Hey channel insiders, welcome to our channel insider quarterly recap where our editorial team takes a look back at some of the biggest stories, announcements, and trends that came out of the IT channel in Q3 2025. As always, I'm your host, Katie Bavoso, and I'm thrilled to be joined once again by my colleagues, managing editor of Channel Insider, Victoria Jurgen, and Channel Insider writer, Jordan Smith. Welcome, friends, and thank you so much for doing this.
I know that when we're recording this today, Jordan, I'm pretty sure you're operating on about two collective hours of sleep over the last several days. So, thank you very much for being here, even though your brain is a bit mashed potatoey right now. >> Yeah, it's it's mashed potatoes. Maybe a few fixings on top, but running low running low right now. >> You tell we're recording around lunchtime for all of us. Yeah, that's the other thing I have a habit about.
Like, hm, this is always a free hour for everybody. I wonder why nobody can eat in peace while you work with me. Let's get right into it. Today I want to review some of the most notable stories and events over the past three months which I don't know about you two but to say that it is as we're recording this we have about a week left in Q3 not even not even I think just maybe maybe four business days. Uh so I can't believe that and I don't like how fast Q3 went by.
But with that said lots of great things to review that have already happened and we can confirm. I'm going to jump in and get started with one of the biggest surprises of the quarter, at least to me. One of those biggest surprises came from an acquisition announcement in late July. Scale Computing announced it was acquired by Acuimera, a managed network security and edge computing company. The company as a whole is still moving forward under the scale computing name even though Acuimera did the purchasing of scale computing.
This blends scale computing's HCI and edge virtualization platform with Acuimera's secure edge connectivity offerings. The co-founder and now former CEO of Scale Computing is staying on as the newly combined company's chief marketing officer, that of course is Jeff Rei. I was at Scale Computing in May and I did not see this coming at all. When this announcement came, I was shocked. Truly, I I did not see it coming. I look forward to seeing how this plays out with the existing partner base because scale computing as we all know has a very robust channel partner network which really blew up following Broadcom's acquisition of their top competitor VMware and the subsequent gutting of that partner program.
So Acimera on the other hand has had a more direct to customer approach than scale computing as a vendor. And I think we won't learn too much more about the impact of this acquisition in 2025. They'll likely spend the rest of the year integrating, settling in, maybe reorganizing a bit. Uh, but I think maybe we'll hear more by the time platform 2026 kicks off in April, which is closer than it is far away at this point in in my mind right now, which is also a scary thing to think about, but definitely something that when it was announced, I I did not I thought I had to rub my eyes when I looked at LinkedIn.
I didn't see it coming at all. uh they completely changed their branding colors. So, it's all blue now. It's a very stark difference from the red and orange sort of uh ombre that they had going on. Um but at the moment, that seems to be the biggest difference as far as what we know publicly. Uh I think that like I said, we're probably not going to know much more until they choose to announce it and put put it forth in front of their partner system at platform next year.
So, I'm looking forward to hearing more. Were there any surprises for either of you this quarter that you also didn't see coming that could knock you also with a feather? And just to save Jordan's brain a little bit more, Victoria, I'm gonna pump this one to you first. >> Yeah, I think you know in in hindsight, Q3 had some surprises in it, but followed a pretty typical pattern that I think we were expecting to see, which feels like a bit of a copout answer to your question.
But what I mean by that just in terms of surprise is that I think we can dive into specific product announcements and feature releases, but overall I think Q3 seemed a bit more steady and dare I say even stable than Q2 and Q1 did as we kind of saw some of those economic concerns not dissipate but maybe flatten into a bit of a normalization curve. Um, so one of the biggest surprises for me was actually kind of the lack of surprise which take that for what it is.
I'm sure I'm jinxing all of us for a crazy Q4 and you can come back and and yell at me in the comments by November when you're going, "It's not calm, Victoria." But I do think we got a little bit of reprieve from some of the uh maybe jump start stop things that occurred earlier in the year. >> Very true. Very true. Of course, now I'm like, do you feel the vibrations of a crazy announcement coming for Q4? So, I'm sure we're we're in for it. There's always something that gets announced as a kind of a preparation for the end of the year or the next calendar year that happens in Q4.
