. Jerry is still at the helm of ASI running the ASI organization, but he will report into MJ Shore who manages the the larger community umbrella. And this is an opportunity for Jerry to also understand what's working in other communities even you know globally and what can he bring back to his community. We have a an executive team.
Dan Wensley, CEO, Kelly Ricker, chief operating officer, MJ, chief community officer, myself, chief channel officer. But we're tight team. And uh Jerry will now work very closely with us, bring the member feedback up to us, you know, bring the ideas and opportunities to us and uh they will get a lot of support in, you know, us providing what the member needs and wants might be. So, I know you don't have a crystal ball unless there's something you want to tell me right now, but I I'm never assuming that everything is going to be the same as it is right after an announcement a year from now.
So, something that is on my mind at the moment is consolidation within the industry as a whole. We're seeing in the channel a lot of consolidation, whether it be partner MSP organizations that are kind of merging, acquiring others. We're just seeing a lot of consolidation and that's on my mind when we talk about this acquisition. So what I want to know knowing that ASI and GTIA have their differences by a year from now, how do you prevent the ASI community and their culture from being diluted into GTIA being a much bigger organization?
I I want to know how are you going to really maintain that culture inside of ASI uh knowing that members joined that specifically perhaps to avoid some of the larger aspects of GTIA? >> Right. Great question. First first I want to say this is not a consolidation move. Um this is actually an expansion move. Um where GTIA can expand its membership its footprint and service to the channel and ASI can expand its offerings. And you know you'll be hearing a lot we're saying better together or 1 plus 1 equals three.
This is just more for more. That's our intent. We have a track record um from our CompTIA days into GTIA in managing and running very unique communities. Our UK and II community has its own culture, has its own leadership, has its own set of opportunities, challenges, problems, vendors, you know, that might work with them and uh different service providers and solutions that they engage with. Our Singapore community, our AON community, very different.
We're just coming off of our A and Zed channel awards and they have chapter meetings there. Again, a very different culture. All of our communities are independently run and managed by executive councils of members that steer the ship with GTIA management. And I've had the pleasure of working with all these communities. And that's what strikes me when I go out there kidding. I'm like, oh my goodness, it's the same, you know, it's the same intent.
It's the same platform, but each community has its own DNA, its own personality, its own culture. So, I think because we have a track record of that and we already have so many distinct communities operating like separate business units, but all rolling up for the good of the channel, I think that's what, you know, brings me confidence that this is absolutely not about us swallowing up ASI. I cannot say enough that this is about us appreciating the unique value that they bring to the market.
The ASI link platform, I don't even think anybody could replicate that and that has been a trusted resource for MSPs and ITSPs for decades. That's the value that we saw in the acquisition that we want to protect, you know. So again, because we're so heavily influenced um by member engagement, we're just going to keep listening to the members and you know, just protecting all that's good about ASI. >> So the acquisition brings about a thousand ASI members into the GTIA fold.
They now have access to this entire community, this research that you have, very rich education and training opportunities, and of course the global reach that GTIA has. What about from the GTIA side to the ASKI side? What are the existing GTIA members getting now that ASKI is coming over? Because we can obviously see so much good happening for the ASI members that are coming into GTIA, but what can the existing members expect to get as a benefit from this acquisition? >> So, first of all, there's always a benefit in bringing more people into the global community, into the overall GTIA community, more people to network with, more perspective, more experiences.
So the bigger that we can make the community and the perspectives and experiences that we can offer the better for them. GTIA members can add ASKI membership um also at a discounted rate and they understand that that will be they're opting into a different kind of engagement there. um but they can add that to their GTIA membership and we were so excited to see we haven't even really driven that opportunity yet and people were self- opting in as we've been doing these onboarding webinars and kind of explaining how the two are coming together.
We have seen GTIA members already take advantage of the discounted opportunity to join ASI and we're just going to do a really good job of sharing what the unique differences are between the two and the value of the two and uh not duplicating them or being redundant with each other, protecting, you know, their peer-driven specific benefits there and then protecting the the larger level of strategic insight that we give. When we were first moving into this and we were all talking, it kind of struck me that GTIA has a little bit of a top- down approach where we start at a very high level for the industry and advocates for the industry, driving the research, driving the strategies, offering the tools and the benefits that ultimately will help the individual practitioner.
But it's more about moving the industry forward at that high level. When you work with ASI, it's more about starting at the ground level and at the practitioner level and supporting that experience that ultimately rolls up to the industry and moves the industry forward. So, we're kind of, you know, taking the strategic and insight part of it and then the execution side of it. And so for the GTIA members, I would say to them, take advantage of these tactical tools that are in ASI that help you execute on the strategies and opportunities we share with you at GTIA on a day-to-day basis as a practitioner.
