CRN

Success as a solution provider comes from teams making their company and themselves visible with consistent messaging to show customers the value they will receive from a relationship, according to Wil Klusovsky, revenue and growth officer at security-focused solution provider Appalachia Technologies, LLC, who introduced fellow solution providers to what he called the EEC (educate, engage and convert) framework at this week’s #XChange NexGen conference, hosted by our parent company, The Channel Company, in Houston, Texas. Joseph Kovar has the details from Klusovsky’s presentation, along with managed service provider (MSP) perspective from Roberto Elizondo, president and CEO of TRiNet International, Inc.:

“I can’t tell you how many vendors say, ‘We’ve got AI,’” Dawn Sizer, CEO of 3rd Element Consulting, said to a packed room of managed service providers (MSPs) at this week’s #XChange NexGen conference, hosted by our parent company, The Channel Company, in Houston, Texas. “But when I ask how many MSPs they’ve worked with, the answer is zero,” she said. “That’s not innovation. That’s a science fair project.” Sizer shared practical questions MSPs should be asking when vetting an AI vendor. One of her central messages was to stop accepting vague answers or tech buzzwords in place of real, accountable information. Read CJ Fairfield’s coverage of Sizer’s session at XChange NexGen to learn more:

Anil Varanasi, co-founder and CEO of Meter, joined CRN’s Jennifer Follett and Steven Burke for an interview on stage at #XChange Best of Breed to share how the network-as-a-service (NaaS) specialist is reinventing enterprise networking with a vertically integrated stack and bold NaaS model. Backed by leaders like OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Meter is eliminating CapEx, streamlining deployment and enabling partners to deliver high-quality recurring revenue. Varanasi discussed his company’s Microsoft Azure Marketplace partnership, the impact of AI on network engineering and how solution providers can scale faster with Meter’s integrated hardware, software and automation. You can watch the entire interview here: https://okt.to/6vUPdc. Meter Partners

In an on-stage Q&A with Frank Vitagliano, CEO of the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), at #XChange Best of Breed, Ingram Micro CEO Paul Bay said the distributor’s efforts, including expanding the use of AI for order processing, are focused on operational efficiencies and improving services for the channel, allowing solution providers more time to understand their customers’ needs and create value. Bay also provided a personal account of the devastating ransomware attack that hit the distributor in July, how the company was able to get its systems back up and running quickly, and the lessons he learned as a leader from the incident. Rick Whiting has the details from Bay’s conversation with Vitagliano:

Framing security tools as a liability defense rather than a way to achieve compliance is a better way to motivate customer spend, Bruce McCully, founder and CEO of cybersecurity assessment firm Galactic Advisors, said. Solution providers can reference plenty of examples in the news around cybersecurity incidents to show clients the publicity and expense of breach settlements for companies of all sizes while auditing prospective clients to show vulnerabilities and tailor the dialogue to their businesses and insurance policies, McCully said on stage during #XChange NexGen, hosted by our parent company, The Channel Company, this week in Houston, Texas. Wade Tyler Millward has the details, along with solution provider perspective from Manuel Villa, CEO of VIA Technology:

Jeremy Young, community growth strategist at small and medium-sized business (SMB)-focused managed cybersecurity vendor Huntress, told an audience of managed service providers (MSPs) at this week’s 2025 #XChange NexGen conference, hosted by our parent company, The Channel Company, that there are several myths MSPs and their clients have about Huntress he hoped to dispel. Joseph Kovar has the details, along with MSP perspective from Suat Atalay, chief technology officer at STN Solutions, INC: #SIEM

Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced one of its largest outages in the early morning hours today that shut down a massive number of services, including its data service DynamoDB and EC2, as well as popular internet sites like Reddit and Snapchat, affecting well over 1,000 companies. AWS has identified the issue as a Domain Name System (DNS) issue but has yet to identify the cause of the DNS error that led to the outages. Here’s what you need to know:

CRN's Jennifer Follett and Steven Burke spoke with IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry, SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten and Meter CEO Anil Varanasi in a series of candid, exclusive interviews at #XChange Best of Breed. Jen and Steve break down the top-of-mind topics the CEOs discussed, from agentic AI to cybersecurity and major partner opportunities, in the latest episode of CRN In Depth. You can watch the entire episode on our home page now: https://okt.to/3z71St. IBM Partner Plus Zscaler Partners Meter Partners

In this edition, we take a look at our inaugural Best of the Channel Awards winners. Congratulations to these outstanding channel leaders! The first-ever winners are: - Best Emerging Leader of the Year: Jon LoBello, Schneider Electric - Best Channel Achiever of the Year: Tina Fisher, D&H Distributing - Best Channel Visionary of the Year - Solution Provider: Rob Purcell, 22Vets Technologies - Best Channel Visionary of the Year - Vendor/Distributor: Susan Odle, StorMagic - Best Solution Provider CEO of the Year: Kevin Lynch, Optiv - Best Channel Chief of the Year: Rob Rae, Pax8 - Best Solution Provider Team of the Year: Quantiphi - Best Channel Marketing Team of the Year: Exclaimer - Best AI Solution Provider of the Year: Advizex, a Fulcrum IT Partners company - Best Channel Team of the Year: TD SYNNEX - Best Solution Provider of the Year: AVATAR Managed Services - Best Vendor of the Year: ThreatLocker - Lifetime Achievement Award winner: Jim Kavanaugh, World Wide Technology In this edition, we also look at: - Insights shared by Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry, IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten and Meter CEO Anil Varanasi during interviews with CRN's Jennifer Follett and Steven Burke at #XChange Best of Breed - Our 2025 IoT Innovators and more Schneider Electric Alliance Partner Program Exclaimer Partner Community C.R. Howdyshell Jason Wright Zscaler Partners IBM Partner Plus Meter Partners #CRNBestOfTheChannel #CRNIoT

⏰ Deadline Extended! You now have until October 24th to apply for the 2026 CRN Channel Chiefs list celebrating the channel’s top leaders and innovators. Apply today https://okt.to/0ZoPNH #CRNChannelChiefs #ChannelLeadership