So, you'll all have to come back in three months, but before we get there, Jordan, for you, were there any big changes or surprises that really kind of shocked you this quarter? >> Um, yeah, kind of to echo Victoria, not really any big surprises. I feel like Q3 was kind of a collective uh inhale before any potential like bigger announcements for Q4 that are going to uh trickle into 2026 and propel the channel into the next year. kind of bouncing off what you said too Katie is that I feel like this acquisition um by AcuRa of scale computing is um sort of filling this vacuum that we are still feeling from um the Broadcom VMware situation um and partners in the channel are looking to fill that void still um and it makes sense it's seems like it's a pretty complimentary acquisition which has been uh at least from what I've been seeing uh kind of the trend in Q3 uh like with the Blackpoint Cyber teaming up with Ninja One on MSP security and connectwise partnering with Proof Point on AI powered email security just companies that are working handinhand and complementing each other in a in a good fashion. >> I like how you brought that up and I definitely agree with you that we've seen consolidation and partnerships that are really focused on complenting each other. uh but in the vendor community that is in the last quarter people really saying hey instead of trying to develop things why don't we bring our talents together and head to South Beach together on that but that was a terrible sports reference and Jordan thank you for smiling at me to try to make me feel better about it but I'm going to cut that out keep it in >> let's move on to my next question and topic of course I mentioned Broadcom in the last recap so they also made headlines uh once And this quarter after announcing its advantage program for partners is coming to an end.
So Victoria, once again, I'm going to go back over to you. Can you review for us what we know about this announcement and what we don't and when is the final deadline and where do impacted partners go from there? >> Yeah, it wouldn't be a quarter of channel news without a broadcast story. Frankly, I think this is to our earlier points par for the course, right? um doesn't make it any less surprising, doesn't make it any less impactful. So, this broke over the summer.
I'm sure by now anybody affected who is watching this has had a couple months to to reflect and to think, but to quickly catch everybody up. Uh Broadcom communicated directly on July 15th to VMware CSPs that and this is specific to those not in the European area. So, let me be very clear about that at the jump. If you're in Europe, this is not at the moment applying to you. Uh but they communicated to their VCSPs that a new program takes effect November 1st.
So that would mean then that the expiring program ends October 31st to bring in the new one in November. The new program, what we know for sure is a much smaller list of partners. We do not have a confirmed number. I'm sure there are plenty floating out and about that everyone has heard. I don't know anything enough to stake our name on what that number is, but it is certainly smaller. Uh this is again an ongoing thing that we've seen Broadcom do is it consolidates that partner base that it really wants to work with and that it it feels value in working with.
What that means as always is that there are partners who can no longer provision and service their clients in the ways that they have for many years. We are of course talking about providers who in some cases have staked a lot of their business around VMware solutions. Right? VMware is a very popular product and I think sometimes that gets lost in the frustration and the concern that sets in when things like this happen. There are a lot of businesses who rely on VMware that's probably not changing even with the amount of competition we've seen in the market.
Right? So for those partners who don't want to migrate their users and their clients whose clients frankly are not interested in migrating to competitive software and hardware, uh they need to find a new route to market. And what that looks like is a lot more partner to partner engagement than we've maybe seen previously in the ecosystem. So for those who are still eligible and still in the invite only program that takes place November 1st, we've seen a lot of those partners already step up and really market themselves as the answer to that issue for partners who are being left behind. you can partner partners who are eligible will maintain licensing status with VMware with Broadcom and uh that is the route to market for many people moving forward it seems like.
So, look, here's what I would say, right? To kind of sum it all up. Um, they cut the number again. Broadcom feels very strongly that this is the path to success for them moving forward. I think we've all kind of collectively maybe not gotten over the feeling, but are no longer waiting for them to change their minds and go, "Oh, okay. Maybe this isn't working." They posted a very strong earnings result this quarter. We've got some coverage up on the site if you want to go review that.
They feel like they're in a great place. They feel like the the partners that they've kept on are what and who they need to move forward. Those partners had the opportunity to accept or decline that those partners feel strongly that they're in a good spot with Broadcom and that they are going to move forward. And so now, for better or for worse, this is the new normal for for everyone moving forward in this ecosystem. And we'll see how this shakes out.
But I'm sure we'll continue to hear stories from um partners who are no longer in the program who are working through migrations, what that looks like, who steps up into that void in the way that that scale computing pre-acquisition felt very strongly that they had done very well. We'll see how that all shakes out now moving forward. Um but that is the the kind of state of the universe in Broadcom world is that this officially goes into effect November 1st.
But if you are a partner or a user who are working through these changes, like I said, you've had a couple months now to start to think that through. And so I'm sure we shouldn't get to October 31st and see everybody suddenly lose their their access. That's not what uh Broadcom wants to see happen. Certainly, and that's not what the partners involved are going to want to see moving forward either. >> Absolutely. No, I'm sure you're right. I think the biggest shock about this is when I I remember when I got uh a call about this and then I called you hearing about it, Victoria, after hours.
Our reaction was again, they're doing it again. And I think that was the most shocking part because it was such it was it was just such a a whiplash effect when it first happened when Broadcom announced that they were moving VMware to an invite only partner program. That in itself was so shocking. And then you think at that point that they did everything they needed to do and that they got down to the number of partners that they wanted and then they get to this and you feel that those who felt safe for the last maybe year or so suddenly not anymore.
