Scaling a business has never been as simple as adding customers, employees and technology. But as service providers face rapidly changing technology, growing cybersecurity responsibilities and increasingly complex customer demands, going it alone is becoming even less practical.
That was one of the clearest messages to emerge from ChannelCon powered by GTIA 2026, held Aug. 3-5, in San Diego. The Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA) brought together MSPs, IT service providers, vendors, distributors and consultants for three days of education, networking and a Technology Vendor Fair featuring more than 160 vendors.
GTIA dubbed this year’s theme “The Channel Effect.” The emphasis was on how relationships and collaboration can help channel companies grow. For MSPs trying to scale, those relationships go beyond a conference benefit. They are a business strategy.
MSPs can’t do everything themselves
The need for stronger partnerships was evident in both ChannelCon’s programming and several initiatives GTIA announced during the event:
- GTIA Local Chapters, a new member-led networking program with 16 chapters already forming worldwide. Groups in Adelaide and Sydney, Australia; Arizona; and Toronto had already held meetings prior to the conference.
- A partnership with CompTIA to provide AI Essentials training and competency certificates as a membership benefit.
- The Managed Intelligence Alliance, a member-driven initiative to develop standards for managed AI services.
- The Consortium for Responsible IT Services, launched with Texas A&M University’s Global Cyber Research Institute to establish industry standards and a self-regulatory organization for IT service providers.
- A partnership with the United Nations’ AI for Good initiative to host AI innovation events in the U.S. and United Kingdom.
- A new AI and cyber resource center that will launch in the GTIA member portal later this year.
GTIA Chief Channel Officer Nancy Hammervik said the immediate interest in the association’s new Local Chapters program reflected partners’ desire to connect with one another more frequently. “We’re at such an inflection point in the channel where people realize, ‘I need to speak to my people. I need to lean on them, partner with them, exchange knowledge and best practices with them.’”
Networking with other channel pros was a priority for ChannelCon attendees.
Interest in the Local Chapters built even during the event. During a press briefing, GTIA Chief Community Officer MJ Shoer said the number had already climbed to more than 20 as more members volunteered to form chapters. The GTIA-funded, member-led model requires 10 members to serve as “chapter champions” to launch a group. Members have flexibility in defining chapter geography and operations. “The initial response has exceeded our expectations,” Shoer added.
That enthusiasm for more local connections reflects a broader challenge for MSPs. They’re being asked to develop expertise around cybersecurity, compliance, consulting and AI while still managing day-to-day business demands. That makes peer-to-peer partnering increasingly necessary, said Carolyn April, GTIA vice president of research and market intelligence. “It is going to be impossible to do everything as one company, for many of the smaller firms especially.”
That reality also underscores the value of ChannelCon’s vendor expo and peer networking opportunities. Scaling doesn’t require an MSP to build every capability internally. It can mean knowing which services to specialize in, which technologies to adopt and which partners can fill the gaps.
Trust raises the bar for MSPs
MSPs are taking on more responsibility for how their customers use technology. As MSPs assume greater responsibility for customers’ use of AI, cybersecurity and compliance technologies, expectations around governance and trust are rising.
That’s where initiatives such as the Managed Intelligence Alliance and GTIA’s consortium with Texas A&M University come in. The alliance — initially the brainchild of Pax8 — is focused on standards for managed AI services. The consortium is taking a broader look at responsible IT services and industry self-regulation.
Ann Westerheim
“Trust is going to become the biggest factor in MSPs’ relationships with their customers,” Shoer said. “Trust is going to be fundamental to everything.”
For MSPs, maintaining that trust will require more than selecting the right tools. Ann Westerheim, founder and president of Boston-area MSP Ekaru, said service providers need to help customers use technology to advance their businesses. It goes beyond simply keeping their clients’ IT environments running.
“If we’re doing our job well, we’re not just keeping the lights on with technology. We’re actually enabling technology that’s going to make the business more successful,” said Westerheim, who also was a presenter at a ChannelCon cybersecurity workshop.
That trusted-adviser role becomes more important as the technologies MSPs manage become more consequential to their customers’ operations. That includes recognizing when they need outside expertise to deliver services more effectively.
Member of the Year puts partnership into practice
(From left): Scott Barlow, Brook Lee, MJ Shoer and Dan Wensley
ChannelCon also offered a real-world example of the partnership philosophy GTIA spent the week promoting. The organization named Brook Lee, senior director of community for Rev.io, its 2026 Member of the Year. The award recognizes service, leadership and impact within the association’s community. The honor is based on peer nominations.
Lee emphasized how much relationships within the channel have shaped her own journey. It explains her commitment to making introductions, helping people find resources and connecting MSPs with others who can help solve a problem or create an opportunity. It’s a simple idea, but an increasingly important one for MSPs. Those connections can strengthen individual businesses as well as the ecosystem.
“I would not be where I’m at in my career if it was not for a lot of people in this room,” Lee said during the award presentation ceremony. “Being able to find your people is such a big part of this community. … That’s the same reason why I love GTIA and this community.”
Lee’s approach reflected the broader message of ChannelCon: Partnership works when people actively put their networks to work for one another.
Turning community into business value
Ultimately, the value of an event such as ChannelCon is what happens afterward. It is in the connections made during sessions and what MSPs do with the business cards they collected on the expo floor.
Ron Howard (right) describes the importance of leaders making real connections with people.
That collaborative mindset surfaced during “A Conversation with Ron Howard,” featuring the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, director and producer. Howard described bringing together people with different areas of expertise and giving them opportunities to contribute to a shared goal.
“I treat them all like they’re filmmaking collaborators,” Howard told the crowd. “They’re going to help tell the story from their position of expertise.”
Meanwhile, at the beginning of the event, GTIA CEO Dan Wensley urged attendees to treat ChannelCon as a business advantage. Ask the questions they needed answered, meet someone they didn’t know and have candid conversations with partners about how they could work better together.
For MSPs seeking to scale, growth doesn’t require becoming an expert at everything. Increasingly, it requires knowing what your business does well, where its capabilities end and where the right relationship can extend them.
At a time when the channel is changing quickly, the MSPs best positioned to grow may be the ones that understand they don’t have to do it alone.
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Anjali Fluker is managing editor of The ChannelPro Network, where she covers news, trends and best practices for the MSP community. She specializes in telling the stories that matter to IT providers serving the SMB market. When she’s not reporting on the latest in managed services, she’s connecting with channel pros at industry events across the country.
Images: Anjali Fluker/ChannelPro, Ann Westerheim