So they complement each other really well. >> Last question, Nancy. It's been just over a year since GTIA separated from CompTIA, and you've really cemented. You're a household name within the channel now very quickly. So, how do you intend to build on that through the rest of 2026 into 2027? Can we expect maybe more acquisitions or any other changes being announced soon? >> So, we like I said, we have a growth strategy. Um, I've been with the organization 16 years.
So, and I loved you know the the brand of CompTIA and the strength of our certifications and all but after a while the certification business became so big it almost became a distraction to the association. So for me that was you know mostly on the membership side and everybody in membership. We're so thankful uh you know and really enjoying that we have a focus now on membership right we don't have to worry about running a a worldclass you know global certification organization.
All of our focus now is being advocates in an association for the IT channel and we will continue to invest there. You're making me think of something too that I sometimes uh forget to share that I want to share because we're in the fortunate position of the sale of the CompTIA assets. Um we're very committed to charitable giving too and we're increasing our charitable giving. We're committed to more than 5 million this year and that is all member-driven as well. members have a say in where these charitable and philanthropic dollars should go and we're asking them all the time to share with us a worthy charity or nonprofit in their backyard that may be driving students into tech careers or hospitals that are leveraging technology, you know, for the greater good of health for everyone.
And so we're just in a position where we can focus, we're well funded, and we can do more for more. So, we're open to partnerships. We have many strategic partnerships. We don't feel like we compete with anyone. There's lots of member peer groups and communities and channel organizations. Anybody out there helping to drive um the health and success of the IT channel, um kudos to them and we want to help them and our, you know, resources, our research, they can leverage that, share that.
We have so many strategic partnerships. So, we're just hoping that we're getting started in the growth and open to, you know, all all opportunities and what the members may bring to us and suggest. >> Nancy Hammer, thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it. >> Thank you, Katie. It's wonderful to talk to you. You have a great day. And everybody out there, thanks so much for listening. >> And I'm now joined by Chad Kemp, president of Fast Computers located in Ontario, Canada.
Welcome, Chad. Thanks so much for joining me. >> Thanks, Katie. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. So today we're really digging into the latest news that we hear with GTIA acquiring ASI Group and you've been an ASI group member for 17 years. So you've got quite an opinion on this matter, I would say. First of all, go ahead and talk to me a little bit about Fast Computers and how you eventually became a part of the ASI group and that community. >> So uh I started this company back in uh 98.
Um and obviously back then, you know, managed service provider wasn't really a thing. So, you know, I we did the computer guy thing for a while. It was around 2006ish um that I kind of heard about the whole managed service provider thing. And around the same time I had decided that I didn't want to build a job and be the computer guy and I wanted to kind of shift into being a business and building the business and all the things that that entailed which are not mutually exclusive um but you know and so essentially at that point um I started uh you know experimenting with CASA and little platforms and enable and the guys who were around back then at that time we were really trying to figure out what to do and uh you know I was joining anything that was available of course you didn't have the resources that are available today um you that just it was a lot slimmer pickings back then and you had to dig a little harder.
Anyway, I had been referred to uh look into the ASI group around that time and I looked into it and it it just didn't seem you know I'm in Canada and it looked like an American organization and I I just I didn't really you know I didn't really get it. Fast forward another year or two. The exact date eludes me at the moment but somewhere in there um I ended up meeting up with um I think it was might have been Allen. It was it was at an event uh and it was a distributor event I think or something like that or maybe it was an IT tech type event.
Anyway, they had a booth and I talked to them and I realized no they in fact were trying very hard to grow the Canadian side and they were focused on both the American and the Canadian side and there's a lot of synergy between the two but then on you know respective sides obviously there was some things that were you know vendor specific that you know for example health insurance or or business insurance very different on both sides of the border and so I I I got involved at that point and it was really a turning point in my business. they had this thing called the uh the asky link or whatever.
It was a mailing list, mailing list. And it's kind of evolved. It's changed a little bit over the years. It still exists. Um there's now like a website component to it, but back then it was a straight mailing list. And one of the things, it's kind of funny to say this, but one of the things that was the most value I got was people telling me when I was having dumb ideas, you know, not putting down my ideas, just saying, "Hey, that's not such a great plan.
Here's why. Here's what you should try instead." And you know, it was that sort of uh pure coaching, we'll call it, um you know, off the cuff, it really changed uh the way I did things. And I learned fairly quickly that, you know, if everybody in ASI was doing something, there was probably a reason why. And it doesn't mean it's going to make sense for your business, but you should at least not ignore it. And you know, that happened to me with multiple vendors over the years.
And I can, you know, mark these milestones in my business where whether it was vendor related or whether it was business mindset shift or whether it was just the way we operated, huge, huge moves and and like I said, not even just like steps but like vertical changes in the business. Um, and so I try very hard uh fast forward a whole bunch of years of everything being great. I try very hard to uh to give back to this community um because it's done so much for me over the years.
