https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2022 NextGen 101 Rankings
    • MSP 501 Information Center
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Solutions Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2022 NextGen 101 Rankings
    • MSP 501 Information Center
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2022 MSP 501
    • Channel Influencers
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

EMEA


Shutterstock

Businesswoman Meeting

Diversity in the Channel: Still a Long Way to Go

  • Written by Christine Horton
  • June 23, 2020
Despite efforts, less than one in 10 channel leadership positions is held by women.

Calls to improve diversity in the channel are nothing new.

IT leaders and representative bodies have publicly declared a need for people of different genders, ethnicities, ages and disabilities. IT trade association CompTIA recently said diversity “is not a point we can take off of the agenda” in 2020.

Women in IT is probably the most discussed aspect of promoting a more diverse workforce. However, new research suggests the channel still a long way to go.

A survey conducted by IDC indicates that most European channel partners are involved in initiatives to improve diversity. But female representation in leadership positions remains critically low.

Ninety-six percent of channel firms are currently or planning to participate in and/or implement “softer” activities to improve diversity in their own organizations. This includes education, awareness and training.

However, half of those surveyed are doing some of the harder work in terms of changing hiring practices (49%). They also are transforming organizational structures to build more diverse teams (47%) and setting up diversity programs with specific measurable goals (44%).

Despite this, there is still a lack of female representation in leadership positions in the channel. The survey shows that women hold only slightly more than 8% of leadership positions in channel firms.

Where Are the Women?

The report’s author is Margaret Adam, associate VP, IDC Europe. She says diversity in the channel is also an issue for members of the analyst’s partner advisory board (PAB).

IDC Europe's Margaret Adam

IDC Europe’s Margaret Adam

“One midsize partner has more than half of its workforce as female,” she said. “The consensus was they are seeing improvements in the IT industry. This is driven partially by education – more women accessing STEM studies – but also greater awareness.”

Adam said having a diverse workforce means tapping into a different talent pool, not necessarily from within the industry.

“One partner targeted female IT recruiters to join the company as salespeople, and then trained them on technology,” she said. “Having that industry experience was enough of a foothold. Another commented that they have found it easier to recruit females when there is a female leader in the organization. They can ‘motivate, lead, guide, and coach,’ and so female employees can see a career path.”

Another crucial point is whether diversity can now influence the outcome of a deal.

“A partner mentioned that gender equality and the gender pay gap are becoming more important to the point where they could now potentially lose a deal because of this. More partners confirmed that they are analyzing their gender pay gaps and evaluating their workforce diversity,” said Adam.

Boys Club?

Part of the problem may be that the channel has traditionally been regarded as a bit of a boys club. An intense sales environment that embraces a “work hard, play hard” attitude may have been off-putting to women historically.

Adam admits that when she started out in the IT industry, “it was very much a boys club, and whilst my colleagues were by-and-large great, I did become acutely aware of my ‘otherness’ at social events. It made me uncomfortable.”

However, despite elements of this still existing, this appears to be …

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
Tags: Agents Cloud Service Providers Channel Research Diversity, Equity & Inclusion EMEA Strategy

Most Recent


  • Fireworks
    Cybersecurity Experts: July 4th Weekend Ripe for Ransomware, Other Attacks
    Russia definitely has motivation to exploit the July 4th holiday in some way.
  • Old job new job
    New Pure Storage EMEA Channel Leader Details Jump from Veritas
    Geoff Greenlaw says he wanted to join a high-growth company after 18 years at Veritas.
  • Unemployed, laid off
    Qumulo Confirms Layoffs, Citing Economic Conditions, Reaching Profitability
    Qumulo has raised $351 million in funding at a valuation of more than $1.2 billion.
  • how to make embracing change part of your company culture
    How to Make Embracing Change Part of Your Company Culture
    When we anticipate, understand, model, and celebrate change in company culture, we create a foundation that opens doors and sets us up for growth and success.