That feeling came back in full force. So like you said we don't know the exact number of partners that are still in the VMware Broadcom Broadcom VMware partner program. We've heard some numbers kicked around and I what I what I can say just hearing hearing the rumors is that when it comes to an invite only party, this one is small. It's intimate. Uh so that's the most of what we can confirm and and based on just what we've heard, but we have not gotten any specific numbers.
Um I look forward to hearing how that plays out, not only for Broadcom, but for the partners. And if you're still an existing VMware Broadcom partner, we encourage you to reach out to us and let us know how that goes for you after November 1st because if it's a lucrative opportunity for you, we could definitely talk about that and give that more coverage because I don't think we've talked about that enough is the existing partners, what are they getting out of this relationship still that they are now able to get in tenfold because the competition is so minimal. >> Yeah, I think I think all of those are good points.
We always encourage everyone to reach out. I will say too, I not to sound like a total contrarian here, but I think what gets lost in the shuffle a lot is that there is still a lot of value in Broadcom and in the Vim VMware product line, right? this for as much as there has been migration, for as much as the market has been disrupted by this, competitors have come in, there are a lot of businesses who do not want to move off of their VMware deployments and just frankly probably will not save, you know, short of of Broadcom suddenly collapsing, which is not going to happen, frankly, um they're going to stick around for a while, right?
And there are absolutely partners who want to stay in that. And if you've been invited into that program, you know, I'm not an MSP. These are not decisions I have to make. But I I would imagine it would not make a whole lot of sense, frankly, to not take that invite had you been extended one, right? So, it'll be interesting to see. I'm sure I cracked the joke when we first started talking about this. We'll talk about it next quarter. We'll probably talk about it next year.
It's not going anywhere for several reasons. Uh but November 1st is now the next date that everybody's watching with baited breath. >> So Victoria, let's talk about another deadline that is fast approaching. Tell us about the Microsoft cloud solution provider requirement deadline. That one kicks in October 1st. Who's going to be affected by that and what will be the new rules that they can expect? >> Yeah, I feel like I'm just sitting here with a calendar circling dates at this point.
Um, so Microsoft back in May announced changes to the CSP program and the requirements and thresholds that would need to be met there. Again, I'm sure if you were watching this in, well, a you're watching this in October, so this is already applying to you. So, you probably have made the necessary adjustments to your business, but again, to catch people up, um, revenue requirements are now much higher is kind of the the TLDDR of the whole thing, right?
Microsoft wants to see its partner base, especially in the SMB space, um push more Microsoft and and push solutions across the stack. Right. Direct bill partners will see revenue requirements shoot from the $300,000 that was in place before October 1 up to a million. Indirect resellers now have a $1,000 revenue threshold. Microsoft in all of its communications to partners has stressed that these will be enforced. So if for some reason you were hoping to kind of skate by under the radar and say well maybe there's too many of us they won't really be checking these.
Microsoft feels very strongly that they will be taking a different path there. Uh there are also requirements outside of the revenue though that I think are just as important to bring up and a lot of them are in the security space. So, Microsoft wants to see its partners and there by extension its users uh approaching security in a much more proactive process-based outcomesoriented model. So, if you want to see what all of those breakdowns look like, again, we have coverage up on the site.
If you're a Microsoft partner, I'm sure you've been communicated to by Microsoft and by every vendor within Microsoft, integrated with Microsoft. If you work with a distributor or a marketplace, I'm sure they have contacted you as well. you're probably tuning out of this whole part of the video because you're so sick of hearing about it, but um it is big news for the quarter. It's certainly big news moving forward as well. Anytime we see changes like this, you know, it it's not just a matter of, okay, I need to figure out how to attest that I'm meeting these requirements.
A lot of providers have had to really relook at their whole business models, right? figure out whether they needed to add things to make new thresholds, whether they needed to bolster security practices, what all of that has looked like. So, we'll continue to report. I'm sure this will be a ripple effect throughout the next few months as this kind of settles into practice. Um, but that's kind of a lot of deadlines in in fall for people to to meet and to reach.
And Microsoft, I think it goes without saying, is hugely important to many partners and again especially to SMB focused partners who rely very heavily on the Microsoft stack to service their clients. So definitely not a small news story, but again by the time you're watching this, uh hopefully you are in compliance because it is now in effect. >> Very succinct, very comprehensive way of explaining that. So thank you very much. And once again, Microsoft partners who are affected by this, please reach out.
We'd like to hear from you as well. Jordan, I'm going to go back over to you for this next question because Q3 was also a timetable for one of the worst channel related attacks, cyber attacks that is that we've seen this year. Ingram Micro's operations were brought to a standstill for several days due to a breach by the ransomware group Safe Pay, which is kind of a misleading name for a ransomware group when you really think about it. Uh, so Jordan, can you tell us more about what happened to Ingram Micro and what do we know about Safe Pay? >> So, yeah, uh, Katie, you kind of alluded to it, um, despite sounding like a secure financial payments application.