You talk about those huge steps, the the vertical hockey stick is what you just did with your hand. I think that's really interesting to say, but can you give me a specific example? Is there a time that you can look to and say this is a direct correlation with my involvement with this group and how they've helped my business? >> Yeah, sure. There's there's a few things. Um, and obviously uh you know, my experiences aren't going to directly relate to everybody else.
I'm just kind of throwing a disclaimer in there. But one of the things that worked really well was we had a few areas that we specialized in and we did really well on. Um, and we were able to, um, operate, um, in a way that was, how should I say, uh, just beneficial to everybody. And so, uh, what I mean is we had a development arm in the business back then. And we had just a few areas we were just really, really good. Everyone says they're really good, right?
But we were really good in these areas. And so, what would happen was we weren't going into asking and saying, "Here's our flyer. Here's all the things we do. That that is a no no. That is a banned behavior. You do not do that." Um, instead there would be people reaching out saying, "Hey, I'm stuck. I need this. Can anybody help me?" And I was very active on the list back then. And one guy in particular, um, he's since sold his MSP years ago, but back then he had this steady stream of development work and he didn't want to send it to another firm that might have been a competitor or something.
And instead, he would bring it to us and we were doing, you know, one, two projects a month, and a lot of them had recurring revenue attached to them. And we were doing it so he was getting his clients what they needed. we were getting all this ongoing work where I wasn't having to go out and you know marketing and selling it. Um and then all that additional revenue let me expand. So we had that then and then it's gone both ways. We've also had situations where we needed boots on the ground across the US and Canada and we don't have offices across Canada and the US.
Um but ASI members are and so you know we made all these contacts you know coast to coast in Canada and like I said pretty well the same in the United States. Um and we were able to get boots on the ground at these branch offices and these clients. And then from there we even had referrals from clients that we had picked up. I had a client in Toronto um that then referred me uh down to somebody in uh Phoenix, Arizona. And because they was able to help them and again the boots on the ground and all that, they then referred me down to somebody in sand something California.
Sorry I started with sand something sand something was on the coast. >> It's a few sands over there. Yeah. >> Yeah. I I fig I figured any you guys would get it. Um and but essentially these turned into recurring revenue, you know, great opportunities again for us. We weren't taking anybody's lunch. It was a it was a win-winwin. a win for us, a win for the refer, and a win for the client. And I can go on and on, but these are just some of the examples of of just amazing growth and amazing opportunities that ASKI is affording over the years.
So, it sounds like you are obviously very invested in this community, which is now getting a whole lot bigger considering that GTIA just announced today that they are acquiring the ASI group. Generally, I want to get your first thoughts on that. It's now official. It's out there. When you found out, what was your initial reaction? Well, you know, the first 30 seconds, you know, you're going, "Oh, you know, it's changed. Nobody likes change, right?" And so, you're like, you know, you know, the community's been, you know, longer than I've been around.
I've been in it a long time and the community itself's been around even longer. There's still some original members kicking around and it's it's an amazing place. But then I quickly, you know, I quickly realized like it couldn't be a better match. I mean, these are the people in GTI are all uh affiliated with ASI in one way or another. You know, they come and present at the events. you know, they're soliciting members between each others because there's a lot of synergy between the programs that each of them offer.
Um, and it's gone both ways. You know, it's been a while, but you know, there were these small events that ASI was doing in in Canada and the the Toronto area in partnership with um with them back, you know, again, going back several years, and it was it was these small events and again, it was the goal was to grow both sides. So, there's always been a shared uh sort of mindset, but they both bring different things to the table. And as soon as you go through the the list of the benefits there there is no negatives here.
I mean you know they're they're reducing the membership cost. They're providing membership to the other org which is giving you know massive value there. And a lot of asking members were already members of of GPIA or we're considering it. Um and this no more considering you're automatically in. Um and so talk about you know getting a little push over the finish line but you know again it's it's just huge. Now had they have said they were going to take away but they they didn't.
They said they were going to keep everything uh the way it was as far as you know the edge events and things like that. Um and it sounds like we're probably going to get more attendance at these events because uh you know there's going to be a little bit more cross-pollination we'll call it. >> I know that ASI really prioritizes that intimate feeling. You talk about the the smaller events that they held up in Canada, but do you think that that's going to be maintained based on what you know about GTIA or have you any reservations about knowing that you're now a global community?
This just went from North America to global in a day. >> No, that's that's fair. That's fair. But if you look at the venues and you look at the uh the ASI shows over the years, the ones that are are more well attended tend to do really well. I mean, these aren't going to turn into, you know, CES type events. I mean, you know, like at the end of the day, I mean, you know, they are what they are, but if they need to, you know, add a few more chairs to the ballroom, um, you know, I don't think that's going to take anything away. you know, having attended many industry events and I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not going to knock the ones that I'm going to kind of uh compare here.
