Strategy & Disruption

Huntress expanded its partner program to include resellers for the first time. The company that built its identity on MSP exclusivity just admitted the addressable market is bigger than MSPs. Here's what that means for every partner in the channel.

Service Leadership's 2026 compensation report confirms what veteran channel operators have known for years: the lean, high-churn model isn't a bug. For PE-backed firms and top-quartile MSPs alike, it's the feature.

SonicWall killed individual technical certifications, moved specializations to the company level, and removed deal reg size requirements on cloud and managed services. This is a platform play disguised as a program refresh.

Anthropic launched a $100M-seeded channel partner program at its inaugural Partner Summit. Most channel orgs aren't built for what comes next.

Dialpad just named the real reason AI deals stall — not technology, but execution. Their new Agent Studio tools give channel reps a concrete ROI demonstration path that turns pilots into closed contracts.

Commission models, residuals, SPIFs, and MDF — here is exactly how telecom channel partners get paid, with real math and real numbers.

Master agent, TSD, distributor, advisor — the channel uses four terms for the same thing. Here is what each means and why the terminology keeps changing.

New Service Leadership data reveals that the most profitable MSPs pay less, churn more staff, and still outperform — because they've built systems that don't depend on retaining any single person.

Omdia's 2026 telco GTM predictions are blunt: carriers are building IT into their channel DNA, M&A activity is about to accelerate past 100 deals, and partners who haven't converged are running out of runway.

The telecom channel is a $100B+ ecosystem of agents, MSPs, and distributors selling business communications. Here is how it actually works.

Amazon Connect said deflection is the wrong goal. The industry is shifting from call avoidance to AI accountability. Here's what that means for partners.

AT&T's $250 billion infrastructure commitment isn't just a capex play. It's an AI positioning move that changes the partner conversation.

New Omdia data confirms the MSP market will grow 10% in 2026 — but that headline number masks a widening split between providers building next-gen capabilities and those stuck on commoditized 2019-era services. Jaxon Navarro breaks down which half you're in and what it costs you to stay there.

Every major vendor at Enterprise Connect Day 1 shipped agentic AI features. The question nobody on stage answered: are enterprise buyers ready? And who picks up the implementation gap?

Four tiers collapsed to two. 170 badges replaced with 28 competencies. Salesforce is telling its consulting ecosystem: pivot to AI or lose your seat.

Attackers stopped breaking in. They're logging in. ConnectWise's 2026 threat report shows why the MSP security playbook needs to start at identity.

AI Companion 3.0, AI Services APIs, and AI-native Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Zoom is no longer a video company.

97% of AI usage maps to tasks rated as theoretically feasible. The gap between what AI can do and what people actually use it for is the biggest business opportunity in a decade.

Danny's right about Brian from finance. But before Brian showed up, half these companies couldn't tell you their gross margin within 10 points. A counterpoint from the other side of the table.

Broadcom looked at thousands of small VARs and MSPs who built their businesses on VMware and decided they weren't worth the support cost.

At MWC 2026, Microsoft offered to replace the entire carrier customer interaction layer with AI agents.

A crypto mining company pivoted to GPU cloud, IPO'd at $40/share, and tried to buy Core Scientific for $9 billion. The deal collapsed. The ambition didn't.

Cisco said it. Microsoft said it. Google Cloud said it. VMware said it before Broadcom killed the messenger.

If your pitch is 'we do networking, security, cloud, and UC,' you don't have a specialty. You have a list.

The most underreported channel trend: MSPs with recurring revenue are using their valuation premium to acquire VARs.

Direct-to-device means any phone, anywhere, has connectivity. No tower required. The channel hasn't priced this in.

60% of partner organizations are running strategies designed for a market that no longer exists.