ChannelPro-SMB, the premier source of IT and business insights for SMB solution providers, gathered channel experts, top vendors, and IT solution providers on September 12 and 13 in Long Beach, Calif., to discuss business strategies that can be implemented immediately to get channel partners on the quickest road to business success. It is ChannelPro-SMB‘s third of four events in this calendar year.
With a 2017 theme of “Fast Lane to Success Tour,” these live events deliver the financial, sales, marketing, and operational insights to succeed in today’s fast-paced, competitive business environment. See our photo gallery of the event here.
The full-day event for channel resellers, integrators, consultants, and cloud and managed service providers offered interactive, in-depth conversations with some of the industry’s top channel pros and industry experts who have pioneered growth-oriented and highly profitable businesses. A showcase of SMB vendor solutions provided additional learning opportunities and enabled channel pros to get one-on-one advice on employing new technologies and services to better serve their clients and their own businesses.
The event got underway on Tuesday, September 12, with a half-day workshop by SolarWinds MSP on key industry trends and highlights of the company’s on-premises and cloud-based solutions, followed by a welcome cocktail reception for vendors, speakers, and attendees.
On Wednesday, September 13, event sessions presented by well-known channel experts included:
- Profiting from Channel Convergence, on the convergence of the IT, telco, and print channels and how it can help attendees grow their businesses.
- Valuation-Boosting Business Management Secrets, in which experienced M&A consultants explained how businesses are valuated and the steps to take now to maximize your selling price when you’re ready to cash out.
- Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know about Customers … but Were Afraid to Ask, which delved into what clients really think of their IT providers’ advice and sales presentation skills and what can be done to gain more of their trust—and business.
- Specializing in Security, an exploration of the risks and rewards of creating a specialized security practice and tips on the technologies to employ.
- And a unique hardware-oriented game show that enabled attendees to showcase their knowledge of the current and near-future hardware market.
At the sponsor showcase, attendees discussed the latest solutions for their SMB clients with leading vendors as well as networked with their peers.
The 20, the event’s Premier Gold sponsor, presented the morning keynote. Gold sponsors for the event were Avast Business, Cytracom LLC, Data Deposit Box Inc., Datto Inc., Eaton Corp., Ingram Micro Inc., MSP SEO Factory LLC, SolarWinds MSP, SYNNEX Corp., and Webroot Inc.
Silver sponsors included Autotask Corp., Axiom Memory Solutions, Axis Communications, Beachhead Solutions Inc., Buffalo Americas Inc., ChannelOnline, Core 3 Technologies, Epson America Inc., Equal Optics, Greenlink Networks, Manuel Palachuk International, Marketopia, net2phone Inc., Neat, NewWave Technologies Inc., Ninja MSP, Ooma Inc., Pax 8 Inc., PC Matic Pro, Proofpoint, RapidFire Tools Inc., SherWeb, Small Biz Thoughts, SMB Nation, SMB TechFest, SPC International, Soliton Cyber & Analytics, Tech Data Corp., Vertical Axion, and VIPRE.
The event concluded with attendees honoring vendor sponsors with the following awards:
- Best Selfie Video: Pax 8
- Best Solution Presentation, Gold: Datto
- Best Solution Presentation, Silver: Epson
- Best On-Stage Presentation: The 20 and Cytracom (tie)
- Best Add-on Product: Data Deposit Box and Webroot (tie)
- Best New Solution: Data Deposit Box
- Best Revenue Booster: RapidFire Tools
- Best Software Solution: Avast Business
- Best Hardware Solution: Datto
- Most Innovative Solution: Webroot
- Best Cloud Solution: SherWeb
- Best Partner Community: SolarWinds MSP and SYNNEX (tie)
- Best Distributor: SYNNEX
- Best in Show: The 20
The next ChannelPro SMB Forum event is heading east to the New York-New Jersey metro area, on November 2, 2017, in Iselin, N.J. To ensure that everyone at the ChannelPro SMB Forums can freely participate in the conversation, seating at each event has been limited. Interested parties should register immediately at http://www.ChannelProForum.com.
“Attendees from across the channel ecosystem have a unique opportunity at our forum events to learn the business-building secrets of successful MSPs and VARs who have paved the way for their success,” said Michael Siggins, vice president and publisher of ChannelPro-SMB. “They also can learn about innovative solutions from SMB-focused vendors in the two-hour showcase to help meet the growing IT needs of their clients and prospects.”
Interested sponsors should contact Joel Zaidspiner at 561-422-5119 or Lisa Sherman at 917-388-9531. More sponsorship info can be found at: http://ChannelProForum.com/sponsors/how-to-sponsor.
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