Um, but when we're talking about ASKI events, like some of the value is in how free flowing the events are. So, to give you an example, some vendor events, you know, they insist that you're essentially locked in the room and listening to the presenters because, you know, the vendors sponsored the event and they're there. You know, ASKI encourages conversation, you know, in the halls, so to speak. the events themselves, you know, the the quality of the presentations generally draw a big enough audience that having, you know, a handful of people here or there out in the hallways is only a good thing because you've got networking happening between members.
And that's the sort of stuff that builds those relationships where you, you know, you get those that trust in in boots on the ground and sending these people into your clients and things like that. And that's only grown in with all the new um the new areas we've we've had like you know the AI boom here and some of the specialty areas you know even things like you know Microsoft Dynamics and these things that are not really in the MSP wheelhouse um but there's so much overlap you know being able to partner with other vendors or what I call them other companies that you know are offering these specialty services they can then use you for the services you're offering and it's just great it's just such a great thing >> you brought up AI and obviously that's the hottest topic that we can all talk about right now for many reasons, good and bad.
Why is it so important to invest in community within the channel space right now in the age of AI? And how do you think this latest development with GTIA coming in and absorbing the ASI group while still maintaining its independence is going to just help you be able to continue to stand out in this space? >> Yeah. Well, and one thing I just want to say like as far as the, you know, absorption thing. I mean, an acquisition is the acquisition, but you know, they're they're identifying it as a community and I think that's a really important distinction because keeping it as a community kind of represents that it is still its own thing and while you know, you are getting, you know, the broader benefits of the umbrella, you are still operating as this as this thing inside of there.
So with that said, the thing with AI and you know we've if you've been around for a while you remember 10 years ago cloud cloud cloud cloud cloud cloud everything was cloud at every event right and before that it was this and that and I mean over the years you know if you go back to the SPS era you know Microsoft had a commercial about do you need a stapler well you need a server you know and there was there was that kind of stuff and there was a push to make it simpler for businesses to be able to deal with some of their tech but not like this you know this is beyond knowing enough to be dangerous. you can ask uh these AI platforms to do all kinds of things that you don't understand and they'll just pump it out for you, but you don't have any real grasp of of the risks.
So, you know, our business has kind of shifted into more of a a risk management as opposed to a blinky lights and pushing buttons type of business. And I don't like using like fear-mongering terms like the threat is real, but you know, um at the ASI show in Toronto, I was able to moderate a panel. uh Microsoft was one of the vendors, CASA was one of the vendors and we had a great discussion about you know the sorts of risks of this you know lurking in your organization and all the hooks and all the access they have.
So, I think um continuing to keep yourself educated with the fire hose amount of data that's coming at you on a daily basis um in a filtered way. Not to go on too far of a tangent here, but one thing about organizations that ASI and GTI have in common u being that they are a you know paid membership organization, they sort of filter out the people who aren't that serious about about this and are kind of like they're hanging out in the space. And if you go on some of the free communities, you know, that you might see on like Reddit or Facebook or this or that where there there might be some great information in there, there's just a lot of information and the quality of the information may or may not um be at the same level as you know you get in these closed door organizations where there's a little bit more trust put into into what's there.
What are you excited for most uh knowing that this acquisition is now official and you're going to be getting the benefits uh that you see many GTA members have? Is there something you can point to and say this is something I'm really excited to explore right away now that I have access? >> To be honest, it's just having access to more people. But, you know, I was already friendly with the people on the other side. Um and you know, we were a paid member years ago and we dropped down to a free member for the last I don't know how many years.
So, it's kind of cool to be back as a paid member again. Um, I can explore some of the benefits that, you know, I I was kind of excluded from uh over the last few years, you know, access to additional information and resources. But like I said, we're dealing with a fire hose right now. And really where all the value is to me is the people. And again, like using ASI as an example here, oftentimes when I've talked to prospective members and they're like, well, what's the I'm like, you know, you can join, you can get um access to some documentation and some uh vendor discounts that you wouldn't have had otherwise. and all of a sudden your membership fee is paid for and then we can talk about the rest when you're not thinking about it anymore because it's paid for itself.
But for me, you know, even if you strip away the vendor discounts and you strip away the other things, there is so much value in the people, whether it's the committees they're running, uh whether it's the information that's being disseminated, whether it's being able to network with them. It's that trusted I and I emphasize the trust portion because it's easy to phone book people on the internet. There's tons of MSPs out there. If I wanted to find somebody in, you know, Los Angeles, it wouldn't be hard.
There's probably a hundred or more MSPs in Los Angeles and I could probably call them and say, "Hey, do you want to help me?" And I'm sure a lot of them would help me. However, I don't know them. The trust isn't there. And so, if you know, they've been a long-standing ASI member and and now the GTI side looping that is as well. If they've been a longtime member, there's a trust there. People know them. I know them. you can see how they handle themsel, you know, when you're either at events or just online in discourse and it kind of just, you know, advertises itself.