Um, Safe Pay is actually a ransomware group. Um, they only surfaced um, from what I found uh, September of last year. So, they are barely a year old. During this ransomware attack, they crashed uh Ingram Micro's website and online ordering systems. Um that impacted businesses across the US, Europe, and Asia. And their MO is through double extortion techniques. They uh exfiltrate data before encrypting it um only to turn around and threaten to leak that stolen data unless a ransom is paid.
Um, and from what we know about uh, SafePace so far is that they've quickly turned into one of the most active ransomware groups out there. Um, Cyel, a threat intelligence company. They released a ransomware landscape report back in May. Um, and they labeled Safe Pay as the top ransomware group for the month. Um, claiming 58 victims in May and 198 victims since they first emerged. Uh, I found a more recent um report from Bit Defender um that as of September 4th, the group has more than 270 victims um added to their tally.
So, uh this was definitely a massive ransomware attack um that impacted a lot of uh Ingram's business and as well as their partners, too. >> Rough stuff. And Ingram Micro, of course, they're back up and running. They've been uh from what I understand flawless since this uh system their system got back up and running. U but I'm sure the fallout from that as we all know downtime is nobody's friend. No, no matter how long or short it is. So I'm sure the fallout from that was big knowing how large Ingram Micro is and how many people depend on it.
So a few days of not being able to fulfill your your partners and clients needs. That's a big deal. Uh so hopefully they've they've been able to mitigate anything else that might have been left behind in their system by this ransomware group. But uh I think that Safe Pay will definitely be a name that we will not forget and we'll probably see again sometime through the rest of 2025 unfortunately. But moving on from there, I want to talk about notable faces or in this case one particular notable face on the move this quarter.
In August, Cisco announced it was parting ways with senior vice president of channel sales and again a familiar face in the channel ecosystem overall, Rodney Clark. Jordan, can you tell us a little bit about Rodney's background and what we know about his departure from Cisco? >> Before uh his stops at or his stop at Cisco rather, uh Rodney worked with some pretty big players including Microsoft and IBM as well as Johnson Controls. While at Cisco, he served as the SVP of global partner sales and helped lead the company's just massive Cisco 360 partner program.
Um, it has been described as his decision to leave, but I haven't heard anything about the why behind this decision. um you know, maybe just going to seek other opportunities. Maybe he um wanted to start up his own uh own little shop like some other veterans who have uh since quote unquote retired in the past few months, but Tim Kugan, the Cisco's SVP for US Commercial, is moving over to take over that position. Um, and hopefully we'll see some more information uh in the coming months because um I don't believe that he has officially left Cisco, just that he his intention is to be out I believe by the end of November. >> H Okay.
So, we don't know about his plans post November 1st or post December. >> Correct. Yeah. >> Interesting. Well, you did mention about some people who quote unquote retired. Uh, so I do want to talk about two familiar faces who recently announced their retirements and both decided to pull a bit of a Tom Brady this quarter and keep on playing. Frank Roush and Terry Richardson both announced their retirements this past year. However, in July, Frank, who most recently worked as the global channel chief at KO Networks, he announced he took a board member position with Access IT Group and Terry founded and is leading a consultancy called TR14 Advisory Group.
This is funny to me because it's it's a tale as old as time. Every time somebody in the channel goes, "Guess what? I'm retiring." I'm like, "For this week or this month, maybe? Are you just going on vacation and you're coming back?" But it makes sense. These are two stalwarts of the channel. They have so much knowledge and I know them both. They both like to keep on the move. They both like to work. They both like to feel valued. So, I think it's important to to note that these are people that they're probably in positions now.
You want to go talk to them. You want to go and ask them about their expertise, their knowledge, their experience, and how that can help you in your own business that's based in the channel. So, while I think it's funny, uh the two of them, and I've seen Terry do this before, uh he did retire from HPE before going over to AMD. Uh and I believe he retired after AMD and then eventually went over to to Blue Mantis. Um I do wonder if the plot is there before announcing the retirement or if he knows that, you know, I'm trying real hard to retire, but every time I think I'm out, they just keep pulling me back in.
And that's passion. That's passion that brings him back into the fold. I'm happy for both of them. I'm excited for both of their next v ventures. And it's always good to know that our friends are still out there. They're still going to be on LinkedIn and they're still excited to answer our questions when we reach out. >> And you can watch episodes with both of them pre-retirement at Last Destination in our CIP POV library. Not that that is at all a shameless plug for our work, but you know, they're there. >> Thank you, Victoria Durgen.
I appreciate it. Everything we spoke about today, too can be found on channelinsider.com if you'd like to go back and explore for yourself what Q3 2025 had to offer. There's plenty and there's even more that we're not going to be able to talk about today. But I want to go into some other news because we were all on the move this quarter. Victoria, you went to Channel Con this summer and it was the first year that the event was hosted under the GTIA banner and not CompTIA.
