Before you travel to technology events in 2020, make sure you study ChannelE2E's Top 50 Technology Conferences for 2020 list -- unveiled below. The list is based on our our own travels and our ongoing coverage of the IT services market.
Four quick points before you navigate the list:
Now, here are the Top 50 Technology Conferences for 2020 and their potential benefits for MSPs, CSPs, IT consulting firms and channel partners. 1. Amazon re:Inforce 2020 (June 30-July 01). If you can only attend one Amazon-related conference in 2020, we recommend skipping the mainstream AWS re:Invent 2020 and instead head to AWS re:Inforce 2020. Why? Because re:Inforce is focused 100 percent on cloud security services. Dozens of Top 200 MSSPs will surely be on hand for the conference. Also, don't overlook Amazon re:MARS 2020 -- which focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) plus Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics and Space. 2. Auvik Networks Frankly MSP - New Conference (January 14-15): This is a first-time event. Auvik is a fast-growing provider of network monitoring software for MSPs. They're a nimble company with a new show. The conference is positioned as a “new content and networking experience for growth-minded managed service providers.” Auvik Networks develops network-centric RMM (remote monitoring and management) software for MSPs. 3. ASCII IT Success Summits 2020 (Multiple Dates, Cities): These gatherings are designed for VARs and MSPs in the SMB sector. Highly educational with plenty of vendor-to-partner engagement and more. Search our ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for all of the dates and locations.
4. Black Hat USA 2020 (August 1-6) This conference typically attracts about 17,000 to 20,000 InfoSec professionals. The event typically features four days of technical trainings and a two-day main conference featuring briefings and a business hall. 5. Build IT 2020 (May 17-19): This MSP-focused conference is from IT By Design, a well-known provider of NOC (network operations center) and help desk services. This is the conference's first time on our annual list. 6. Channel Partners Conference and Expo 2020 (March 9-12): The March conference expects to attract more than 6,000 attendees – including telecom agents, VARs, MSPs, integrators and service providers. 7. ChannelPro SMB Forum (Multiple Dates): Catch events in Dallas, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Boston.
8. CompTIA ChannelCon 2020 (August 03-05): CompTIA's flagship conference for channel partners typically attracts VARs and MSPs in the SMB sector. However, CompTIA has been working more closely with SaaS-, cloud- and ISV-centric partners in recent years. 9. Cisco Partner Summit 2020 (November 04-06): Cisco's annual partner gathering visits Las Vegas in November. This is a prime opportunity to check out Cisco's continued partner push toward subscription services and recurring revenues. 10. ConnectWise IT Nation Connect 2020 (November 11-13): One of the top year-end conferences for technology solutions providers and MSPs. Also, don't forget about sister events like ConnectWise IT Nation Explore (typically technical in nature). Go to page two for conferences 11 through 20, sorted alphabetically Welcome to page two, featuring conferences 11 through 20, sorted alphabetically Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
11. CPX 360 2020 (January 27-29): A Cybersecurity Summit and Expo hosted by Check Point Software Technologies. 12. DattoCon20 (June 08-10): This is one of the world’s largest annual gatherings of MSPs (managed IT services providers) primarily in the SMB market. A must-go for Datto partners and thousands of MSP ecosystem members. 13. Dell Technologies World 2020 (May 04-07): Michael Dell and the company's executive leadership team will roll out the latest vision statements and strategy across both Dell and EMC during this late May gathering. Expect plenty of activity involving sibling company VMware at the event.
14. D&H Distributing (Multiple Dates): The SMB-friendly distributor hosts multiple regional events throughout the year. Check in directly with D&H for details. 15. Fortinet Accelerate 2020 (Multiple Dates): The cybersecurity company, which works closely with MSSPs, hosts multiple Accelerate events each year. The New York City event is in May 2020, and the Silicon Valley gathering is in November 2020. 16. Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit 2020 (June 01-04): More than 3,500 cybersecurity and risk management professionals are expected to attend. 17. Google Cloud Next 2020 (April 06-08): Dozens of Google Cloud Platform partners now rank among the world's Top 200 Public Cloud MSPs. This is an ideal spot for ISVs and MSPs to learn how to monetize and manage services atop GCP. Bonus: Don't forget the annual Google I/O 2020 conference for developers focused on Chrome, Android, web, mobile and more.
