CompTIA Expands Its Membership in the U.K.

This month, CompTIA welcomes 104 U.K.-based solution provider organizations to its membership fold – a direct result of our recent merger with Accredit UK. These highly skilled and qualified information and communications technology (ICT) professionals all have one thing in common; their organizations have undergone a rigorous audit and assessment of their technical and business practices and have achieved the highest standards of operation, marked by their Accredit UK credential.

I have had the great pleasure of meeting and working with several of these organizations and was struck by certain similarities among them. First, like all of our CompTIA UK Channel Community members, they are committed to networking with their peers and taking advantage of every opportunity to congregate. Compared to the U.S., there are far less opportunities for solution providers in the U.K. to gather and share ideas and experiences. In the U.S., we could probably attend at least one partner, distributor, industry or media event a week. While we all take advantage of these opportunities, we might be a bit jaded on just how powerful they can be for our businesses. The resulting flow of ideas and opportunities from partner events is the lifeblood of our industry.

Second, U.K. solution providers rely more on themselves and each other to grow their businesses. In the U.S., there is the expectation that vendors will provide a packaged solution, technical support, education and training, community events, marketing and, yes, even lead gen. According to CompTIA research, U.S.-based solution providers belong to an average of eight partner programs and report high levels of satisfaction with their vendor-partner relationships. By contrast, U.K.-based solution providers belong to an average of just three partner programs and are decidedly more muted in rating those relationships. For example, nearly two-thirds describe their satisfaction with various vendor benefits as simply “neutral,” while roughly 15 percent on average claim to be dissatisfied.

Typically, the lion’s share of partner resources from U.S. headquartered vendors goes to the U.S. partner base and then the balance of the budget has to be stretched and distributed amongst many global markets. As a result, regional markets operate with a fraction of the resources. Coupled with high expectations on regional sales and growth, vendors develop a myopic focus on the handful of regional partners who drive the majority of revenue.

Long SMB sales cycles and minimum orders make it difficult for vendors to justify the expense of supporting larger, regional partner bases. As a result, U.K. solution providers cannot rely on vendor relationships and partner programs to fuel their businesses. CompTIA hopes to address this issue as we work with our growing UK Channel Community. We are encouraged that more and more U.K. vendors and distributor execs are participating.

We are excited for the Accredit UK standard holders to join our already strong U.K. contingency.  Insight and input from these professionals, committed to best practices in the channel, will be invaluable as we work together to create and grow opportunities available in the U.K. Remember, if you are a CompTIA member, membership extends to global staff. If you have U.K. staff, partners or peers, encourage them to participate in CompTIA UK. Non-members are welcome to participate as well.