...but CompTIA’s New Channel Standards Provide a Clearer Path.
Your business is not just investment. If you’ve been working at it for anytime, it’s likely become a career and lifestyle for you and your employees, and often plays an even bigger role in your lives with each passing year. Over time, more and more people begin to count on your business and have a stake in its long-term success, from your work force and their families to your clients (and their dependents) and in many cases, their customers. An IT services organization is that important in today’s increasingly tech-reliant world.
That may seem like a lot of pressure for a small business owner to take on. But it’s something MSPs and VARs do every day, striving as hard as possible and learning as much as they can to get build a successful organization. Unfortunately, even those who work 20-hour days and invest their life savings can find themselves falling behind if they don’t have the right plans and systems in place. While IT professionals typically excel at developing and testing complex technologies, they often struggle when it comes to managing their own businesses. Many willingly admit that their organizational skills are rarely on par with their IT proficiencies. They have to work much harder in order to master (or at least improve) that part of their business and most are willing to take those steps̶ but may not know where or how to start.
The CompTIA team is ready, willing and able to help there. Our members, subject experts and employees have been actively creating and compiling industry best practices for building IT services businesses for years. We’ve drafted scores of training materials and educational resources to address the unique and specific needs of IT providers, from fundamental ‘how-to’ guides on developing a new practice to the more advanced financial management workshops. Thanks to the generosity and expertise of members, all of this information is available at little-to-no cost to you, and it’s updated frequently to meet the continually changing needs of organizations like yours.
Through certification, channel education and its advocacy efforts, CompTIA continues to support and encourage the growth and improvement of Solution Providers as it has for decades. And now, at the request of our Board of Directors, thought leaders and other industry professionals, the association is taking its commitment one step further.
CompTIA Channel Standards represent the culmination of all our activities and efforts. This collection of guides, resources and business practices for IT companies is designed to improve the quality and consistency of the IT channel and its service delivery methods. CompTIA Channel Standards identify expert opinions on the fundamentals of IT operations and provide the tools required to embrace and enact those specific practices. And this will not be a “one-and-done” proposition. Our goal is to not only develop these usable resources for the IT industry, but to update them regularly to keep pace with the changing needs of providers and their clients.
Build a Solid Foundation
The Channel Standards program will let CompTIA take a more “open book” approach to connecting members and other providers with all the information they need. The format was designed to enable any and all IT entrepreneurs to review and implement these peer-developed best practices into their own businesses. The end goal is to promote the behaviors tech companies can adopt to ensure their greater organizational and customer success. When you prosper, your customers will typically gain access to even better solutions and support. That helps our entire industry advance, creating a real win-win-win opportunity.
How does it work? First of all, all our collective knowledge will be organized into a framework that everyone can easily follow, starting with the IT Solution Provider Channel Standards we just introduced at last month’s CompTIA Annual Member Meeting. These are the core best practices of a successful technology services business, from lead generation and customer relations to delivery and operations (not to mention management and strategy recommendations).
The real question many are probably asking right now is “how will the CompTIA Channel Standards help me?” The answer, for most, is three-fold:
- Self-evaluation of the business. A companion Workbook is part of the program, allowing providers to have those crucial internal conversations that drive improvement. It will help them to identify areas of strength and those that need upgrades, with specific recommendations that, if implemented properly, should produce positive effects.
- Engage with education and resources available. CompTIA’s Insights and Tools and Education resources can be tied to each of the Channel Standards. Many of these materials and tools are free of charge, but our Premier Members have open access to use and leverage the entire portfolio.
- Demonstrate Compliance. This final point applies to the upcoming Cybersecurity Channel Standard and the existing Security Trustmark+, which includes an independent assessment of adherence based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. By shifting our focus to the preparation and application of security best practices, regulatory compliance is more sensible and achievable than ever.
As I mentioned. CompTIA’s IT Solution Provider Channel Standards are foundational. Over the next few months, we’ll introduce a few other designed to help VARs and MSPs enhance their business specializations. Those “concentrations” include:
- Managed Services
- Managed Print Provider
- Advanced Digital Solutions
- Cybersecurity
One goal of the new CompTIA Channel Standards is to ensure Solution Providers have a clear path to the future. With the lightening-fast technology innovations and shifting needs of the business community, IT services firms simply have to get better at what they do…or at some point, they won’t be doing it anymore. Channel Standards will give them that “roadmap to improvement” and can logically connect them to the most relevant resources that will get them there.
The Channel Standard and accompanying Workbook are free to download, so there is no risk and loads of potential benefits. You may find your business is in need of a little attention behind the scenes, or maybe learn you’re a step ahead of your peers. Either way, that knowledge can be leveraged for planning, service delivery, differential marketing, sales, and helping your clients achieve their goals.
The gauntlet has been thrown. Will the channel rise to the occasion? Success is there for the taking…
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