It makes it a lot easier to trust them. >> I want to backtrack a little bit for something that you said in the beginning where first 30 seconds you go, oh no change. I am curious to know what was the worst case scenario in your mind about knowing that there was going to be a lot of change with the ASI group. The founder Alan Weinberger uh passed away about a year ago now. So, I'm sure this was on everyone's mind. What would have been the worst case scenario and why is this the best case scenario that it could have been? >> Oh, yeah.
U private equity buying buying the ASI assets and, you know, taking all the the valuable member data. Um, you know, and and doing whatever with it. That that would have been, you know, basically stripping it down for parts u you know, Gordon Gecko style from uh if you watch the original Wall Street, you know, that that kind of thing. That would be the worst case scenario. And honestly like the people involved I don't think would have let that happen but you know in my mind that is the absolute worst case time and place for everything and in this this is very you know this is a community more than anything and so this is best case scenario.
I actually couldn't think of a you know there's some vendors out there that probably would have loved to work with you know ASI as well as like an arm of their thing but I don't think that would have had the same nearly the same amount of value. this is literally the best case scenario >> and just knowing moving forward uh you talked about how originally you said hey that's that's America that ASI really focuses a lot on we're up in Canada now you are going to have a bit more of that global access are you planning on tapping into that anytime soon globally could we see fast computers Europe maybe or anything like that >> you know that's a that's a good question we have uh we have clients um that have offices around the world we have actually one uh one client we support in the Netherlands currently so we do we are on that note and I will say that it has been a challenge to get um support in some countries.
I've had to leverage you know vendor connections and things like that over the years. Again, okay, I don't know these people but hey uh you know vendor I've trusted for the last decade plus. Do you have a partner in South Africa that you trust um that we can kind of I'm going to I'm going to they're going to make you look bad if they do me wrong. Uh and you don't want that. So um so yeah, I I definitely think that that there's a lot of opportunity there.
Too early to say how much that's going to expand the horizon, but I don't see any negatives there. I only see positives. >> I'd now like to welcome Don Cizer, CEO of Third Element Consulting. Don, welcome back and thank you so much for joining me today. >> Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me, Katie. >> As always, I love to have you. It's always an interesting take that you bring to the table and today I expect it to be no different. As you know, we're talking about the GTIA acquisition of the ASI group.
And you've got a unique perspective because you are a member individually of both organizations. How long have you been a member of each? >> Uh quite a while. Um probably about the same time on both of them actually. So going back to I don't know 2017ish what we so about 10 years give or take. >> Was there a a difference between the two? I mean, just thinking about going back when they were two separate entities and which they have been for their entire existence, each each of them around for at least four decades.
Was there a reason you joined one and joined the other uh for separate reasons specifically for what they were at the time or were you looking to just engage with the community at large as much as possible? >> One of the one of the big things with ASI is that they offered I'm going to call it member perks. We're going to call it a perk, right? So whether it was insurance or a discount on something else or whatever, you had these little perks that you could get.
And one of the things like the actual business insurance, the ENO insurance was the amount of my ASI membership less than when I could buy it commercially off the shelf. So right, so saving that much money off of my ENO actually made it a wash. So it was great for that in and of itself. And crazily um that has changed hands, you know, a number of times over the years. It's now chub. It's one of the big chub policies and we still pay like next to nothing for a really good, you know, with cyber on it, which is fantastic.
Plus, they, you know, make us fill out a horrific long form every year. So, there's that, too. But, so that was one of the big things on the on the ASKY side. Plus, the people were great. You know, if you needed something, you could get that done. Alicia, who now is with GTIA, which is kind of funny. she kind of like jumped from one to the other. Uh did a lot of PR work as well for a lot of MSPs. So I I ended up started writing a good many articles and things like that.
So I think if you engage with the right people inside of ASKI and honestly inside of GTIA as well, you have opportunities. It's just more a matter of asking for things like can we do X? Can we do Y? What does this look like? How do I get involved? and then you go from there, which is a really long winded answer to that question. Sorry. >> Fabulous answer. No, thank you. Knowing now that we've had a few days to settle into the news. Again, GTIA purchased the ASKI group.
We know some details as in the ASKI group will remain an independent brand with inside the GTIA community. So, we'll still see it bring its more in intimate event setting and events to the table with the new community. But of course, now it's a lot larger and there's more access to to many more people. How did you react to the news when you initially heard this when it was announced last week? And now that you've had a few days to think about it, do you have any thoughts or reaction to this news? >> I I wish I did.
