10 Scenes From The ConnectWise Partner Summit

The fourth annual ConnectWise Partner Summit -- IT's Next Wave: Strategies for Success -- attracted more than 1,000 attendees to the Buena Vista Palace Hotel and Spa, Orlando, Fla., Sept. 17-19.

ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini pulled no punches in telling Summit attendees about what they need to do to maximize their success in the months and years to come: "Cloud computing is on the horizon. You can choose to address this opportunity head on, or wait until the big guys swoop in and define your role for you. For those of you who haven't embraced a managed services business model, they're doing that now. Don't let it happen with the next wave it IT."

Zenith Infotech, a leading managed services vendor, was among more than 35 exhibitors in the Technology Showcase portion of the 4th annual ConnectWise Summit.

Peter Weyant, Interlink vice president of product marketing, underscored the advantages of partnering with the specialty distributor particularly because of its expertise in the VoIP market.

Solution providers posed questions to ConnectWise leadership during a "town hall" open discussion.

ConnectWise Chief Executive Officer Arnie Bellini leads panel addressing key issues from a solution provider's perspective. Bellini said he thinks that Dell, Google and Microsoft are setting up the infrastructure to be cloud computing powerhouses and that they'll cut out the channel in the process. Solution providers need to partner with channel-friendly cloud computing vendors, he said..

ConnectWise's partner advisory board conducted a panel focused on helping solution providers in an area where many need it the most -- marketing.

Author Nicholas Carr discussed the future of computing, drawing on key concepts articulated in his latest book, "The Big Switch."

ConnectWise Summit beat more than the managed services drum, as attendees were treated to an unforgettable performance of The Drum Cafe during the partner awards dinner.

Tony Smith, CEO and founding partner of New York-based VSA Consulting Group, spoke on the "art" of networking, including how to maximize the overall value of conferences. The session provided suggestions that helped attendees understand how to best follow-up and follow-through on knowledge and ideas acquired at this year's Summit.