The former CompTIA Community is a busy group this month, rebranding and renaming itself as the GTIA, continuing its search for a new CEO to lead it, and charging ahead to drive and embrace its mission as a strong trade association for the global IT channel and MSP industry.
The new GTIA moniker – the Global Technology Industry Association – was born out of its roots as an arm of CompTIA, a 42-year-old non-profit 501(c)(6) organization that provides global IT training and certifications while also maintaining a long-respected trade association for its global members.
But in November 2024, CompTIA announced that it was being acquired by two private equity firms – H.I.G. Capital and Thoma Bravo – in a deal that split the organization into a for-profit CompTIA certification and training business unit and the now separate non-profit trade association, which gets the GTIA name and identity.
With renewed energy, the GTIA said it plans to build upon its legacy as a vendor-neutral, non-profit membership community that connects and represents the worldwide IT channel. Under its new moniker, the GTIA will continue to represent tens of thousands of IT professionals from more than 2,000 MSPs, solution providers, tech vendors, distributors and other companies across the channel, according to the group.
More About the Split
The sale of the CompTIA brand to the private equity partners provided the cash for a “substantial endowment” that is expected to fund the GTIA’s membership work indefinitely, the non-profit announced earlier.
“As a result, membership dues will continue to be subsidized to be kept affordable, and member benefits will remain consistent, including impactful global events like ChannelCon,” the GTIA said in a statement. “Through the endowment, GTIA will also have more opportunity to expand charitable giving to organizations doing valuable work in technology and bringing more people into the tech industry around the globe.”
Shelly Kramer, principal analyst for theCUBE Research, told ChannelE2E that the updated organizational structure from the split with CompTIA is a smart move.
“It clears up any potential confusion between the for-profit part of the organization and the non-profit arm,” said Kramer. “And the rebrand to a global tech industry-focused organization and an expanded IT channel focus bodes well, both for the organization and for the tech community as a whole.”
The Search for a New CEO for GTIA Continues
Todd Thibodeaux, the president and CEO of CompTIA before the original company was split into two businesses in November, remains as the president and CEO of the stand-alone for-profit CompTIA certification and training business.
The GTIA continues to search for its first CEO as an independent operation, as reported earlier by ChannelE2E.
GTIA’s officers include the same board of directors that led the organization when it was connected to CompTIA. The members include Chair Tracy Pound, the founder and managing director of Maximity, Ltd.; Vice Chair Scott Barlow, the vice president of Global MSP and Cloud Alliance for Sophos, Inc.; and Vice Chair Quy "Q" Nguyen, the CEO of Allyance Communications Inc. Other board members are Steven Capper, the chief digital information officer of Carnival UK; Toni Clayton-Hine. chief marketing officer for EY Americas; Jabu Dayton, CEO and founder of Jabu HR; Jason Magee, the former CEO of ConnectWise; John C. Malonson, senior cybersecurity manager at Raytheon Technologies; Joanna Riley, the CEO and founder of Censia; John Scola, global vice president for partner ecosystem success at SAP; and Rob Rae, corporate vice president of communities and ecosystem at Pax8.
The GTIA also includes the same working staff, including chief operating officer Kelly Ricker and chief community officer MJ Shoer. Ricker and Shoer are reporting to the chair of the board of directors while the board conducts an ongoing search for a CEO.
All former CompTIA events, including ChannelCon and others, will continue to be offered by the GTIA after the split of the organizations is completed in early 2025, according to the group. All former CompTIA staffers who worked on the association side of the organization continue to work with the GTIA, said Schoer.
