CompTIA is all about partners, in particular helping VARs, MSPs and the like in several main ways.
CompTIA advocates for the IT channel industry, connects partners with other partners, provides business tools and other resources, does philanthropy, and offers certification and training.
It is the latter that CompTIA most recently focused upon.
Most of its training and credentialing comes through the Trustmark program.
The not-for-profit now offers a half-dozen “trustmarks” in security, business operations, managed print services and overall managed services.
“Each of these vendor-neutral credentials has been developed at the request of and with direction from industry experts and leaders,” noted Nancy Hammervik , senior vice president, industry relations, CompTIA.
The five-year-old Trustmarket program has given the credential to some 260 IT outfits.
Managed print provider Bendix Imaging walks into prospective clients flashing its Manage Print Trustmark. “We work with IT departments in many companies and the CompTIA Trustmark lends instant credibility," said Jeff Bendix, president and owner. "IT professionals gain confidence that we know what we are doing. It's also helped us take an even deeper look at our MPS program and enhance a few areas we wanted to improve.”
CompTIA’s View of Managed Services
One important element of CompTIA’s approach is research. And recently the organization found that the MSP market is moving along nicely, with a few exceptions.
Based on a survey of members, Managed IT Services demand is rising steadily. It could be growing faster, but many IT shops are struggling to reorganize around the cloud, and in some cases this takes their eyes off the MSP ball.
About half of CompTIA members currently offer managed services, up from 40 percent the last time members were queried. “The managed services model is becoming more commonly practiced across the channel and generating demand among end users,” remarked Carolyn April, director of industry analysis for CompTIA. “It’s a steadily growing market that is not going away despite some uncertainty.”
CompTIA research, however, found that many partners are just testing the waters and aren’t yet 100-percent serious. “The incidence of pure play MSPs is pretty low,” said April. “It’s still an added practice as part of an overall business. Many, if not most, MSPs continue to sell hardware and other infrastructure to their customers, do the implementation and only then take over management of said devices under a managed services contract.”
Edited by
Alisen Downey