18. HIMSS20 Conference and Exhibition 2020 (March 9-13): The flagship conference for IT professionals and partners in the healthcare industry. Set for March in Orlando. 19. HP Enterprise Discover 2020 (June 23-25): HPE's flagship conference for customers and partners returns to Las Vegas in June. Bonus: Don't forget about Aruba Atmosphere 2020, HPE's event for wireless and networking partners. 20. Ingram Micro Cloud Summit 2020 (May 12-14): Perhaps the largest cloud-centric conference for channel partners, Ingram Micro Cloud Summit typically attracts MSPs and IT service providers. Bonus: Don't forget about the Ingram ONE conference in October. Go to page three for conferences 21 through 30, sorted alphabetically Welcome to page three, featuring conferences 21 through 30, sorted alphabetically Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar. 21. Internet of Things World 2020 (April 6-9): More than 12,500 IT professionals and IoT business leaders typically attend this conference. 22. Kaseya Connect IT Global 2020 (May 04-07): The company's flagship conference for MSPs and midsize enterprise IT managers. Also, don't forget about IT Glue's GlueX 2020. 23. Lenovo Accelerate 2020 (June 16-19): This should offer a timely update on Lenovo's push beyond PCs into the data center. The event was on our list two years ago, but missed the list last year.
24. Marketopia 4u2Grow 2020 (Dates Pending): This is typically a three-day event featuring training sessions, workshops and discussion panels to help MSPs, CSPs and VARs grow their businesses. The 2019 event was in October. Stay tuned for 2020 event details. 25. Microsoft Inspire 2020 (July 19-23): This is the former Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). Microsoft is now inspiring partners to extend from Office 365 to Azure. Also, don't forget about Microsoft Build 2020 (for developers) and Microsoft Ignite 2020 (for customers). 26. Mobile World Congress 2020 (February 24-27): The absolute biggest mobile conference in the world. 27. NRF 2020: National Retail Federation's Big Show 2020 (January 12-14): An ideal conference for any partner focused on the retail vertical. Hosted by the National Retail Federation.
28. Nutanix Next 2020 (June 30-July 2): A top conference for partners focused on hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). 29. Palo Alto Networks Ignite20 (June 3-6): This is the security platform provider's U.S. customer conference. 30. Pax8 Wingman2020 - New Conference (June 3-5): This is a new event from the fast-growing, cloud-focused distributor. Go to page four for conferences 31 through 40, sorted alphabetically Welcome to page four, featuring conferences 31 through 40, sorted alphabetically Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
31. PerchyCon 2020 - New Conference (January 29-31): This is a new MSP cybersecurity conference from Perch Security. 32. Pink20 (February 16-19): A pure IT service management conference. 33. Robin Robins IT Sales and Marketing Boot Camp 2020 (April 08-11): One best-known gatherings of SMB partners focused on sales and marketing strategies.
34. RSA Conference 2020 (February 24-28): One of the largest cybersecurity conferences in the United States. 35. SaaStr Annual 2020 (March 10-12): The conference typically attracts 15,000+ SaaS company founders, venture capitalists (VCs) and executives. 26. Salesforce Dreamforce 2020 (November 19-22): Likely the largest vendor-hosted SaaS business conference in the world. 37. SANS 2020 Cybersecurity Training Conference (April 3-10): A popular series of conferences focused on skills development and training.
38. SAP Sapphire Now 2020 (May 12-14): SAP's flagship conference is more than an enterprise customer gathering. A major SME partner push will also continue. Plus, new co-CEOs and various channel leaders have emerged at the company. 39. ServiceNow Knowledge 2020 (May 03-07): One of the largest events for IT service management — attracting thousands of partners and midmarket MSPs. Additional hot topics of conversation include HR, security and other business automation steps. 40. SMB TechFest (Multiple Dates): Hosted by Dave Seibert, SMB TechFest is a two-day channel partner and technology conference in Southern California. It's held quarterly -- in January, April, July and October. Go to page five for conferences 41 through 50, sorted alphabetically Welcome to page five, featuring conferences 41 through 50, sorted alphabetically Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
41. SolarWinds MSP Empower (Multiple Dates): The company's flagship conference for MSPs. Stay tuned for dates and locations. 42. Synnex Varnex 2020 (Dates to be announced): A popular spring and fall gathering for Synnex partners. 43. Taylor Business Group Big Big 2020 (September 24-26, Scottsdale, Arizona): Taylor Business Group is a well-known organizer of MSP and IT solutions provider peer groups.
