GTIA CEO Dan Wensley on the importance of community in the IT channel

Also discusses the opportunities he sees in the Australian market.

As technology moves at a rapid pace, community plays an integral part in the IT channel.

Dan Wensley, CEO at the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA) explained to CRN Australia why community is important in the channel.

He said community is “everything”.

“The technology always evolves and always changes. The geopolitical situation always evolves and changes. The financials always evolves and changes. But the people don't,” he said.

“Having those relationships, having that community and having that resource it's been everything.”

Wensley said some of his best friends in the IT channel are former competitors.

"I worked for a number of them after we were competitors. It's just the beauty of this industry,” he said.

“We'd sneak away and have a beer together, get information out of [each other] and not share anything untoward or conspiracy, just, ‘hey, we're in this together, what can we do together?’

“We'll compete, may the best solution win. But how could we put out some research together that helps?”

Earlier in his career, Wensley even collaborated with his competitors when he was back working in the MSP space.

“I founded a company called MSP Partners and enabled Kaseya Level Platforms. We all contributed in because nobody was covering their services early,” he said.

“We created that vehicle for each other to do it. They won a bunch of deals, and we got the same leads, but it was all a part of it.”

As the IT channel is driven by innovation and always evolving, there aren't a lot of industries that change at the pace that the IT does, Wensley noted.

Due to this demand, everything has accelerated and even more so with AI.

"The ability to have the people in the community now is more important than ever,” Wensley explained.

“Gartner's outlook on technology adoption had changed by double digits in a week, and that was the prediction for the remainder of 2025. Being a part of an association, an industry and having these connections is more vitally important than ever.”

Opportunities in ANZ market

Looking at the Australian market, Wensley loves the fact he can bring a global perspective to Australia and then showcase Australia’s thriving market to the world.

“We can bring the global perspective to this market and say this is where you are in an adoption curve or a maturity in certain area, whether it be AI, cyber or anything,” he said.

“But also to bring what's going on in this market back to the rest of the communities on a global basis, because it's such a thriving industry here and at a different stage.

“I love the fact that we can share that data and that research, both inbound and outbound,” he added.

Speaking to his Australian GTIA members, Wensley said take advantage of what they have available in their membership.

“If you're not already a member, come and get educated on what's available for you. We're here to provide value to every member and every individual. We've got a great team here where we've made investments to be able to do that,” he said.