Channel Brief: CompTIA ChannelCon, Microsoft Copilot

Grab a cup of your favorite morning beverage and check out the return of our regular market briefing for managed services providers (MSPs), IT service providers (ITSPs), technology service providers (TSPs), cloud service providers (CSPs) cybersecurity consultants, systems integrators, VARs, independent software vendors (ISVs), and distributors.

Our M&A list is back! - Check out regular updates our industry mergers and acquisitions list. We have a fresh list posted for 2024, and our 2023 data set is now complete. Check out the whole thing here.

Scroll down for a quick view of upcoming in-person channel and MSP events at the bottom of this post (while we spiff up our industry calendar behind the scenes. It will return!)

And please send your news tips, information, and industry chatter to editorial director [email protected].

A. Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News

1. Call for speakers - CompTIA has opened its call for speakers for ChannelCon2024. The event is scheduled for July 30 - August 1 in Atlanta, Georgia. Prospective speakers need to apply by May 3. Topics at the event will include BizTech, Community Forums, Cybersecurity, and Vendor Education. Attendance to the event is free for speakers. Apply here.

2. Congress bans Microsoft Copilot - The U.S. House is banning congressional staffers' use of Microsoft Copilot, according to an Axios report. The House's Chief Administrative Officer said the applicaiton has been deemed by the  Office of Cybersecurity to be a risk to users due to the threat of leaking House data to non-House approved cloud services. Microsoft hopes the suite of government-oriented tools they plan to roll out this summer.

3. New MSP exec - Data analytics, technology and digital transformation consulting firm, Resultant, has hired Nathan A. Ulery to serve as executive vice president of managed services. In this role, Ulery will serve on the executive team and provide leadership to scale the company’s growing managed service business which employs 100 IT professionals and serves 200 clients.

4. Cloud migration partnership - Network-as-a-service platform provider Console Connect is collaborating with cloud storage company, Wasabi Technologies, to help organizations deploy fast and secure cloud migration and multi-cloud provisioning. The collaboration brings together the enhanced network security, performance and scalability of the Console Connect platform and Wasabi’s low-cost, fast and predictable cloud storage on-demand to support seamless on premise-to-cloud migration and cloud-to-cloud migration as well as instant multi-cloud provisioning, the companies said.

5. NaaS partner program - Internet infrastructure solution provider, Meter, has launched a partner program for its Network as a Service (NaaS) offerings and says it will work alongside partners including VARs and MSPs.

B. In-Person MSP and Channel Partner Events