If you thought the first full work week after the holidays was going to be a slow one for news—wrong! Kaseya announced that CEO Fred Voccola was transitioning away from the helm to take a new role as vice chair with the company. We also found out the new name for the nonprofit side of CompTIA that was not purchased as part of the acquisition by Thoma Bravo and H.I.G. Capital, what other channel leaders are taking on new roles, the ASCII Edge 2025 speaker lineup, New Charter’s latest MSP shopping spree, and more. Happy reading!
Industry Organizations
CompTIA Community Renamed to Global Technology Industry Association
The nonprofit membership side of CompTIA was renamed to Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA), two months after the industry organization announced its sale of the training and certification side of the business to private equity.
GTIA continues to operate with the same mission of service to the IT industry. The industry trade organization will be led by its board as well as Chief Operating Officer Kelly Ricker and Chief Community Officer MJ Shoer. Ricker and Shoer will report to the executive committee of the board of directors while the board conducts an ongoing search for a CEO.
“We are excited to begin a new chapter for our association,” said Tracy Pound, chair of the GTIA Board of Directors, in a press statement. “Now that we are singularly focused on the IT channel, we can deliver even more benefits for our members and create an environment where everyone is welcome, and we can all work together to help shape the future of our industry.”
The sale of the CompTIA brand and for-profit business activities resulted in the creation of a substantial endowment that will cover the operating costs of GTIA indefinitely. As a result, membership dues will continue to be subsidized to be kept affordable, and member benefits will remain consistent, including global events like ChannelCon. Through the endowment, GTIA will also have more opportunity to expand charitable giving to organizations doing valuable work in technology and bringing more people into the tech industry around the globe, according to GTIA.
By the Numbers
New Dice Report: More Techs Are Looking for Jobs as Employers Shrink Benefits
If you’re an MSP looking to hire, the good news is that nearly half of tech professionals are seeking new roles in 2025, up from 29% last year, but they’re on the hunt for employers that have comprehensive benefits and a career path. That’s according to the 20th annual Tech Salary Report from Dice, a career marketplace for technology professionals.
Why the discontent? “While compensation remains important, tech professionals are increasingly focused on the total package—from benefits to job security to professional development opportunities,” said Art Zeile, CEO of DHI Group, Inc., parent company of Dice, in a press statement. “This presents both challenges and opportunities for employers looking to attract and retain top tech talent in 2025.”
The report reveals that 59% of tech professionals feel underpaid—the highest percentage ever recorded in the survey. This sentiment coincides with companies reducing benefits.
- Training and education opportunities dropped 6 percentage points in 2024 compared to 2023.
- Remote work options declined 4 percentage points year-over-year.
- Only 36% of tech professionals received merit raises, down from 41% in 2023.
“We’re seeing a clear disconnect between what tech professionals value and what they’re receiving from employers,” said Zeile. “Organizations that can bridge this gap, particularly in areas like remote work flexibility and professional development, will have a significant advantage in attracting top talent in 2025.”
AI Commands Higher Compensation
The average technology professional salary reached $112,521 in 2024, representing a 1.2% year-over-year increase. But workers with AI skills can demand more of a premium. The survey found that tech professionals responsible for AI development earn 17.7% more than their peers not involved in AI work, and also reported higher job satisfaction.
Indeed, 36% of tech professionals with over 20 years of experience cited AI and machine learning as the most significant technological change of the past two decades, followed by cloud computing and virtualization (15%) and mobile technologies (8%).
Has Culture Improved?
Notably, women in tech with over two decades of experience are nearly 1.5 times more likely than their male counterparts to say work culture has improved over the past 20 years. “This finding suggests real progress in workplace culture,” noted Zeile. “However, with only 48% of all seasoned tech professionals saying culture has improved, there’s still significant work to do in this area.”
Events
ASCII Group Announces Keynote Speakers for ASCII Edge 2025 Conference Series
The ASCII Group, a North American community for independent MSPs, announced keynote speakers for ASCII Edge 2025, its flagship conference series.
This year’s featured keynoter is Jesse Tuttle, once a globally wanted hacker known as “Hackah Jak.” In his session, “The Mindset of a Hacker—FBI’s and Interpol’s Most Wanted Shares All,” Tuttle will describe his journey from breaching high-security systems to becoming a trusted intelligence partner for federal agencies.
ASCII Edge 2025 will be held in eight cities this year, offering two days of education and networking for MSPs. Events will take place in Costa Mesa, CA; Orlando, FL; Newark, NJ; Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Toronto, Canada; Dallas, TX; and Philadelphia, PA.
