Understanding the Evolving World of IT Channel Partnerships
The IT channel ecosystem is massive, diverse, and unlike traditional industries, it doesn’t follow a simple hierarchy. Instead, it functions as a dynamic, interconnected network where success depends heavily on how well a company positions itself and the niche it chooses to own.
For channel partners MSPs, VARs, and MSSPs growth today requires far more than offering general IT services. Winning in this competitive arena means defining a unique identity and specializing with precision. This specialization spans several areas: line of business, industry verticals (and sub-verticals), customer size, geographic region, technology stack, and business model.
These six dimensions don’t work independently. They overlap, influence each other, and shape how buyers make decisions. Modern IT buyers expect partners who show deep expertise across all these layers at the same time.
Why Vendor-Built Communities Often Fail
Many technology vendors and distributors fall into what can be called the "field of dreams" trap they pour substantial resources into building proprietary community platforms, assuming partners will naturally migrate to these vendor-controlled spaces. This approach consistently underperforms expectations.
The reality is far different. Channel partners have spent decades cultivating trust within established communities: peer networks, user groups, business coaching circles, technology platforms, industry media, podcasts, analyst networks, and live events. These relationships form the bedrock of how partners make decisions, evaluate opportunities, and build their businesses. For vendors seeking to recruit partners, communicate effectively, or build lasting loyalty, the formula is clear: understand what partners read, where they congregate, and—most critically—who influences their thinking.
The Power of Peer-Driven Communities
Communities offer something that vendor marketing can never replicate: authentic peer-to-peer connection. These groups bring together smaller circles of like-minded professionals sometimes even direct competitors who share similar experiences, face comparable challenges, and genuinely help each other succeed. Within these spaces, collaboration flourishes, decision-making improves through collective wisdom, and a profound sense of belonging develops.
The democratic nature of these communities matters immensely. They're built by the membership, for the membership. Participation isn't just encouraged it's celebrated. The affinity members feel toward their communities often exceeds their loyalty to any single vendor relationship.
For technology vendors, understanding influence within this massive ecosystem isn't optional it's mission-critical. Research consistently shows that many partners rank visibility and community involvement as their highest criteria when selecting vendor partnerships, often prioritizing these factors above product features, pricing structures, channel programs, or even margin potential.
Social Media's Explosive Growth in the Channel
The past several years have witnessed unprecedented growth in electronic connectivity, dramatically amplifying the need for trusted, expert information sources. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend substantially, adding 490 million new social media users globally in 2020 alone—a remarkable 13.2% increase in a single year.
Channel professionals now navigate an environment saturated with competitive product choices, endless internet information, and constant social media noise. In this context, cutting through the clutter has become one of the most valuable skills an IT channel professional can develop.
The social media groups cataloged in this research represent over 1.5 million registered accounts from channel professionals worldwide. While significant overlap exists—many professionals maintain memberships across multiple groups and platforms these numbers tell a compelling story. Most thriving communities leverage different social media tools strategically, each serving specific purposes: driving conversations, fostering engagement, and distributing ideas efficiently.
Current estimates suggest that 90% of internet users actively participate in and are influenced by social media in some capacity. Meanwhile, businesses are projected to spend approximately $49 billion on social media advertising in 2025.A Different Approach for Channel Professionals
Here's where channel professionals and vendors must think differently: social media isn't primarily an advertising platform—it's an engagement ecosystem. The most successful vendors use these spaces to connect with partners at a grassroots level, building authentic personal and professional relationships between face-to-face events. The pandemic underscored this reality sharply, as events-centric companies that couldn't adapt to digital engagement struggled significantly.
Channel-focused social media communities have developed highly effective immune systems against spam and self-promotion. Content that doesn't genuinely add value to the community gets rejected immediately, often damaging the reputation of the vendor or individual behind it. Overt selling attempts are ignored, deleted, or result in removal from the group entirely
The Tangible Value of Authentic Communities
Beyond fulfilling basic human needs for interaction and belonging, these social groups deliver concrete business benefits. Unfiltered information shared by peers with common experiences consistently proves more valuable than generic white papers or carefully crafted case studies published on vendor websites. The give-and-get dynamics within healthy communities inspire remarkable openness and—in the best communities—a level of honest, direct feedback that's increasingly rare in business environments.
For professionals seeking quality MSP contact lists, VAR databases, or comprehensive channel partner information, understanding where these professionals gather and communicate is essential. That's where Channel Database comes in—providing verified, up-to-date contact information for MSPs, VARs, MSSPs, cloud providers, and technology partners actively participating in these communities.
Now, let's dig into the details:
Facebook:
The Dominant Hub for MSP and VAR Networking
Facebook maintains its position as the world's largest social media platform by a substantial margin, boasting 2.74 billion monthly active users globally. The platform's engagement metrics reveal exceptional "stickiness"—1.82 billion users log in daily, demonstrating the habitual nature of Facebook usage among professionals and consumers alike.