44. Tech Data Tech Select 2020 (Multiple Dates): A longstanding gathering of Tech Data partners in both the spring and the fall. 45. TruMethods Schnizzfest 2020 (January 19-21): Still one of my favorite MSP gatherings. The TruMethods team, led by CEO Gary Pica and CTO Bob Penland, host a lively discussion about proper business management, MSP evolution and more. 46. VeeamOn 2020 (May 04-06): One of the largest conferences focused on data protection. Mainly a customer conference, but don't overlook the smart Veeam partners -- particularly CSPs -- at the event. 47. VMware VMworld 2020 (August 30-September 03): Mainly positioned as a customer conference, but there also are plenty of partners on hand at this massive event. Also, don't overlook VMware Partner Leadership Summit, though that's often by invitation only. Plus there's VMware's Carbon Black Connect 2020 for cybersecurity and MSSP partners.
48. Women in CyberSecurity (WiCys) 2020 (March 12-14): This long-established conference hasn't previously surfaced on our list. Organizers have awarded 2,250 student scholarships and 272 faculty lodging grants though sponsorship funding since 2014. 49. Workday Rising 2020 (October 14-17): Workday remains one of the fastest-growing providers of SaaS-based business management software. The conference attracts customers, developers and partners. 50. XChange 2020 (Multiple Dates): Xchange, hosted by The Channel Company, is one of the best-known conferences for channel partners. Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
Four quick points before you navigate the list:
- The list below is sorted alphabetically.
- Only one event per company qualified for the Top 50 list.
- Contact the conference organizer to confirm event dates and location.
- Our expansive ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar lists hundreds of events by month for 2020 and beyond. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
Now, here are the Top 50 Technology Conferences for 2020 and their potential benefits for MSPs, CSPs, IT consulting firms and channel partners. 1. Amazon re:Inforce 2020 (June 30-July 01). If you can only attend one Amazon-related conference in 2020, we recommend skipping the mainstream AWS re:Invent 2020 and instead head to AWS re:Inforce 2020. Why? Because re:Inforce is focused 100 percent on cloud security services. Dozens of Top 200 MSSPs will surely be on hand for the conference. Also, don't overlook Amazon re:MARS 2020 -- which focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) plus Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics and Space. 2. Auvik Networks Frankly MSP - New Conference (January 14-15): This is a first-time event. Auvik is a fast-growing provider of network monitoring software for MSPs. They're a nimble company with a new show. The conference is positioned as a “new content and networking experience for growth-minded managed service providers.” Auvik Networks develops network-centric RMM (remote monitoring and management) software for MSPs. 3. ASCII IT Success Summits 2020 (Multiple Dates, Cities): These gatherings are designed for VARs and MSPs in the SMB sector. Highly educational with plenty of vendor-to-partner engagement and more. Search our ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for all of the dates and locations.
4. Black Hat USA 2020 (August 1-6) This conference typically attracts about 17,000 to 20,000 InfoSec professionals. The event typically features four days of technical trainings and a two-day main conference featuring briefings and a business hall. 5. Build IT 2020 (May 17-19): This MSP-focused conference is from IT By Design, a well-known provider of NOC (network operations center) and help desk services. This is the conference's first time on our annual list. 6. Channel Partners Conference and Expo 2020 (March 9-12): The March conference expects to attract more than 6,000 attendees – including telecom agents, VARs, MSPs, integrators and service providers. 7. ChannelPro SMB Forum (Multiple Dates): Catch events in Dallas, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Boston.
8. CompTIA ChannelCon 2020 (August 03-05): CompTIA's flagship conference for channel partners typically attracts VARs and MSPs in the SMB sector. However, CompTIA has been working more closely with SaaS-, cloud- and ISV-centric partners in recent years. 9. Cisco Partner Summit 2020 (November 04-06): Cisco's annual partner gathering visits Las Vegas in November. This is a prime opportunity to check out Cisco's continued partner push toward subscription services and recurring revenues. 10. ConnectWise IT Nation Connect 2020 (November 11-13): One of the top year-end conferences for technology solutions providers and MSPs. Also, don't forget about sister events like ConnectWise IT Nation Explore (typically technical in nature). Go to page two for conferences 11 through 20, sorted alphabetically Welcome to page two, featuring conferences 11 through 20, sorted alphabetically Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
11. CPX 360 2020 (January 27-29): A Cybersecurity Summit and Expo hosted by Check Point Software Technologies. 12. DattoCon20 (June 08-10): This is one of the world’s largest annual gatherings of MSPs (managed IT services providers) primarily in the SMB market. A must-go for Datto partners and thousands of MSP ecosystem members. 13. Dell Technologies World 2020 (May 04-07): Michael Dell and the company's executive leadership team will roll out the latest vision statements and strategy across both Dell and EMC during this late May gathering. Expect plenty of activity involving sibling company VMware at the event.