What was the tone of the event this year? And what kind of feedback did you hear from the attendees about the new Channel Con? >> Yeah, absolutely. I first of all, it was the end of July in Nashville, which was a great experience all around, right? It's it's pretty hard to to mess up a week in Nashville. But I will say on top of that, um there was a definite energy in the air, if you want to say. I know that sounds very cliche and and a little eye rolly, but uh there's a lot of excitement around what this GTIA brand really means moving forward for our space.
A very dedicated executive team, a very dedicated member base, committee base, um who really want to see this thrive, not just for the sake of GTIA thriving, but for the sake of channel thriving, right? A lot of my coverage uh was based on conversations on the floor and the way that channel conferences always go and it felt very we have all of this opportunity ahead of us in the tech space but a lot of us are really uncertain about what that actually means from a provider standpoint right so that's AI in particular um but also other forms of tech and and we just hear from a lot of MSPs and and ITSPs generally I think who see this moment as a real crossroads in time in which there is more market consolid validation happening than ever before.
There's more uh PE, venture capital, other types of M&A activity happening than ever before. And and there's a real moment of going, is this where I kind of recommit myself and double down or or do I start planning for an exit? And what do I want out of either of those? And then in the meantime, while you're trying to decide that the tech is not slowing down, your clients demands are not slowing down, right? So I think GTIA has a real opportunity to kind of shepherd and guide um our very vast ecosystem of acronyms and business types and vendors and partners and resellers and advisers and consultants and and I mean we've we've seen the channel grow and expand in a lot of ways and so I think GTIA wants to step in as as a a comfort and a help and a resource uh for everybody thinking about what's next and I think that was very palpable when we were on site.
It was a wonderful opportunity to to talk and to meet people. So, I thank everyone again who spent their time with me. I know there was plenty of other things to do. It was a jam-packed schedule. Um, you can catch all of that coverage, like we said, on the site. But, you know, I don't think the topics will really surprise anybody. AI is important. Security is important. Margins are still important. Vendors want to help. Partners don't always quite know how to get there.
Partners want things from vendors. Don't always feel like they get them. Sometimes they do. Um, and that goes, I think, to to what we've said this whole video and what we've said for a lot of the year is that the the tech is different, but the business conversations maybe haven't changed as much as we thought they were going to this year. >> I have to ask, was the feeling different for a lot of people now that GTIA is sort of flying its own flag? uh it's it's its own sort of peer group that broke off of CompTIA to be much more agnostic within the channel.
Was that feeling palpable? Did people like that? Did people miss the old ways of Channel CompTIA version? What was that like for them? >> Yeah, I think there is a definite excitement building. I mean, I have to say just from the vantage point that that we kind of sit in and get to see things, the speed at which GTIA cemented itself as a brand post sale, post, you know, CompTIA activity is kind of remarkable. I mean, that you really didn't get many people slipping up and going Compt, oh, sorry, GTIA, right?
Like there there is a real buildup, I think, of accepting GTIA for what it is and for what it wants to be. I think Dan Wley um has done a great job leading that team through kind of building that excitement model and and getting everyone allin for lack of a better word. Only time is going to tell how that pans out, right? I think it's it's um I don't want to say easy, but when everybody's in the gaylord together and you're all kind of eating the same meals and sharing the same sessions, it's it's easy to kind of walk around and go, "This is great." But I think building on that in the interim between large scale events, Channel Economia happens in October, um it's all of those other activities that they're going to do to build and support community that I think will will really test that momentum. >> Well said.
Yeah, I do have to say for those folks who are planning to have journalists at your event, please put us in a table that is also within the action and not one that's several floors away. Gaylords are huge. we we need to be closer to where people want to be. So, I just want to throw that out there in your defense, Victoria. I remember like getting some texts for you and I'm like, you're getting your steps in today. >> It was great. Yeah. I will say if if you want a a physical activity plan for yourself for whatever your goals may be, I'm not imposing goals on anybody, but if you just want to move more, just start the channel event circuit. >> You'll be good to go. >> This message brought to you by Hoka.
Moving on from there. Not really, >> but if they want. >> Hey, we're we're all open to sponsorships. We're all open to sponsorships here. Let's keep that momentum going because Jordan, as I mentioned, you just got back from an event. You came from Proof Point Protect, which just wrapped up yesterday. What was your biggest takeaway from that event? >> Well, it was at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville and steps that were that was >> we only go to one place. >> If we just center.
Um, oh, that place was massive though. It really was. >> It was a lot of back and forth. >> Yes. Um, but from an actual uh tech perspective, um, I I felt like with Proof Point, they made a few announcements about different AI agents um that they had and I it made me feel like that we are really solidifying into a place of uh perhaps AI agents being the most secure and beneficial way to engage with AI for organizations. Um, I mean, we've heard chatter over the past few months about um, AI projects being started and failing and people plugging in a whole bunch of money into AI without any real plan.
