Roughly 1,500 VARs and managed services providers are expected to attend the IT Nation Conference (Nov. 9-11, Orlando, Fla.), hosted by ConnectWise. But if you take a close look at the crowd this year you’ll notice something new: Non-ConnectWise customers also are invited to attend the event. Here’s the background.
The IT Nation conference got its start as ConnectWise Partner Summit. It now ranks among the largest channel partner gatherings of the year. And generally speaking, I believe it’s the largest annual gathering of MSPs. Now, ConnectWise is opening IT Nation’s doors a little wider. On the one hand, I believe the vast majority of this year’s registrants remain ConnectWise customers, running the company’s PSA (professional services automation) software. But on the other hand, it sounds like there’s room for roughly 200 or so non-ConnectWise customers and partners to also attend the event.
ConnectWise says registration for IT Nation 2011 is running ahead of last year’s conference. Plus, a lengthy list of technology companies have signed on to host mini-conferences as part of the broader event. And HTG Peer Groups, a member-driven organization that includes scores of VARs and MSPs, coordinates its annual Q4 meeting with IT Nation. So IT Nation attracts channel partners from across the globe.
But at previous IT Nation conferences, all of those channel partners were ConnectWise customers. At this year’s event, ConnectWise is opening the doors to non-ConnectWise customers. My take on the situation: In the age of coopetition, where MSPs mix and match their software solutions, inviting non-ConnectWise partners to register makes sense. For instance, Level Platforms hosts a major partner gathering at IT Nation — and there’s a chance some of the target Level Platforms’ attendees may not run ConnectWise’s software. Similarly, LabTech Software — funded by a ConnectWise Capital investment — hosts partner gatherings at IT Nation, and some LabTech partners don’t run ConnectWise.
Starting with IT Nation 2011, those non-ConnectWise partners can register to attend the event. Can ConnectWise potentially try to switch some of those new attendees to ConnectWise’s own software? Yes. But that’s been a tradition at partner conferences since the dawn of the IT channel. Plus, ConnectWise builds plenty of business-centric content into the agenda, ensuring the conference is far more than a PSA discussion.
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Tags: ConnectWise Partner Summit | IT Nation 2011 | LabTech Software | Level Platforms
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that is great for non Connectwise partners. I’ve always enjoyed the competitive advantage that we as cw partners enjoyed having exclusive access the the best MSP focused event of the year, so I’m a little disappointed in the decision, but business is business. The event is too crowded as it is, adding a chunk of non cw partners will only dilute the experience for their longtime customers, unless it is a pretty small amount. You know how crowded the breakout sessions get, madness! That said, we were invited to a cw Conf early on during our evaluation of the Connectwise platform in 2006. It was an awesome opportunity to talk with real customers and discuss their opinion of the product. Even Arnie, in one of his talks, scolded his customers for not using but 10 or 20% of the potential of the product, and took the time to show them the possibilities for their business if they put the full power of the product to use in running their business.
Hey there Todd – thanks so much for the feedback
And yes, it is a limited amount of our attendee allocation that is assigned to non ConnectWise partners. We also have an additional round or two of breakouts added to the agenda so that everyone gets a chance to see the awesome breakouts we have lined up – so no crowding this year, promise. I look forward to seeing you in November!
Jeannine Edwards
Director, ConnectWise Community
Hey Todd, Jeannine: I’ve been to some pretty massive events this year. A prime example: Google I/O (6,000 developers). But the agenda was easy to track and some breakouts had sub 100 attendees — great for Q&A with real industry leaders. As long as ConnectWise manages to deliver an easy-to-follow agenda I think attendees will navigate the event just fine.
-jp