Um I think I'm still in the let's see how this plays out scenario. Anytime you do an acquisition, it takes a long time for both sides to gel, if you will. And I mean, it's only been a couple of weeks. I think we all have to give them a little bit of grace. It's it takes a long time to get everything kind of integrated and moving forward together. And to be fair, ASI's been around for 40 years doing things a very specific way. And now they're going to have to change over and do some of the things that they do a very different way.
So I think I think there's going to be change. How that shakes out for everybody. I mean that's we'll see in 6 months to a year what that looks like >> from a member standpoint specifically as a member do you think one side benefits more than the other in this case I'm curious to know if you have thoughts on that >> I think it all depends on your perspective right if you if you had joined GTIA specifically for some of the like the trust mark or the ISO or maybe you're on a committee right that's why you were there the the the asky part isn't going to do a whole lot for you and from the the other side of things.
If you were an Asky member and you had joined for the perks or the membership or going to the events, then the other side isn't going to do much for you. I think it's more a matter of you're really going to have to invest some time in figuring out what's now available to you and does that make sense for you. And if it does, fantastic. You win. What are you hoping to get out of this knowing that you're a member of both parties and it's now all wrapping up under one nice bow?
Is there anything that you're hoping that comes together that makes it easier on you or just generally hoping you have more access to? Any any thoughts, hopes, and dreams? >> Um, no. I mean, I already had the the best of both worlds going on. I I don't know that there's really a whole lot that is going to change. I think there's probably some consolidation that will happen because that's what you would do in an acquisition, right? If we both have two separate resources, we'd want to combine them and and move forward going with that.
So, you know, I'm hoping I'm hoping to see a little bit of that so that they're combining resources in a way that make them more accessible to the membership. I think that would be fantastic. Is there anything you're worried about losing in this acquisition? And I I want to preface that with saying I've spoken to people who have been a part of the ASI group, solely the ASI group. And they they are open-minded and openhearted about this acquisition, but there's always that question of like you said, in 6 months to a year, what are we going to see change?
And is that going to be something that we really love kind of getting swept up in the very large global community that GTIA is? Is there anything that you're you're a little worried might change on that side of the ASI uh the ASKI group side? >> Not really. So I if you if you take a look back um you know Allan passed away June of last year. Yeah. >> So if you look at it from that respect right what was the internal heart of ASI was already gone at that point unfortunately.
And while Jerry's doing a fantastic job keeping, you know, what Alan was doing alive, it's different. So, and it's always going to be different. It's different by design because it's different people and people change how we, you know, experience everything. So, I don't know that I can say that anything's I'm looking for something specific or anything's going to be a whole lot different just from the standpoint of it had already changed. It's going to change going forward.
So, I think we just kind of have to to roll with what's coming at this point. >> Knowing uh that this is something that it sounds like you may have known about it as a member just before they announced it to the public. How did they unveil this news to you? How did it roll out to the members themselves? Did you feel like you were given enough notice? Did you feel like you were given enough time to digest it? And how exactly did they do that? >> So, I think this is the one part of acquisitions that are a little tricky, right?
Um, I we've had clients do acquisitions and they do them a gazillion different ways and it's everything from nobody knows until they come in the next day and they tell you you're now working for a new company. And that's kind of like how this felt like good morning. Um, you you're now a member of a a new thing. And the way it played out for me because my experience is my experience and somebody else's might be a little bit different was that I saw the news on social media first.
I did not get an email. was not informed that this was happening. You know, that kind of thing. So, I would have preferred that the membership knew about it from both sides first and then it was announced on social media because doing it the other way has a it has an optic to it that it's not about the membership and it's more about what it looked like and if if that's really, you know, what they were going for, maybe that's not in the best interest of the membership.
And I think it's just more a matter of you're making a million different decisions as you're going through an acquisition and PR is part of that and the timing just wasn't perfect. So I'm assuming the next thing that they acquire maybe the timing will be a little bit better. >> That's interesting. So it sounds like you do have some some understanding that there is a lot going on during this kind of thing that you're hoping the feedback will get to them for the next acquisition. >> Yeah, I mean here's the thing.
I think during any acquisition, right? We've all seen them enough in the MSP space. We see them every day, right? We talk about consolidation. I mean, somebody's already always buying somebody else. So, does it always go well? I can't think of a time when it's ever gone perfectly. >> Mhm. >> Have they gone well? I think some have gone well or as well as they possibly could have given the circumstances. And then I think you've seen things go horrifically arry, right?
I think this one went okay. It didn't go bad. It it there was a couple things that could always be better, right? And I think that's just lesson learned for next time. >> Moving forward, generally as as somebody who has operated in the space for a long time, you have known the the membership or the community, I should say, belonging to both groups for a long time. You're out there, Don. I see you at these events. I see you shaking hands. I see you knowing a lot of people.