And it's dangerous to tell your teams to start using AI without a use case and to play around with it like it's a toy. Um, because shadow AI is a real issue. Um, and you have to know where your data is. You have to know where you are putting it. And AI agents, they like just kind of intuitively have purpose. Uh, they're designed with data governance in mind. Um, and they can help control costs more. Um, you know, you're reducing the proliferation of shadow AI throughout an organization.
And I really thought that's what um Proof Point uh Broadstrokes was more or less getting at. They're saying like, "Hey, we have these tools that are going to um you know, protect you, for example, uh your communications via email." Um and they're also working on trying to protect you with other means of communications that threat actors now are because of AI have more patience to do. whether that's um through a fishing scam that also is somehow incorporating another means of corporate communications uh to get people onto um a bad URL or um having prompts that are invisible in emails and things of that nature.
So um it was very interesting to see. This isn't more or less my prediction um for the next quarter, but I I do believe that yeah, AI agents rather than just general give me AI and let me have AI and everything is really what we are kind of shifting to in the channel. >> I love what you said about shadow AI being such a problem and that being an inspiration for this particular solution that is being offered by Proof Point because you're right. I mean, how many of us have chatbt, Claude, notebook, LM, all of those things running our computers right now?
And this is not me trying to tip off our IT department to come and poke around at any of those, but if you're not going to have a consistent, consolidated place where everybody is using an LLM that they were approved to do, they're going to go rogue and they're going to test them all out and they're going to use them for anything they want. So, you got to know what your employees are using when it comes to AI technology. So, I'm interested to hear more about that because as we'll talk about going through the rest of today's recording, AI services are becoming more and more of a prevalent thing.
So, let's actually continue on to talking about that because I want to talk about some of our favorite stories that we covered this quarter. And Victoria, with that in mind, I'd love to toss it over to you because you really enjoyed speaking with Thrive, the the MSP solution provider group that has announced it's it's bringing AI managed services to the market. What was so great about that announcement for you and what exactly are AI managed services? >> Yeah, absolutely.
So, I wanted to give another shout out to the Thrive team. I spoke with CTO Michael Gray ahead of that announcement and we had a great conversation. I think for me, right, we've spent a lot of time covering AI this year. That kind of goes without saying, but what we've spent a lot of time on thus far has been tooling products by this. This is integrated with this. Sometimes it it kind of just shows up in a product that you already have, right? We've seen a lot of those deployments going as well.
Uh but this was a great conversation from the MSP side in saying we know our clients want AI sometimes they don't know what that means though right we've heard that a lot businesses who just kind of from the seauite from the board above the seauite what have you going we need to adopt AI because there's a lot of FOMO in the market and then a service provider like a Thrive goes well okay are you are you ready for AI is your data classified stored secure in the proper ways it needs to be for AI implementations to be successful.
Do you have other security and compliance measures in place to keep yourselves secure? Do your employees know how to use it once you give it to them? What exactly is the it that you're giving to them in the first place? And so I think what what Thrive is really bringing to market is that kind of holistic approach. So instead of just saying to use the Microsoft example because we went there earlier in this episode, okay, you have co-pilot licenses now because client comes to you and says we want co-pilot and you say okay here's co-pilot.
This Thrive's approach is much more well before we get to that point. Let's get you in order. Let's get the house in order. Let's work with you on what you need. Let's work with you on what your goals are. Are you just saying AI or do you have outcomes in mind that we can get you to through technology? this kind of outcome driven selling motion and services model is I think increasingly where the market needs to go to stay relevant and competitive um in the space and so thrive has built an entire system and when Michael and I spoke about it it's based largely in theory on what they've brought to the market in terms of security services and so again seeing that overlap in specialized services that are built around technology but in some ways are technology agnostic right when we say security that could mean about 50,000 different tools it feels at this point.
U but to have those services in place that allows you not just to show up for clients but to provide real business value for those clients and to be a trusted partner in many ways. Um so the conversation was great. It was a wonderful opportunity to to speak to what MSPs can do to remain competitive in this market and in a world of AI. It it felt refreshing to have what felt like a much more tangible practical conversation. Love to hear it. Yeah. And I'm hoping to be able to feature Thrive on an episode in the near future for Channel Insider Partner POV.
So, we'll talk about that information more uh over in my medium, but I encourage you to go read Victoria's beautifully written uh article and check that out because they do have some really cool stuff to say. Uh Jordan, I know that one of your favorite uh pieces that you got to write this quarter is about your other passion, which is sports. Can you tell us how you were able to relate the NFL and the kickoff of the season to the IT channel? Um, yeah.
So, you've already dropped two sports references uh in this episode and >> like one and a half. The the first one was not great. >> That's, you know, we love sports and we don't care. Who knows? Um, having written about the channel um, for a little over a year now, I have still somewhat struggled to describe to people outside of the industry what the channel actually is. And um, when you get down to it, it really is a it really is an ecosystem that affects a lot of people um, even if they don't even realize it.
