Tiffani Bova, Research Director, Gartner (Analyst Chair IT ChannelVision)

Not only has the IT market become a solutions market, but it is also seeing the introduction of technologies and trends that will change the way IT is delivered in the future. What do these trends mean to your business? What should you do today to be ready for tomorrow? In this presentation, you'll hear first hand from a Gartner analyst IT forecasts and predictions, top priorities of CIOs in 2006, key changes in the industry and channel over the next 5 years, what opportunity this change offers and what you need to do to leverage these trends for future success.

Robert M. Cohen BBA, MBA, DBA
President and Business Editor, Founder ChannelLine Advisory Council (CLAC)

The IT Channel is a 25-year old industry that grew-up with high margins, rapidly growing demand and a customer base filled with fear, uncertainty and doubts (FUD) and thus worshipped the enablers of technology. Now, as a maturing industry the IT Channel is faced with rapidly declining margins, a diminishing FUD Factor, significantly lower profits, and distrust throughout. The channel has to redefine itself.

The good news is that end-users rely on channel members. In over 70% of all corporate IT purchases, a channel member is relied on to determine what products and brands are selected. The bad news is that with lower margins everyone is looking for quick solutions. Thus:

• Vendors want distributors to work on smaller margins; add more services and support; take on the credit risk; and push their products, services and solutions down to the VARs. Distributors have responded by providing other services (i.e.: marketing, financing, bundling, etc.) that at high margins to support their core competencies: picking, packing and shipping. Furthermore, Vendors expect Distributors to help them increase their market share whereas Distributors are just as happy with shifting market share from other Distributors to them. This has caused distrust between Vendors and Distributors.
• Vendors view VARs as an extension of their sales force when in fact their passion and expertise lies in deploying IT solutions and fixing IT problems. VARs are techies that find running their business to be a chore and look to Vendor to provide them with leads. This has caused distrust between Vendors and VARs.
• VARs expect the same level of service, support and margins from their distributors that they received when distributors were earning substantially higher margins and don't believe the woes of the Distributors. Distributors believe that VARs shop every order and are only loyal to the buck. This has caused distrust between Distributors and VARs.

• Vendors focus on developing great products, branding them, generating end-user demand programs and collaborating with Distributors on enabling VARs and with VARs on selling solutions to end-users.
• Distributors focus on pick, pack and ship products; providing first line service and support to VARs; financing and VAR enablement.
• VARs focus on putting together and maintaining IT solutions that work, thus replacing end-users FUD with trust and comfort.

Jocelyn Faust, Principal Research Analyst

The SMB market is a potentially lucrative market for channel partners. It is also the subject of intense interest by technology vendors, retailers, direct marketers and solution providers. Please join Gartner SMB Market analyst Joslyn Faust to discuss the latest market trends and best practices that you can leverage to achieve success in the SMB Market. This session will address key issues of major importance:

• What are the overall trends in the SMB market?
• Who are the top vendors and technologies in the SMB market?
• What are the buying behaviors of the SMB market?
• What are key strategies you can use in the SMB market?

Charles Weaver, President, MSPAlliance

This presentation will cover the various avenues and models of providing managed IT services, including an in-depth study on how to migrate or enter the managed services business model.

Wayne Thompson, Director of Research, Technology Evaluation Centers, Inc. (TEC)

With the globalization of the economy, small and medium businesses (SMBs) are increasingly adopting technology solutions to streamline their operations with fewer resources. However, two-thirds of IT projects fail to meet expectations. Based on extensive surveys, this presentation provides a roadmap to assist SMBs in developing, organizing, and prioritizing a best practices set of IT selection criteria.
It will cover how to:

• Avoid common procurement pitfalls
• Use the right selection methodology
• Best practices selection criteria and priorities of SMBs
• The importance of services capabilities, not functionality
• Assessing the elusive cost component

Tricia Wurts, President, Wurts & Associates

Resellers of all types have been conditioned to think of training as a necessary evil based on vendors' program requirements, sales training and certification demands. Today's IT business environment requires that successful resellers take a multi-dimensional approach to training in order to stay competitive and profitable. This session explores:

• Investing in training to ensure business growth - considerations, alternative models and options
• As a revenue-generating service - investment and delivery opportunities
• Optimizing training when it is viewed as a cost of doing business
• Influencing vendor training
• What IT management is requiring from IT product and services providers - and how to train for it