When private equity firms bought CompTIA’s lucrative certification and training arm, it marked a significant shift in the IT channel landscape. What remained – the non-profit membership and community organization – has since re-emerged as the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA), promising a renewed focus on members, community, and charitable giving.
Speaking to Channel Dive at the organization’s inaugural ChannelCon EMEA in London earlier this month, GTIA CEO Dan Wensley highlighted the unusual nature of the transaction, calling it "too good of an opportunity from all aspects.”
The private equity sale allowed the training and certification arm to continue independently. GTIA, meanwhile, was established as a separate, non-profit association – but with a substantial endowment to sustain it, Wensley said.
The organization said it has 1,800 member companies and nearly 200,000 individual members in North America.
Defining the channel
Since taking the helm, Wensley has redefined who GTIA represents. “We used too broadly the term MSP,” he said. “There are still some very successful resellers out there that are part of the channel. Anybody delivering IT services to customers needs to be a part of the GTIA community.”
The organization uses "ITSPs," or IT service providers, to encompass managed service providers, resellers, and other technology delivery firms. “The term actually doesn’t matter – what matters is that we’re all part of the same ecosystem,” Wensley said.
“Other peer groups are welcome here," he added. "We’ll support them, sponsor their events, and they’re welcome at ours. We want to be holistic about the channel.”
People first
While AI dominates channel conversations these days, Wensley said that human intelligence remains at the heart of the GTIA’s mission.
“AI is not replacing people as the most important part of the equation,” he said. “We have four pillars here at GTIA: people, resources, community, and advancement. People come first.”
“There’s arguably no more important time in the history of the channel to be part of a community,” he said. “Things are moving so quickly – if you’re not part of a community, you can’t keep up.”
Opportunities ahead
Since the sale, GTIA’s financial model has been an open question. Wensley said the organization is in a strong financial position and it will reveal more in its IRS filings "over the next couple of years,” he said. “But we are blessed with the amount of money that we have and the opportunities that we have ahead of us.”
The impact of financial independence is being felt. Wensley said the organization has tripled what it can use for charitable purposes and to support technology for its members. The CEO pointed out that GTIA is giving away $1.6 million this year, a figure he expects to grow next year.
“It’s actually not that different from other non-profits in the tech world that have endowments,” said Wensley. “It just means we’re able to focus purely on our mission – not on generating revenue.”
Financial freedom and focus
Wensley said the GTIA can return to its roots of supporting members, research, and education without commercial bias. “We’re able to put on an event like this [ChannelCon EMEA] without the necessity for the traditional revenue requirements of sponsorships,” he said. “We’re able to do this on behalf of our members and put it on as part of the membership.”
The same applies to research. “The amount of money we put into research and education in the channel is completely unbiased and completely agnostic. So vendors and MSPs who want to know the buying habits of AI in the SMB market, or how the next generation is making decisions – we can run all that research for them," he said.
“We’re not beholden to anyone," Wensley added. "There are no sales pitches here. There are no pay-to-play dynamics.”
Looking ahead
GTIA’s first year as an independent organization has been, said Wensley, a whirlwind. “We’ve had less than a year to rebuild, rebrand, open new communities, and pull off our first ChannelCon EMEA and our first ChannelCon North America under the GTIA brand,” he said.
Now, the organisation is shifting from transition to growth. “We’re more excited for 2026 and beyond,” said Wensley. “We’ve had an incredible year. Now we’re stable, we’re organized, and we’re looking forward to the future of growth for the channel.”