Uh, and writing about the NFL and some of our favorite football teams is really a way that I thought would be an accessible way to kind of explain um like, hey, these are how um these 32 individual businesses uh can actually utilize the channel to help them um elevate fan experience um to modernize from like tape to digital. Um, and to help utilize AI powered technologies to make their facilities um, more greatly improved. Katie, you stole my movie reference before.
I don't know if you even realized it. Uh, it was when we were talking about the retirements just when I thought I was out. They pulled me back in. Aluccino Godfather 3. Well, Al Paccino any given Sunday once said that football is a game of inches. And through this article, I have kind of helped explain how teams can gain those extra inches to help win, to help succeed on game days, to help succeed in the off season, and um really how to help understand the channel a little bit more.
Uh and I just love writing about football and throwing in some football puns into an article. So, I I am so happy that we could do that for you, too, because if there's anything we want to give you, it's an outlet to make football and movie puns. We love that, Jordan. You can go and read that awesome article on Channel Insider right now. And it was so much fun. It was It was really fun to see the reactions on LinkedIn and the various platforms we we shared that on too, Jordan, because I think it reinvigorates everybody that is in this space to remember, oh yeah, we're a part of something so much bigger.
And sometimes it's a lot of fun to talk about. >> Yeah, like I said, it's the channel impacts a lot of people. Um, sometimes when I'm just speaking with my friends about their work and they tell me about some of the systems that they're operating and I'm like, "Oh yeah, like I've literally just written about that or I know exactly what you're talking about." Uh, whether that's Salesforce or Crowd Strike, something like that. So, >> I'll talk about my favorite story that I got to talk about in this quarter, which was the channel insider partner POV interview that I did with LSU and the managed service provider Techstream.
This was so much fun and thank you so much to Victoria for helping me catalyze this what was an article into uh a video interview and podcast because I really loved being able to talk to Craig Woolly, the CIO of Louisiana State University as well as Rob Jansen, the CEO of Techstream Solutions at the same time uh to explore their partnership in which essentially they helped Louisiana State University build studentrun security operations centers. which was so cool just on the surface level of finding out that this was something they put together, but they also turned it into a framework for other schools to adopt and they've already started helping other schools do that.
So, it's at several campuses right now. Students literally, if you couldn't pick it up from how I described it, they run those security operations centers. And what's great is they do make money and they also get real world experience because they literally are an extension of Techstream. They do it of course during the hours of like 9 to5 and on those days where they don't have classes. So it's important to point that out that nobody is is making these students work in conditions that require them to not go to class anymore.
They are very much still students but they are getting such realworld experience and it's also helping the school be able to meet its cyber security needs without breaking the bank. Uh, I remember talking to to Craig, the the CIO, and asking him very bluntly, are colleges and universities in the US a target for bad actors? And he said, yes, 100%. It's very scary out there. The bad actors are not going to avoid a school just because they might not have the best security system because they can't pay for it or they can't afford it.
They're actually going to target it more because of that, because of the rich data that they have behind closed doors. So, it was really interesting to hear how when he came onto the position, he said, "I have this crazy idea. His higher-ups let him do it, let him explore it." He was able to get in touch with Techstream. And Techstream was so all about creating this program instead of just saying, "Why don't you just pay us money and we'll do it for you?" Because that wasn't the point to begin with.
So, I loved hearing about this. What really made the interview for me and and I want to say that Craig said it on camera. and I hope he did. But he goes, "This is my favorite thing I've ever done in my career is create this this system." And I loved hearing that. That's literally why I do what I do because of stories like this. So, it was just such a beautiful marriage of taking a realworld situation in which you have everything you could possibly want out of a story. an MSP helping out a school, helping out a university, students actually getting real world experience, many of them having a job lined up with Techstream as soon as they graduate.
Textream getting so much help out of this situation as well. And just this beautiful sort of cycle that feeds back on itself. So, as you can tell, I'm all about it. Love to see it and very excited that they took the time to talk to me. And you can check out that interview right now. Well, after this one, of course, but right now on Channel Insider Partner POV, on YouTube, uh, channelinsider.com, and of course, wherever you get your podcasts from, we stream there, too.
All right, folks. So, let's start to wrap things up for today. Let's look ahead and think about what we might expect for the last quarter of 2025. Obviously, it's anybody's guess right now, and I'll be the first to say I think Broadcom's going to say something else. I don't know, but I feel like that's usually a safe bet to say they'll have another announcement. But if there's anything you can kind of pinpoint that you think might come down the pipeline in 2025 while we still have three months left in it, what do you think that's going to be? >> I'll jump in.