14. D&H Distributing (Multiple Dates): The SMB-friendly distributor hosts multiple regional events throughout the year. Check in directly with D&H for details. 15. Fortinet Accelerate 2020 (Multiple Dates): The cybersecurity company, which works closely with MSSPs, hosts multiple Accelerate events each year. The New York City event is in May 2020, and the Silicon Valley gathering is in November 2020. 16. Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit 2020 (June 01-04): More than 3,500 cybersecurity and risk management professionals are expected to attend. 17. Google Cloud Next 2020 (April 06-08): Dozens of Google Cloud Platform partners now rank among the world's Top 200 Public Cloud MSPs. This is an ideal spot for ISVs and MSPs to learn how to monetize and manage services atop GCP. Bonus: Don't forget the annual Google I/O 2020 conference for developers focused on Chrome, Android, web, mobile and more.
18. HIMSS20 Conference and Exhibition 2020 (March 9-13): The flagship conference for IT professionals and partners in the healthcare industry. Set for March in Orlando. 19. HP Enterprise Discover 2020 (June 23-25): HPE's flagship conference for customers and partners returns to Las Vegas in June. Bonus: Don't forget about Aruba Atmosphere 2020, HPE's event for wireless and networking partners. 20. Ingram Micro Cloud Summit 2020 (May 12-14): Perhaps the largest cloud-centric conference for channel partners, Ingram Micro Cloud Summit typically attracts MSPs and IT service providers. Bonus: Don't forget about the Ingram ONE conference in October. Go to page three for conferences 21 through 30, sorted alphabetically Welcome to page three, featuring conferences 21 through 30, sorted alphabetically Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar. 21. Internet of Things World 2020 (April 6-9): More than 12,500 IT professionals and IoT business leaders typically attend this conference. 22. Kaseya Connect IT Global 2020 (May 04-07): The company's flagship conference for MSPs and midsize enterprise IT managers. Also, don't forget about IT Glue's GlueX 2020. 23. Lenovo Accelerate 2020 (June 16-19): This should offer a timely update on Lenovo's push beyond PCs into the data center. The event was on our list two years ago, but missed the list last year.
24. Marketopia 4u2Grow 2020 (Dates Pending): This is typically a three-day event featuring training sessions, workshops and discussion panels to help MSPs, CSPs and VARs grow their businesses. The 2019 event was in October. Stay tuned for 2020 event details. 25. Microsoft Inspire 2020 (July 19-23): This is the former Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). Microsoft is now inspiring partners to extend from Office 365 to Azure. Also, don't forget about Microsoft Build 2020 (for developers) and Microsoft Ignite 2020 (for customers). 26. Mobile World Congress 2020 (February 24-27): The absolute biggest mobile conference in the world. 27. NRF 2020: National Retail Federation's Big Show 2020 (January 12-14): An ideal conference for any partner focused on the retail vertical. Hosted by the National Retail Federation.
28. Nutanix Next 2020 (June 30-July 2): A top conference for partners focused on hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). 29. Palo Alto Networks Ignite20 (June 3-6): This is the security platform provider's U.S. customer conference. 30. Pax8 Wingman2020 - New Conference (June 3-5): This is a new event from the fast-growing, cloud-focused distributor. Go to page four for conferences 31 through 40, sorted alphabetically Welcome to page four, featuring conferences 31 through 40, sorted alphabetically Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
31. PerchyCon 2020 - New Conference (January 29-31): This is a new MSP cybersecurity conference from Perch Security. 32. Pink20 (February 16-19): A pure IT service management conference. 33. Robin Robins IT Sales and Marketing Boot Camp 2020 (April 08-11): One best-known gatherings of SMB partners focused on sales and marketing strategies.
34. RSA Conference 2020 (February 24-28): One of the largest cybersecurity conferences in the United States. 35. SaaStr Annual 2020 (March 10-12): The conference typically attracts 15,000+ SaaS company founders, venture capitalists (VCs) and executives. 26. Salesforce Dreamforce 2020 (November 19-22): Likely the largest vendor-hosted SaaS business conference in the world. 37. SANS 2020 Cybersecurity Training Conference (April 3-10): A popular series of conferences focused on skills development and training.
