Thousands of trusted advisors and managed service providers gathered in Las Vegas March 24-27 for the annual Channel Partners Conference & Expo, co-located with the MSP Summit, to gain insight on the future of the channel partner ecosystem. This event provided channel partners and MSPs with unrivaled networking opportunities and cutting-edge education to help them stay ahead in the rapidly evolving tech landscape. The event featured keynotes by today’s most prominent channel leaders from across the tech industry including T-Mobile, Verizon, Lumen Technologies, AT&T, Ingram, Telarus, Vonage, Threat Locker, GTT and others.

A significant focus of this year's conference was the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity that impacts the entire channel. Sessions and discussions explored how these critical technologies are shaping the future of the channel and feature in services offered by IT providers and trusted advisors. Those topics along with the event’s focus on customer experience (CX), UCaaS, CCaaS, cloud and connectivity drove registered attendance to a record high for the event in the 29th year that Informa has produced it.

Attendees shared an overall bullish outlook for the indirect sales channel, which Canalys chief analyst Jay McBain said is responsible for more than 70% of technology sales—a point he has stressed for months to showcase the power of the channel. In his keynote, Techaisle founder Anurag Agrawal presented data on the channel’s impact on the industry and how partners can increase customer value and revenue by leveraging AI. Speaker after speaker hammered home the channel opportunity for partners of all sizes and market segments. Following McBain’s opening keynote on Monday, Informa and event hosts Kelly Danziger and Bob DeMarzo showed a series of slides featuring partners who have recently closed massive deals with large enterprise customers or made strategic acquisitions in the area of AI. Those partners included New Charter Technologies, Symplicity Communications, E78 and Kairos Data Communications.

Telcos Anticipate Strong Channel Growth

T-Mobile SVP George Fischer, perhaps the highest-ranking industry executive with responsibility for channels, said he expects his company’s channel revenue to grow 50% year-over-year, a sign of how serious large service providers take the channel these days. Fisher said T-Mobile is growing its field capacity fourfold to support partners as it expands its overall portfolio of products available to channel partners.

Verizon channel leader Mark Tina echoed Fischer’s comments. Tina said channel sales are accelerating as Verizon expands its channel offerings. Tina said the time is now to elevate Verizon’s channel strategy and its partners in the technology industry and his company is putting an aggressive plan in place to achieve those goals.

The service provider titans heavily depend on the B2B market and channel for a surge in growth, which should help buoy their legacy technology advisor/agent partners and MSPs they court.

The conference emphasized unlocking new growth opportunities for partners. Attendees had access to premier education sessions designed to help them navigate the changing landscape of IT services and connectivity solutions. These included workshops around business model evolution for MSPs, branding, achieving peak performance, monetizing AI, and sales strategies for senior-level leaders.

Channel Partners Expands Circle of Excellence

Channel Partners unveiled a new and expanded Circle of Excellence Awards ceremony where channel leaders, CEOs and other influential executives were inducted into The Circle.

For channel partners who sell IT services and trusted advisors of connectivity solutions, the key takeaways from this year's event include:

• The growing importance of integrating AI capabilities into service offerings
• The need for enhanced cybersecurity measures and expertise
• Opportunities for growth through new technologies and partnerships
• The value of staying connected with industry trends and peer networks
• Vendors and suppliers are more dependent on channel partners and focused on limiting conflict with internal direct sales force initiatives.

As the technology landscape evolves, events such as the Channel Partners Conference & Expo and MSP Summit remain crucial for staying informed, building relationships, and identifying new opportunities in the ever-changing world of IT and connectivity solutions.

As a veteran of technology and communications conferences, this year’s event stood out to me because of the enthusiasm I witnessed in the channel. It reminded me of the industry’s formative years when there was great enthusiasm for the future with an emphasis on the opportunities versus the challenges. This event also represents the only place where the industry can hear from the entire channel at scale. With thousands of partners in attendance, there were few, if any, who were not optimistic despite a stock market that was selling off in the backdrop and economists growing pessimistic. The reality in Las Vegas was that the channel is alive, well and headed for years of hyper growth.