This is not this is not a prediction necessarily. This is more me pointing out. I'll bring out my my calendar of dates again. Um, Casso's Daton and IT Nation Connect are two of the biggest channel events that take place certainly in the latter half of the year, if not the whole year. Those both take place relatively soon as of time of of recording and certainly by the time that this interview goes live. uh we can expect I think what we expect every year from those events which is a whole lot of product announcements and also I think a peak behind the curtain at some of the biggest providers of MSP uh technology and support being CASO and and being connectwise in terms of where they're going next.
We've spoken to ConnectWise CEO Manny Rell. You can go and and see those interviews on the site if you have any interest. Um CASSA also recently semi-reently now appointed their new CEO Rana Sukar. Um, we're going to, I think, really start seeing some changes coming from CASSA and from ConnectWise. And maybe change is a strong word. I'm sure they would say that this is an evolution of what they've always been for the channel, but um, frankly, there's more competition in the world of PSA, of RMM, of of certain other solutions that they've long provided. and they're kind of the veteran long-standing companies of the space that, you know, maybe MSPs 5 or 10 years ago couldn't see ever being replaced or ever really being competed against.
And I think that's changing a little bit, whether that's for the better or for the worse. We'll see. Um, but I think they're they're doubling down on their commitments and their investments to continue to remain relevant in a channel that is changing and evolving very quickly. Um, so I'm very interested to see what comes out of those two uh stalwarts of the space, if you will, uh, as we as as they hold their events, but then as we wrap up the year and start to do all of our what's coming in 2026 stories? >> Very well put.
And for you, Jordan, any predictions or anything that you kind of foresee being announced are happening over the next three months, the last three months of this year? I spent a lot of our last quarterly wrapup episode here talking about quantum. So, I'm going to bring it back to that. Um, a couple of weeks ago, I spoke with uh Rebecca Crother. Um, she's the co-founder and uh CEO at Qsecure, which is a PQC company. Um, very smart Stanford grad. Um, very intelligent in speaking about quantum and what to expect from it.
Um, and I think kind of like we've seen with AI security acquisition, uh, like with Crowdstrike acquiring Pangia or KO Networks acquiring AIM security, I think we're going to start to see potentially some quantum acquisitions, maybe following a little bit of the pathway that AI has taken where um, people have brought in AI companies, kind of help them understand what is going on, what they need to protect against uh and then either partnering or just straight up merging.
Um we've already seen some of the giants like Cisco just recently announced a quantum networking software. Uh so it's something that people are going to start working on and Rebecca said it's something people need to if they're not already, they need to start putting in a plan um for tackling quantum security. Uh so if not this quarter, I think in 2026 and beyond, we'll start to see more organizations make that push into the quantum space. Um deadlines are popping up too.
People need to become more uh PQC secure and yeah, I think through either mergers or acquisitions, we'll start seeing that uh pop up more and more. >> Thank you so much, Jordan. All right, folks. That brings us to the end of our time together today. Hey, I really appreciate how much energy and passion you two brought to the interview. Jordan, I especially once again know you like just got back from Proof Point Protect. So, thank you so much for taking this in stride and when this showed up on your calendar for not cursing me out in Slack.
I appreciate it. Not that you would ever do that. >> No, of course not. Happy to pop on. Um, next time though, I feel like I might get some eye patches going instead. Where can we find you presenting yourselves online? If we'd like to connect with each of you, Victoria. >> Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm still on LinkedIn more than the average human needs to be. By all means, feel free to reach out. Uh you can reach out to us directly at news@ channelinsider.com.
We're happy to talk over story pitches. We're happy to take intro calls, happy to learn more about the channel. Um you can reach out to that email or to my LinkedIn if you have news that you maybe aren't comfortable putting behind your name yet, but still want to share. by all means get in touch. Uh we are only as good as the community uh allows us to be. So this is very much a two-way street and would love to connect and continue to hear from people. >> And Jordan, where can we get in touch with you? >> Uh yeah, similarly, uh Jordan Smith on LinkedIn.
Uh you might have to search technology advice, throw that in there as well. Um just to make sure you have the correct one. Um, you can also send uh a direct pitch to me via email. Um, jordan.smithtechnologyadvice.com. >> You can find me at katie.bavos techchnologyadvice.com. You can also find me on LinkedIn, katie pavoso. And of course, if you see partner POV and you would like to be a part of an episode and be interviewed, you can reach out to me at partnerpov channelinsider.com.
Thank you so much once again to Victoria and Jordan for joining me today. And thank you at home for watching or listening to this recap of quarter 3 2025. We'll be back for our Q4 and yearly recap in about 3 months time. Until then, you can check out all episodes of Channel Insider Partner POV on channelinsider.com. You can follow and watch us on YouTube at youtube.com/chaninsider_news and trends. And you can listen to every episode as a podcast wherever you get your podcasts from. Thank you so much for watching. Once again, I'm Katie Baboso and we'll see you next time.
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