Channel Leaders
Investment firm Vobis Ventures acquired Optiv Security's consulting business on June 2, establishing Optiv Consulting. CEO Anup Kumar stated that partnering with Anthropic will be a priority due to similar customer bases and Anthropic's greater focus on enterprise client implementation. Kumar believes enterprise adoption of Claude will grow rapidly, but security architecture needs to keep pace, and current CISOs often get involved only in the later stages of agentic AI projects, presenting a "generational" opportunity.
Mitel announced on Tuesday the appointment of channel veteran Ben Macdonald as Vice President of Global Channel Marketing to lead its partner operations. Macdonald will be responsible for managing a network of over 6,000 partners, which was restructured earlier this year. Former channel distribution and sales leader Steve Loebrich will continue as Head of Americas Channels, and former partner program leader Steffen Kruger will also remain in his role.
The managed services industry is undergoing profound transformation, with leading MSP platform vendors integrating AI and cybersecurity capabilities into their core RMM and PSA products. Omdia's latest global RMM/PSA leadership matrix shows that ConnectWise, Kaseya, NinjaOne, N-able, and HaloPSA dominate the market, with total industry revenue exceeding $20 billion in 2025. Vendors are competing on differentiation across dimensions such as platform integration, AI assistants, and security response, while also facing challenges including pricing, security exposure, and product maturity.
SonicWall announced on Tuesday the appointment of Jonathan Berger as senior vice president of global channels and alliances. Berger previously served as a marketing executive at BlueAlly, one of SonicWall's largest strategic partners and an IT consulting and managed services provider, for nearly six years. This marks the third time in less than a year that the company has changed its channel leader.
The tech industry is experiencing a notable corporate paradox: the largest suppliers are posting record revenue and profits while simultaneously making significant layoffs to fund massive infrastructure investments. Omdia's latest report shows that the combined quarterly revenue of 18 tech giants rose 28.3% year-over-year to $694 billion, with net profit up 64% to $234 billion, but they cut 58,000 jobs during the same period.
IT and telecom vendors grow customers through partnerships, but customer retention faces challenges. Channel partners report that vendor direct sales teams bypass technical advisors (TAs) during renewals, and cutting support staff degrades customer experience. Industry experts call for stronger alignment between account management and partners.
Microsoft's E7 365 suite launched at $99 per user per month, but economic uncertainty makes customers cost-sensitive, and large value-added resellers (VARs) and licensing solution providers (LSPs) are actively vying for small and medium-sized business (SMB) and mid-market share, triggering channel conflict.
At its annual conference, Dell announced a reshaping of its partner program, aiming to incentivize system integrators and consulting firms through closer collaboration and an AI-driven platform to drive AI solution sales. New policies include premium rebates on select products starting in August and recognition of system integrators' roles in multi-party transactions.
New-generation MSP leaders such as Paco Lebron and Antwine Jackson believe that the traditional ticket-centric operational model can no longer meet customer needs. They emphasize achieving scalable growth by empowering teams, integrating automation tools, and focusing on business outcomes. Industry data shows that the managed services market will grow from $430 billion in 2026 to $704 billion in 2031, with an average annual growth rate of 12%.
Cognizant announced on Wednesday the acquisition of Astreya, aiming to deepen its AI-first managed services capabilities. Astreya has 25 years of data center management experience, a proprietary AI operations platform, and partnerships with six major cloud giants. The deal is expected to close in Q2, with the amount not publicly disclosed.