Monday Morning Impact – August 8

CompTIA IT Business Confidence Index Declines for Second Straight Quarter

A well-know business metric that measures professional opinions on the state of the IT industry is showing reduced expectations among industry executives.

The CompTIA IT Industry Business Confidence Index fell in Q3, the second consecutive quarter of decline. The Q3 index is down 1.4 points to 61.7 on a 100-point scale based on a survey of 257 U.S. technology companies conducted in early July. In Q2 the index fell by 0.9 points.

“Despite the positive momentum in metrics such as IT sector hiring and revenue growth in many categories, a rebound in business confidence failed to materialize,” noted Tim Herbert, senior vice president, research and market intelligence, CompTIA. “The data indicates the smallest of IT firms – those with fewer than 10 employees, continue to exhibit higher levels of sensitivity to volatility or market disruptions.”

Part of the downward pressure may stem from seasonality, given that the index has recorded a negative reading in Q3 in every year since its debut in 2009. On the positive side of the ledger, 71 percent of companies said that they are on target or ahead of their revenue goals for 2016. That’s down slightly from Q2, when 75 percent of companies were on track or ahead of goals.

Channel Impact^®
While downturns of any kind are never welcome news, the trend of a soft Q3 followed by a resurgent Q4 can be a source of measured optimism.

Comcast Names New EVP; May Adjust Sales Strategy

Comcast has announced today the promotion of Greg Butz to Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing Operations for Comcast Cable.

Butz is expected to focus on driving growth by investing in sales channel transformation and evolving Comcast’s customer acquisition, retention and segmentation strategies. He will also continue to lead consumer marketing for Xfinity TV, Internet, Voice and Home.

Butz joined Comcast in 1993 as a business development director for Comcast Cellular Communications, and has served in multiple executive roles since that time. He reports to Dave Watson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Comcast Cable.

Channel Impact^®
The anticipated changes to the go-to-market model will be an interesting development. The company statement provided no details.

BlackStratus Reports Gains in Partner Base Following Launch Of New SAAS Product

BlackStratus, a New Jersey-based provider of cloud-based security and compliance technology, announced that in the three months since the launch of CYBERShark partner program has grown to 95 MSPs in the U.S. and Canada. This news comes in the wake of last April’s launch of new Security Information Event Management (SIEM) technology for SMBs.

“CYBERShark provides a golden opportunity for MSPs to enter the mid-market with an affordable, white-label SIEM platform and we’ve proven that position by signing a record number of providers in such a short amount of time,” said CEO Dale Cline.

Using the company’s platform, MSPs can receive a white-labeled portal view of their customers’ compliance reports and security posture complete with step-by-step remediation to resolve security incidents and malicious activity.

Channel Impact^®
A new product that can bring enterprise-level security capabilities downmarket is quite likely to gain the attention of the channel.