Featured MSP speakers include ASCII alum and successfully exited MSP Jeremy Nelson, who will reveal strategies for leveraging powerful questions to boost sales and build client relationships; ASCII member Diana Giles of Skyline IT, who will present strategies for thriving under pressure and reducing stress; and ASCII members Mat Kordell and Dave Henderson of CyberStreams, who will offer tips on uncovering, acquiring, and transforming distressed or undervalued MSPs to grow your business.
For event details and registration, visit events.ascii.com.
People
Gerwai Todd is stepping down from his role as CEO of Pia, effective immediately. Todd joined Pia in February of 2024, at which time he sold his company, Triafy, an AI triage product he launched in 2019, to Pia. His other company, TimeZest, remained independent from Pia and Todd will continue to serve as its CEO. Pia, a provider of AI-led automation solutions for MSPs, will continue to operate under its CEO Executive Group, while establishing a Growth Advisory Committee to guide the company’s future direction and maintain continuity as it conducts a comprehensive, global search for its next leader.
Liongard, provider of an attack surface management solution for MSPs and IT service providers, appointed Brook Lee as vice president of community and channel. Previously, she served as director of channel at ScalePad, and before that as channel development manager for Pia. Liongard also appointed David Powell as chief revenue officer. Powell joins Liongard from Pax8, where he served as the vice president of sales strategy. Before his role at Pax8, he was CRO at Evo Security, an IAM platform for MSPs.
Ingram Micro promoted Sanjib Sahoo to president of the Global Platform Group. Previously, Sahoo served as the company’s executive vice president, global technology, and chief digital officer. Hired in 2021, he set the vision and roadmap for Ingram Micro Xvantage, an AI-driven business platform. Sahoo will continue to lead the ongoing development and deployment of the B2B platform. “I’m honored to lead our efforts to move towards a platform-first model and transform Ingram Micro from distributor to platform ecosystem company,” said Sahoo in a press statement.
M&A – MSPs
New Charter Technologies, a portfolio company of private equity firm Oval Partners, is strengthening its co-managed IT services offerings with the addition of Verus, founded in 2002, to its growing platform of companies. According to the announcement, Verus’ deep experiences in working with internal IT teams and strong capabilities in infrastructure, cloud strategy, and security—along with its status as one of WatchGuard’s largest partners—make it a valuable addition to the New Charter network.
“With increasing demand for deep IT specialty and hybrid management models, having a partner like Verus—who really knows how to collaborate with internal IT teams—makes us even stronger as a network,” said Peter Melby, CEO of New Charter Technologies.” And, stronger for our clients.”
M&A – Vendors
WatchGuard Technologies, a unified cybersecurity vendor, acquired MDR provider ActZero. This acquisition benefits MSPs with operational efficiency gains, according to WatchGuard. “We realized the need to scale rapidly as we have gained traction throughout the year with our MDR service,” said Prakash Panjwani, CEO of WatchGuard Technologies, in a press statement. “The acquisition of ActZero allows WatchGuard to add capacity, scalability, and new technology that will enable our MDR service to expand to the full WatchGuard portfolio and third-party security products. With additional scale, we can handle a larger partner base efficiently, building confidence with our partners so they can easily add more services as we expand our MDR capabilities. ActZero has built its service with this kind of scaled customer experience in mind.”
1Password, an identity security vendor, acquired SaaS access management vendor Trelica. This strategic acquisition will accelerate the delivery of new capabilities in the 1Password Extended Access Management platform, which secures every sign-in to every app on every device. Trelica will also bring advanced SaaS spend optimization and additional compliance capabilities to 1Password Extended Access Management. The Trelica technology helps organizations optimize software licenses to uncover cost-saving opportunities, automate workflows for smarter resource allocation, and maintain continuous compliance with standards such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001 through comprehensive audit trails and robust policy.
Distribution
Global distributor TD SYNNEX announced the opening of its new North American Innovation Studio in partnership with IBM. The studio is a strategic component of TD SYNNEX’s Destination AI initiative alongside its IBM watsonx Gold 100 program and now provides a dedicated physical space along with IBM trained, technical experts for TD SYNNEX partners to leverage throughout their AI adoption and monetization journey.
Zero Networks is now available on the Pax8 marketplace. Zero Networks offers advanced, enterprise-grade microsegmentation—a cyberdefense tactic to isolate network segments that helps to limit access and contain breaches. These solutions protect against ransomware, lateral movement, and insider threats.
Compliance
CrowdStrike announced that the CrowdStrike Falcon cybersecurity platform achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorization for three key modules: CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen SIEM, CrowdStrike Falcon for IT and CrowdStrike Falcon Data Protection.
