Paolo Del Nibletto
It’s been a bitterly cold winter, with February being the coldest ever in 150 years. But things have been warming up for the Canadian Channel Chiefs Council (C4).
The New Year started off with a bang – C4’s second Annual General Meeting. Held at the offices of KPMG in downtown Toronto, the membership voted in support of the initiatives and actions taken by the Board of Directors. This included the finalization of our governance model, the various standing committees (Audit, Governance, Education, Solution Providers, Research, and Development) and the work done by them, as well as the courses we held over 2014. We also had special presentations during the meeting, including one from Epson, featuring new projection technologies, and one from KMPG, highlighting Taxation Aspects of Cloud Computing.
With the AGM firmly behind us, C4 is looking forward to the upcoming year with clear goals of providing further value to members. This includes a broader line-up of courses and workshops to help members enhance or develop competencies across different disciplines — such as sales, marketing, and finance – through to providing forums for members to learn from the experience of others, develop their business acumen, and network with colleagues. The ultimate goal, of course, is to provide accreditation for individuals who can hit the ground running.
In an effort to ensure we provide the right courses, in 2014 we surveyed members and the broader community, obtained feedback from course participants, and polled the members of our Board and the Solution Providers Committee. Key among the issues identified is transitioning to the cloud. While C4 held two intensive workshops on this issue, presented by IDC (September, 2014) and ChannelCorp. (December, 2014), we will continue offering workshops on this critical subject for the foreseeable future. Even though Canadian companies have been somewhat slow to adopt cloud, solution providers that have not yet begun to transition their business are at significant risk. Not only is cloud here to stay, it represents an entirely new business model with surprising financial impacts and a shift in thinking. Watch for an upcoming course by Michael O’Neill (May 27, 2015). (To register, visit www.channelchiefs.ca)
Similarly, another issue identified pertains to the difficulty of finding new team members who “fit”; individuals who not only possess the right core competencies, but the personal attributes that will lead to expected behaviours and results. To this end, on April 2, we are hosting a breakfast seminar called “Hiring For Fit” which showcases how analytics can help you make decisions about which talent to hire.
We are also happy to announce two other workshops: “How to Develop a Partner Business Plan” and “How to Prepare your Business for Sale”. The latter might actually be better termed as putting your best foot forward – key to entities seeking to merge, sell, or those seeking additional capital. Stay tuned as we put the finishing touches on these. Timing will be late Spring and early Summer.
Also coming out of our AGM was the formation of our Research Committee. This group will be identifying key areas of focus and making recommendations as to any primary research we should be undertaking on behalf of members, and also sourcing and profiling existing research that members can share and leverage. This team is led by Lars Goransson of IDC.
Members will also be happy to learn that C4 has also enhanced membership benefits. Previously, one membership provided for three members of your organization to participate and receive discounts as applicable. That number has been bumped up to five.
In summation, 2015 looks sunny and promising. We have an extremely high-calibre board, very active committees, and a growing membership base. Feedback on all courses provided has been positive. We are committed to providing you – our member – with what you need to advance your career and help you drive business growth.