Brian Sherman Posts

I often wonder if the old spring phrase should be amended to “April tradeshows bring May flowers.” That one word substitution makes the adage quite true, as this month typically signals the kickoff to the IT channel events season. After attending an industry conference, solution providers typically come home charged and ready to make changes in their business, from new technology and service offerings to training and business development programs.Going back to the old phrase, attendance at April ...

In his keynote at CompTIA AMM, Daniel Burrus, futurist and CEO of Burrus Research, engaged the audience with seven radical principals to accelerate growth and transform your business. Rather than continue doing the things that bog us down, taking a fresh approach to overcome issues is one of his suggestions. For example, Burrus proposes that if you have a problem, just skip it. Chances are what you consider to be the problem is often not the real concern, so shifting your focus elsewhere could l ...

The term “Hall of Fame” is used across all facets of our lives, including business, sports and communities, but its significance is rarely acknowledged properly. In many cases, the designation is given to a set number of individuals each year, even during periods when few actually deserve it. Over time, this diminishes the value of the hall of fame, and those who truly are worthy of the honor.While this dilemma plays out in other industries, CompTIA is looking to continue and build on the legacy ...

While the United States government is faced with a potential shut down this week, when a new budget in eventually passed, small businesses can profit from knowing how to navigate their way through the red tape. That task sounds daunting, but a basic understanding of the shortcuts will allow VARs and MSPs to cultivate business from a number of agencies in the federal government. Our Small Business Owners Community members were given an educational primer on how to accomplish that in their CompTIA ...

While it’s not really news to most, the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting (AMM) kicks off next week (April 6-7) at the Swissôtel in downtown Chicago. This second annual event is packed with educational sessions, collaborative community meetings and a lot of peer networking. For vendors, associations and solutions providers, these types of events have become critical to their long term goals, between the complexity of new business models and the rapid advancements in technology.Without the collaborat ...

Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing wrong with change, if it’s in the right direction.” How prophetic a statement that was, and continues to be in today’s IT channel. Almost every week an announcement touts a major acquisition or merger and, while some of these deals may seem inconsequential, the sum total of all these changes is altering the channel landscape significantly. Many of these corporate unions bring benefits for solution providers, such as more comprehensive solution and s ...

The global technology industry is extremely interconnected and depends on a number of “cogs” to work in synch. That becomes particularly evident when a catastrophe strikes a key world IT collaborator, as happened last week with the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. Our first and foremost concern is for the health and safety of all those affected, especially with the mass cleanup and overwhelming nuclear power plant issues the Japanese people are facing. This week’s column is a bit differ ...

Do you remember the days when the IT channel consisted simply of companies reselling hardware and software to customers? While a number of organizations still provide that service—and make money doing it—the overall technology market has changed significantly. These traditional transactions have become more of a commodity these days, as prices and margins declined with customers shopping online and purchasing directly from vendors to get what they believe is the best value. While t ...

When you started your IT services business, did you have a detailed document that walked you through best practices and alerted you to the pitfalls you could encounter along the way? If your experience was similar to that of most VARs and MSPs I know, the answer would be a resounding NO! Most of the successful entrepreneurs in the IT channel built their businesses the old fashioned way; through trial and error. While there are a number of reasons why most companies fail, those who receive advice ...

While the process of answering the phone hasn’t changed a lot over the years, the technology behind the call has transformed significantly—especially for businesses. Efficiency and productivity are being taken to new heights with the latest unified communications (UC) solutions, connecting a myriad of applications and account management platforms to reduce the time required to manage customer calls. Both the technology and business applications continue to advance, which was confirmed by two of ...