What do you think needs to happen inside of the MSP community, the channel community as we move forward in the age of AI to make sure that you're moving forward as as a whole in generally what I mean by that is we've had a lot of scary news come out. It only relates so much to our side of the industry, but I am curious to know with that information and the news cycle lately concerning AI, how does the community inside the channel need to move forward and what are you hoping to see potentially come out of of this particular acquisition?
Just knowing so many community members are are coming together. >> Yeah. The so the interesting side of all of that is you have a bunch of members that are or a bunch of vendors that are sitting on one shoulder screaming, you need to sell AI, you need to sell AI, you need to sell AI. and then you have the news on the other side saying AI is going to kill us. Um, so I I think responsible is the way to look at it, right? And that's no difference in whether you're selling cyber security or selling any other type of thing is doing things with an abundance of care.
Whether it's for your client, whether it's for your business, whether it's for the industry at large is looking at it from that standard of care. So if you're doing things under a standard of care, making sure that people are doing the right things as they go along. Yes, you can sell AI and do it well. I think that's where we all need to come together at is that standard of care. Um the one thing I think GTIA does have right is that the ability to have the trust mark right, wrong, otherwise doesn't really matter, but that is a standard of care for your own internal MSP, right?
So instead of having the government regulate us, we can come together and say, you know what, this standard of care for our own internal MSP, this is a way to show people that you kind of know what you're doing. You're mature enough to, you know, get yourself to a really nice standard, if you will. I keep using that word, but I think that's that's one way to go about it. So maybe maybe pushing that a little bit harder, a little bit more to the forefront is a is a way to go about it.
And you know that enables us to to step back and say you know my data is in line, my cyber security's in line. Yes, we're ready to do AI at that point and do it well and do it together. >> Anything you would caution moving forward with this these two groups now coming together? What would make you pull away uh and that you want to tell GTIA and and the ASKI group not to do necessarily moving forward? Um, I think it comes back down to if if you're coming out and saying, "Hey, we're going to do educate.
We're going to do research, then educate and do actual research." You can't do a poll and call it research. That's skirting a thing. Um, and that's historically been a thing for a lot of research organizations. they'll do some polls, call it research, maybe put a little bit of research around it, but even then the sample size is small, so you have to be careful with that, too. So, I think we need to to take a look at that. But I would I would expect with the abilities that they have and the the money that is behind GTIA to actually be able to do some education and to get everybody up to that standard or at least have the ability to do it.
And if all we're doing is educating the the bottom of the barrel, like no one's ever going to mature. And that seems to be where everybody is focusing is that bottom bottom rung, if you will. And there needs to be education up a little higher than where there is right now. So that's what I would expect, higher education. >> And I'm now joined by Henry Tim, CEO of Phantom Technology Solutions. Henry, thank you so much for coming on and welcome back to the show. >> Thank you again for having me. >> Absolutely.
I really wanted to pick your brain because when I heard this announcement, you were one of the first names that popped into my mind. You are an ASKI member as well as a GTAa member. So, you were coming in both memberships already paid for. What was your reaction when you first found out? Whether that be the, you know, the day of or back when you first heard the rumblings of it. What went through your mind? >> I think it's probably a net positive for the industry. um it's going to bring uh obviously some consolidation between the communities that are out there for the industry, but I think that that means that we're going to have few less fragmented voices uh probably some more collective bargaining with some of the vendors out there.
And I'm hopeful that it uh also means that some of the smaller MSPs that are represented primarily at ASI now are going to have a a bigger seat at the table that GTI is going to be able to afford them. >> You touched on several things in there that I want to ask you about. So I want to start with a word that you used earlier in your your answer there, which was consolidation. And I spoke to Nancy Hammervik. She says this is not about consolidating.
She really wanted to state how much independence ASKI group is still going to have within the GTIA community. But you and I have talked about consolidation happening in the industry in the channel in general knowing that this is a very large global community kind of absorbing that smaller more intimate community. Does anything run through your mind about hey I'm a little nervous that we might lose this level of intimacy or this level of that uh close touch relationship that the ask group have.
Walk through that with me. Are you worried or does it not really matter in this kind of in this kind of space? >> Yeah, I I suppose I'm optimistic about it, but obviously going to be cautious to see how uh how things are executed here uh as the um the merger kind of takes hold. But um I I think that optimism comes out of realizing that there's a combined footprint that uh out of both organizations and that could hopefully mean uh a much better reach for a lot of the practitioners that are represented.
Obviously though with any acquisition you do worry about people potentially getting left on the uh wayside there. So uh I'll be anxiously watching to see how the execution of this goes to see how much autonomy they leave uh some of the existing ASI uh assets and property in community as well as uh I suppose how they interact with all the other global communities that are out there. uh we track and interact with something around 20 to 25 global uh communities that that uh exist and I know all of them are are going to be anxiously watching too to kind of see what this potentially means as far as the ripples uh from from the uh transaction >> for you.
