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
    • Tech Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • 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
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • 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
    • Tech Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • 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
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • 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

From the Industry


Getty Images

Sponsor Content

Roaring 20s

The “Roaring 20s” Are Coming

  • Written by Comcast Guest Blogger
  • February 25, 2021
2020 was a significant challenge, but the roaring 20s will come—thanks, in no small part, to partners.

I started off my New Year’s “Roaring 20s” blog last year referencing the decade of the 1920s and anticipating a similar decade filled with promise for the 2020s. But, as with the last century, our world has been hit with a terrible pandemic–perhaps delaying the “roaring” part of our next 10 years a bit. 2020 was a significant challenge for many of us. Certainly, what the pandemic did to business, our society and our lives was nothing short of catastrophic. And it will be a change event that will have lingering effects into the near-term future. Yet I still believe “The Roaring 20s” are coming in full force. For many, they already started, with 2020 being one of the best years that some of our partners have ever had.

Our partners became even more important because their clients had to transform years of their evolution into just a few months with working from home, cloud computing, cost cutting, security and so much more. And many of them shared that it was the best sales year they have ever had. Beyond that, this was paired with a massive surge of channel industry consolidation that only demonstrates why this channel is so critical. Could it be that this is really the dawn of the “Golden Age of the Channel?” Many think so.

We are now into the 10th year of our channel program at Comcast Business since my team and I were fortunate enough to launch it. We continue to be proud of our team’s tenure and know that Comcast Business will be around to support our partners whatever tomorrow may bring, including M&A moves.

There is a significant amount of cash and investments coming in to grow our channel to the next level. A short sample includes:

  1. Telarus took in a major investment from Columbia Capital to help grow their team and their I/T tools to help their partners succeed even more.
  2. AppSmart acquired Telegration, Netstar, CNSG, GCG and MicroCorp, to name a few. And now they are adding in apps with network services to offer a full suite of end-to-end services to their downstream clients.
  3. Bridgepointe bought Clover to expand their footprint in the East.
  4. TCG bought GTS.
  5. Upstack acquired the bases of many downstream agents nationwide.
  6. Many other PE firms are now looking at even more agent acquisitions.

It is clear that this channel is highly valued, and the timing to consolidate and invest for future growth is ideal.

We learned a lot of lessons in 2020 and we had to do so much more than we thought we were capable of–and our partners did, too. Notably, these areas come to mind:

  • We found a way to help relieve the network costs for many SMB and mid-market customers as they adjusted their business models to deal with COVID-19. We also reduced billings for a number of months to assist them in this transition.
  • We helped our partners work with us to win many deals, and we had more teamed deals with our direct organization than in any time in our history.
  • We earmarked over $100M for DE&I initiatives to support the issues we faced with social injustice.
  • We transitioned our team of about 150 people to go virtual and work in a distracted home environment almost overnight. And many of us had never used Teams before! This was unprecedented.

And despite all of that, we were able to come in just slightly down from our results in 2019 due to the tremendous efforts of my leadership team, our Indirect employees and our partners.

That brings me to 2021. It’s our year of the

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
Tags: Agents Cable Digital Transformation From the Industry Intelligence Mergers and Acquisitions Networking Comcast Sponsor Content

Most Recent


  • Barracuda Discover22 EMEA
    Barracuda Sees Huge Shift to Managed Services Among Partners
    Nine out of 10 Barracuda partners now identify as MSPs as CEO Hatem Naguib details “going heavy” into managed services.
  • Grabber machine
    Converge Technology Solutions Snaps Up PC Specialists
    This is the California-based company’s 31st acquisition.
  • Ingram Micro Cloud Summit: From the Expo Floor
    "By gaining access to an ecosystem of partners, we’ll put distribution at the center of our channel strategy,” summit participants said.
  • future
    What Does TSB Consolidation Mean for Vendors? Channel Reacts to PlanetOne-Avant Deal
    The pack of national TSBs just grew thinner. Is this good?

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

  • M&A
    Why All MSPs Need to Understand the M&A Landscape
  • hurricane season
    4 Things MSPs Should Consider When Prepping for Hurricane Season
  • zero-trust
    The Benefits of Zero-Trust Security over VPNs
  • edge computing
    How to Keep Edge Computing Sites Truly Autonomous

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 14, 2022 - June 15, 2022

MSP Summit

September 13, 2022 - September 16, 2022

Galleries

View all

Ingram Micro Cloud Summit: From the Expo Floor

May 20, 2022

What Does TSB Consolidation Mean for Vendors? Channel Reacts to PlanetOne-Avant Deal

May 19, 2022

The Gately Report: BlackBerry Ups Investment, Support of MSSP Partners

May 19, 2022

Industry Perspectives

View all

How SD-WAN Helps Secure the Expanding Network Perimeter

May 19, 2022

A Sneak Peek at the 2022 BrightCloud Threat Report

May 17, 2022

Build Customers for Life with CX and Lifecycle Selling

May 16, 2022

Webinars

View all

Simplifying SaaS Security for MSPs

April 27, 2022

How to Supercharge The Network to Support Your IT Superhero Moves

May 3, 2022

The 2022 MSP Challenge: Scale Service Delivery Despite the Talent Gap

April 21, 2022

White Papers

View all

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

The AT&T Cybersecurity Incident Response Toolkit

April 4, 2022

Channel Futures TV

View all

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

Agents Share ‘Secrets,’ Industry Opportunity

May 11, 2022

Vonage Addresses Potential Partner Opportunity via Acquisition by Ericsson

May 5, 2022

Lumen Technologies ‘Built for Growth and Scale’

May 4, 2022

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@barracuda seeing huge shift to managed services among partners at #discover22 dlvr.it/SQmR1y https://t.co/driODezzpS

May 20, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@ConvergeTSC has just announced the acquisition of PC Specialists (@TIGConnect). dlvr.it/SQmMqK https://t.co/suLrTFx1W1

May 20, 2022
ChannelFutures

Photos from Expo @IngramMicroInc Cloud Summit for @pluralsight, @Vonage, @CloudCt4, @watchguard, @TenableSecurity,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 20, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@Zoom channel leader @LauraPadillaSF has taken a new role with @airtable. dlvr.it/SQm6pd https://t.co/R71QtFlwwy

May 20, 2022
ChannelFutures

Was Cisco right to blame "external factors" for its latest numbers? @zkerravala, @AnuragTechaisle, @OmdiaHQ and… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 20, 2022
ChannelFutures

The deal between @Avant_CCC and @PlanetOneComm comes at a critical juncture in the channel, as vendors envision dea… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 19, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@QNAP_nas warns of #ransomware attack on storage devices. dlvr.it/SQhjs3 https://t.co/2FL32Zh5Be

May 19, 2022
ChannelFutures

We're excited to announce that @Alvinstafford of @thinktrue_ & @MorganGranfield of @digitalrealty will be on the pa… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 19, 2022

MSSP Insider

Business advice for MSSPs and news from the broader security channel.

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