2 comments

  1. Avatar Karen June 26, 2020 @ 2:42 am
    Reply

    How can you talk about diversity and not event mention black and brown people? This article seems quite redundant to me. If you feel your otherness and uncomfortable at social events as a white woman, how do you think black women feel in those spaces. So please if you are going to write about diversity then actually do it.

  2. Avatar .1753 June 26, 2020 @ 7:54 am
    Reply

    Hi Karen, I’m really pleased you’ve commented. I would love to write further about diversity in the channel. There is more than enough to write dedicated features on race, disabilities and age in the channel. Here my brief and focus was on women in the channel. I am more than aware of the need to write about diversity in all its forms and moving forward I really hope to do so. Christine

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • What's new?
    Partner Program Updates: Dell, Spectrum, Vonage, IBM, NetApp, More
  • boardroom
    UK Tech Leader to Chair CompTIA Board of Directors
  • Framework spelled out in blocks
    MSPs Welcome Proposals for New Cybersecurity Framework
  • Pride Month Be Yourself
    Pride Month: Recognizing LGBTQ Pioneers in Tech

Upcoming Events

View all

MSP Summit

September 13, 2022 - September 16, 2022

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

May 1, 2023 - May 4, 2023

Galleries

View all

Cybersecurity Experts: July 4th Weekend Ripe for Ransomware, Other Attacks

July 1, 2022

Images: HPE Discover 2022 Expo Hall Featuring Microsoft, Ingram Micro, VMware

July 1, 2022

Tetra Defense: Unpatched Systems Behind Costliest Cyberattacks in Q1

July 1, 2022

Industry Perspectives

View all

How to Make Embracing Change Part of Your Company Culture

July 1, 2022

How to Differentiate to Leverage 5G’s Revenue Opportunity

June 28, 2022

Why MSPs are Attractive Cyberattack Targets

June 24, 2022

Webinars

View all

VEP Platform for Delivery of uCPE, SD-WAN and SASE

June 29, 2022

The Digital Worker: How to Empower Customers with a Flexible, Scalable VDI Solution to Enable Remote Work

June 30, 2022

Growing Partner Revenue and Customer Satisfaction with Power Management Services

June 23, 2022

White Papers

View all

Work Goes Remote – (and Other Top ITOps Trends)

May 25, 2022

The New Bottom Line: How MSPs Can Meet the Healthcare Crisis While Evolving Their Businesses

April 19, 2022

How to build a Security Operations Center (on a budget)

April 4, 2022

Channel Futures TV

View all

Vonage a ‘Single Communications Stack Provider’ for Partners, Customers

IBM, Partners and the $1 Trillion Hybrid Cloud Opportunity

June 26, 2022

Agents Share ‘Secrets,’ Industry Opportunity

May 11, 2022

AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco, ThreatLocker on Unlocking Partner Potential

May 6, 2022

Twitter

ChannelFutures

#Cybersecurity experts say July 4th weekend ripe for #ransomware, other attacks. @blumirasec @Netenrich @Vectra_AI… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

New @PureStorage #ITchannel leader details jump from Veritas. dlvr.it/STBsLB https://t.co/BFSmZ5ubff

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

New Pure Storage EMEA Channel Leader Details Jump from Veritas dlvr.it/STBrPQ https://t.co/LjFXo6FbVF

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@qumulo latest channel business to confirm layoffs impacting 80 workers. #storage dlvr.it/STBh1L https://t.co/hE10wBA3ka

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

Ranking on the #MSP501 isn't just an industry accolade... it brings pride to each company and their team. Congratu… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

Company culture is ever changing in today's society - here are ways to embrace that change with @coxbusiness… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

#HPEDiscover expo hall images. Featuring @IngramMicroInc @msPartner @Veeam @Commvault and more.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

July 1, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@TetraDef report shows unpatched systems behind most costly cyberattacks in Q1. dlvr.it/ST9RSF https://t.co/ovvS3aJKD6

July 1, 2022

MSP 501

The industry's largest and most comprehensive partner awards program.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X