38. SAP Sapphire Now 2020 (May 12-14): SAP's flagship conference is more than an enterprise customer gathering. A major SME partner push will also continue. Plus, new co-CEOs and various channel leaders have emerged at the company. 39. ServiceNow Knowledge 2020 (May 03-07): One of the largest events for IT service management — attracting thousands of partners and midmarket MSPs. Additional hot topics of conversation include HR, security and other business automation steps. 40. SMB TechFest (Multiple Dates): Hosted by Dave Seibert, SMB TechFest is a two-day channel partner and technology conference in Southern California. It's held quarterly -- in January, April, July and October. Go to page five for conferences 41 through 50, sorted alphabetically Welcome to page five, featuring conferences 41 through 50, sorted alphabetically Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
41. SolarWinds MSP Empower (Multiple Dates): The company's flagship conference for MSPs. Stay tuned for dates and locations. 42. Synnex Varnex 2020 (Dates to be announced): A popular spring and fall gathering for Synnex partners. 43. Taylor Business Group Big Big 2020 (September 24-26, Scottsdale, Arizona): Taylor Business Group is a well-known organizer of MSP and IT solutions provider peer groups.
44. Tech Data Tech Select 2020 (Multiple Dates): A longstanding gathering of Tech Data partners in both the spring and the fall. 45. TruMethods Schnizzfest 2020 (January 19-21): Still one of my favorite MSP gatherings. The TruMethods team, led by CEO Gary Pica and CTO Bob Penland, host a lively discussion about proper business management, MSP evolution and more. 46. VeeamOn 2020 (May 04-06): One of the largest conferences focused on data protection. Mainly a customer conference, but don't overlook the smart Veeam partners -- particularly CSPs -- at the event. 47. VMware VMworld 2020 (August 30-September 03): Mainly positioned as a customer conference, but there also are plenty of partners on hand at this massive event. Also, don't overlook VMware Partner Leadership Summit, though that's often by invitation only. Plus there's VMware's Carbon Black Connect 2020 for cybersecurity and MSSP partners.
48. Women in CyberSecurity (WiCys) 2020 (March 12-14): This long-established conference hasn't previously surfaced on our list. Organizers have awarded 2,250 student scholarships and 272 faculty lodging grants though sponsorship funding since 2014. 49. Workday Rising 2020 (October 14-17): Workday remains one of the fastest-growing providers of SaaS-based business management software. The conference attracts customers, developers and partners. 50. XChange 2020 (Multiple Dates): Xchange, hosted by The Channel Company, is one of the best-known conferences for channel partners. Don't forget: The entire ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for 2020 and beyond is here. Also, find cybersecurity conferences on the MSSP Alert Event Calendar.
Also On Our Radar
We track hundreds of partner events. Some of the events below appeared on our previous Top 50 annual lists. So, why didn't the events below make our 2020 must-attend list? Here are some thoughts... 1. Citrix Summit 2020: Citrix has had executive, business and market focus shifts in recent years. The company remains a key channel player but the summit doesn't quite quality for our Top 50 list this year. 2. Continuum Navigate: ConnectWise acquired Continuum in November 2019, and we're waiting to hear if the Navigate conferences will proceed in 2020 or simply tuck into ConnectWise's IT Nation series. 3. DockerCon: Docker never found a path to profitability, and the company was recently acquired at a fire sale price. 4. IBM Think 2020 (May 04-07): IBM rolled its PartnerWorld conference and several other events into this Think format a few years back. We attended in 2018 and learned quite a bit, but haven't heard much progress from the company in the midmarket and below on the channel partner front. On a related note, keep an eye on Red Hat Summit 2020 (April 27-29) -- which is crucial to IBM's multi-cloud partner strategy. 5. Oktane20 (March 30-April 02): This is the annual Okta customer conference, focused on Identity and Access Management. But not quite high-enough profile for us to book a flight... 6. Oracle OpenWorld 2020 (October 05-09): The massive event typically features a partner day gathering during the conference's opening day. And Oracle remains a key partner to big systems integrators, ISVs and boutique application specialists. But Oracle's channel energy hasn't quite been the same dating all the way back to Judson Althoff's departure in 2013. 7. Spiceworks SpiceWorld: A popular gathering for IT professionals that use the Spiceworks IT management platform. The company was recently acquired and we'll be watching to see if or how SpiceWorld evolves in 2020. 8. Splunk .conf: Splunk’s tools provide operational intelligence to improve customers’ business performance and cybersecurity. The offerings are increasingly popular with service providers and security-centric MSPs. We attended the event in 2018 and learned plenty. But we haven't seen enough to make Splunk.conf crack our Top 50 list for 2020.Conference Dates to be Announced...
PS: We're waiting on the the following companies to confirm their 2020 event dates and locations:- CrowdStrike Fal.Con 2020
- Cybereason Deep 2020
- F8: The Facebook Developer Conference
- Qualys Cybersecurity Conference (February 2020 but exact dates undisclosed)
- McAfee MPower
- New Relic FutureStack
- Secureworks Access