I should also ask how long have you been a member of each group? >> Oh gosh. Uh so I started my MSP 16 years ago. Uh I became an ASKI member pretty early on uh in starting that organization and then was uh involved uh shortly thereafter in the CompTIAs side. So it's been a while but uh both organizations I've joined uh advisory boards with uh over the years and uh various councils. So, uh, I believe strongly in both missions that they were trying to, uh, fulfill and, uh, I think that, uh, it will be interesting to see how they're able to leverage resources that they're able to share between the two. >> Well, speaking of that, do you think one group maybe got a better deal than the other?
Uh, considering I mean, GTIA is a very large global community. ASI was a bit smaller and solely based here in North America. Which side, especially being a member of both groups, which side do you feel that you're benefiting a little bit more from? I'm not sure that either one necessarily gained uh more than the other. I think that there's some trade-offs uh from for both organizations, which is why they both kind of had a place. Uh and hopefully those those uh tradeoffs um are both going to, you know, be net positives uh for the the new organization uh as it were.
So I I think what I'm looking forward to is that GTIA is going to bring a whole slew of resources and funding uh and that global reach uh that ASKI members wouldn't necessarily have had access to. And uh inversely I think that um ASI members are going to bring a lot of uh kind of foot out in the ground uh perspective of what's actually happening out there in the industry to GTIA. So hopefully it'll kind of shorten and improve some of the communication that's uh coming back and feedback that's coming back uh from the groups on the ground. >> Does this mean that at least you'll be going through one portal now instead of multiple portals to get to either community?
Have they talked to you at all about how the the physical aspect of that is going to go? >> I haven't heard anything yet about that. Uh uh we all know that integrations uh can certainly be held. So, uh, I will not hold my breath, uh, on on what that timeline will be, but I'm sure that they'll probably be working to integrate things as much as possible, uh, between the two different, uh, platforms. >> Is this going to open up uh, anywhere that you feel you didn't have reach from either side?
And I I mean this very specifically to you, Henry. I know you have such a large community, uh, such a large network being who you are. You're also a part of the tech degenerates, so you've got a wide reach. Did this open up any more doors that you didn't have access to before? And why do you think that you'll have access to it now compared to when you were a member of the two groups separately? >> Yeah, I don't know that this will open any new doors for me per se, but I do think that it will help GTIA uh expand their reach uh into a lot of uh household that just didn't know the new GTIA name since they are only about 2 years old under that that name.
And so a lot of people in the industry I think weren't quite familiar that with the whole history of what happened with the transition from the CompTIA to GTIA community and uh I think that's going to be uh beneficial for a lot of the ASI well for the GTIA side of things that they're going to gain that exposure. Uh and I think that uh it'll also work out though pretty well for ASKI members uh where they're just going to gain access to a lot of resources and research primarily uh that they didn't previously have.
One of the things that I'm most uh proud of of being loosely associated with on the GTIA side is they have these incredible cyber security resources and it'll be great for the ASKI members to gain access to things like the ISO and so forth. So >> I have certainly heard about the research side of it. I've also heard about the insurance offerings in the past uh as well as some of the cyber security assets that you talked about. Moving forward 6 months from now, what are you hoping to see down the road between the two organizations?
It sounds like they still want to keep ASI as a fairly independent brand without the within the GTIA community, but are you hoping for anything specifically going down the road? >> I think that we'll probably see a bit of both. is uh my understanding is we'll likely see some sharing of resources and staff uh in between the organizations and that'll kind of help build some of that uh future cohesiveness. But I do think it's important that uh obviously the ASI brand is well established and has that uh more local regionalized reach uh that GTIA just frankly hasn't had.
So I think that that'll be a net positive as well. Uh I think that um keeping that that uh ASI brand around so that uh GTIA is able to expand that reach into the local regional is going to be huge. >> What do you not want to see happen? What would be the thing that would disappoint you the most? Hopefully, we won't see GTIA um uh cannibalize um ASI uh because it it was a very important resource for those smaller MSPs that were out there uh and more regional uh focused MSPs.
And I think if we were to see them shut down the ASI property or the events, regional events, that would do a lot of damage uh to the industry. But it's my understanding that that's uh exactly what they don't want to do. So >> is there anything that you would advise the leadership of now both groups going forward uh to maintain? I know I've asked that question probably in a couple different formats, but just if there's anything that you could say, hey, just do not touch this.
What would it be? >> Uh I think the biggest thing is uh making the tent bigger. So, uh, invite in as many of the other communities that are out there, uh, and show what the road map looks like and how they potentially have on-ramps to partner with and work with this, uh, this new combined ASI and GTIA community. Looking forward to uh, see how the next 6 months play out. >> Thanks for joining me. You can watch or listen to this and every episode of Channel Insider Partner POV on channelinsider.com, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to like and subscribe so you never miss an episode. I'm Katie Bavoso and I'll see you next time.
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