Monday Morning Impact – September 14

IDC: Mobile Workers to Become the Majority

According to a new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC), the U.S. mobile worker population will grow at a steady rate over the next four years, increasing from 78.5 million in 2020 to 93.5 million mobile workers in 2024. By the end of the forecast period, IDC expects mobile workers will account for nearly 60% of the total U.S. workforce.

“COVID-19’s disruption of the U.S. labor force has had a dramatic impact on how large businesses operate and will continue to shape how and where people work in the months to come,” said Bryan Bassett, senior research analyst, IDC’s Enterprise Mobility: Deployment Strategies program. “The ability to quickly mobilize different segments of a company’s workforce with capable and secure mobile solutions has never been more important, and U.S. organizations are signaling that investment in mobile-based management and security solutions will take precedence in 2020 and beyond.”

The IDC study entitled, “U.S. Mobile Worker Population Forecast, 2020–2024,” forecasts the U.S. mobile worker population by segment across 16 industry verticals and analyzes trends and drivers in mobility, tracking segment population growth across major industry verticals as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This five-year forecast includes the impact of COVID-19 on all markets according to the most recent macroeconomic inputs from the last week of July 2020.

IDC defines mobile workers as workers who are enabled with mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) by their company to complete their assigned tasks and workflows.

A recent IDC survey found that 87% of U.S. enterprises expect their employees to continue working from home three or more days per week once mandatory closures are lifted, and 90% of enterprises think it is likely more of their workers will work from home in the future.

“To meet the needs of more mobile, remote, and work-from-home workers, U.S. enterprises have indicated that mobile security and mobile management solutions will be top spending priorities going forward to keep both information and frontline workers productive and secure in decentralized working environments,” added Bassett.

Channel Impact^®
The data demonstrate the need for channel partners to remain in tune with the needs of their customers and leverage Information Technology to keep those companies competitive and profitable as the situation evolves.

ConnectWise Expands its Certify Training Series

ConnectWise has announced a series of new educational offerings, including “IT Nation Secure,” a two-day virtual conference focused on cybersecurity for solution providers, as well as new ConnectWise Certify Advanced playbook and courses.

ConnectWise will hold its first IT Nation Secure conference on October 14-15, aligned with Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The virtual conference is specifically tailored for individuals at solution provider organizations whose jobs are essential to offering and delivering secure services to their clients. Attendees can expect multiple keynotes, breakout sessions, security briefings, live labs, tabletop exercises, and product demos.

Breakout tracks and content will cover the following areas: The Human Element, Security Operations, Virtual Chief Infosec Officer (vCISO), Marketing & Selling Cyber, and Partner Led Thought Leadership.

The new ConnectWise Certify Advanced courses are a 12-month program of information sharing, engagement and security business building. This is the second playbook and set of associated courses in the ConnectWise Certify cybersecurity training series. The Advanced offering, scheduled to begin in late September of 2020, focuses on the security journey for improvement overall and specifically improve delivering, monitoring and managing risk.

The courses will take place virtually every month, with a typical time commitment of 3-4 hours per month. Training tracks focus on Secure Operations (SECOPS), Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO), and Advanced Sales.

“We’ve had more than 4,000 individuals complete the ConnectWise Certify Fundamentals class, making it clear there’s a huge need and appetite for more of this training. We’re committed to providing it and we’re excited to offer the next installment of courses in our Certify training program,” said Jason Magee, CEO of ConnectWise. “And, based on the overwhelming success of ConnectWise Certify, we decided to expand our IT Nation conference line-up by adding IT Nation Secure, a comprehensive conference dedicated to security education to help arm the IT Nation with the knowledge and expertise they need to better protect their SMB customers.”

Channel Impact^®
These new offerings are designed to provide resellers and managed service providers with the knowledge and skills they need to build a security practice and improve their security posture for their clients.

“IT By Design” Launches New Managed Services Education Initiative

IT By Design (ITBD), a New Jersey-based company focused on providing engineering talent to IT service providers, has launched an MSP-focused online education community, Build IT University. Marketed as, “Build IT U,” the initiative is a 3-tier, membership-based community focused on driving MSP business excellence through educational content, shared best practices, and peer-to-peer accountability. 

Managed Service Providers can find curated, MSP-specific content with new educational offerings promised for each week. Offerings include live courses hosted online to collateral such as infographics and white papers.

“As an MSP ourselves, we understand the many facets that contribute to the success of an MSP,” explains Kam Kaila, president of IT By Design. “Our focus on nine building blocks of entrepreneurial excellence will accelerate every business—whether you are an MSP just getting started or a mature, seasoned business.”

The program features flexible learning options —from print to audio to online courses; networking and peer accountability; actionable educational content focused on current MSP challenges; and access to co-branded or white-labeled collateral to use with end-user customers for thought leadership.

Channel Impact^®
Build IT U is committed to accelerating the growth of the MSP industry through expert educational content and peer engagement, bridging the gap between knowledge and MSP success. The content is intended to provide relevant, MSP-specific learning opportunities not currently found in the industry.