For those seeking to build MSP email lists, connect with VAR decision-makers, or understand where Managed Service Provider communities gather, Facebook has emerged as an unexpected but powerful channel networking hub. While traditionally viewed as a consumer platform, Facebook Groups have become the primary digital meeting place for tens of thousands of IT channel professionals.
Research Insights:
Facebook Groups Overtaking LinkedIn
To understand the current landscape of channel-focused Facebook communities, we conducted research across the administrators of 48 channel-related Facebook groups. Of these group owners, 31 responded to our survey, providing valuable insights into engagement trends, platform satisfaction, and future investment intentions.
Our hypothesis entering this research was straightforward: Facebook Groups are rapidly replacing LinkedIn Groups as the preferred gathering space for MSP owners, VAR professionals, MSSP leaders, and technology partners. The data strongly supports this hypothesis.
An impressive 77.4% of group leaders reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their engagement levels on Facebook. Even more telling, 87.1% are investing the same amount or more time and resources into their Facebook communities compared to previous years. Perhaps most striking: 35.5% are investing "significantly" more effort into Facebook Groups, indicating a clear shift in where channel community-building efforts are focused.
Platform Limitations and Leader Concerns
However, the feedback wasn't universally positive. When asked whether Facebook is adequately investing in features and promotion for Groups, sentiment shifted noticeably. 71% of respondents expressed neutral to negative opinions about Facebook's commitment to the Groups product.
Group administrators identified several specific pain points that impact their ability to serve MSP communities, VAR networks, and channel professionals effectively:
Search Functionality: Multiple owners criticized Facebook's search engine as inadequate for helping members find relevant discussions, historical content, or specific expertise within their communities. For professionals researching managed service provider best practices or seeking VAR contact information, poor search capabilities significantly diminish group value.
Moderation Challenges: Several administrators noted increasing problems with "tech shaming"—aggressive or condescending responses to legitimate questions from less experienced members. This toxic behavior undermines the supportive environment these communities aim to provide, particularly for newer MSPs and emerging technology resellers.
Monetization Uncertainty: Concerns about Facebook's advertising and monetization strategies worry group leaders who have invested years building trusted communities. The fear of intrusive ads or pay-to-play features potentially damaging group culture runs high.
Platform Longevity: Perhaps most concerning, many administrators expressed fundamental distrust about Facebook's long-term commitment to Groups. The "rented land" anxiety—the reality that years of community-building could disappear if Facebook changes direction—creates genuine hesitation about deeper platform investment.
Despite these concerns, Facebook Groups remain the most vibrant gathering places for MSP networking, VAR collaboration, and IT channel professional development. For businesses like Channel Database that provide targeted contact lists of MSPs, VARs, MSSPs, and cloud providers, understanding these community dynamics is essential for identifying active, engaged channel professionals.
The Top 48 Channel-Focused Facebook Groups
Below you'll find the most substantial Facebook Groups serving the MSP, VAR, and IT channel community, ranked by membership size. While membership numbers don't directly correlate with engagement quality, they indicate community reach and potential networking value. These groups represent prime gathering places for professionals seeking managed service provider connections, VAR partnerships, MSSP collaboration, and technology channel opportunities.
FACEBOOK GROUPS
| # | Group Name | Admin | Members | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IT & MSP Business Owners Group | Chris Wiser | 11300 | A support community for IT and MSP business owners to share resources, advice, and strategies. Discussions cover business growth, marketing, and sales to help members improve and scale their operations. |
| 2 | IT/MSP Entrepeneurs | Stetson Blake | 7700 | A Facebook group for MSPs to focus on topics that directly impact managed service businesses. Engage in conversations, share experiences, and collaborate with peers. |
| 3 | IT Business Owners Group | Scott Sanders | 4200 | https://www.itbog.org -The IT Business Owners Group offers a member directory, Google map, vendor discount guide and educational resources on our website |
| 4 | Everything MSP Group | Dan Tomaszewski | 3300 | Everything MSP, the online community for MSPs, launched at Autotask Community Live in September 2017. We are happy to add this Facebook Group for our community. Outside of general conversation, the goal of this new group is to focus on specific topics that can help MSPs. |
| 5 | Tech World’s Half | Rokeya Jones | 2800 | This is a private group to collaborate on encouraging and keeping half of the total workforce – women – in the Technology Industry! Yes, things will be tough but with each other by our sides, we can tackle any and all obstacles. #WeAreRemarkable #HappyInTech |
| 6 | SyncroMSP Users Group | Shawn Scott | 2500 | A community for SyncroMSP users to share tips, best practices, and feature requests, fostering collaboration and support among users of the platform. |
| 7 | All Things MSP | Eric Anthony | 2500 | This group is for MSPs, IT companies and vendors who want to join conversations about managed services. |
| 8 | CharTec® MSP Group | Alex Rogers | 2000 | The goal of this group is to provide a space where MSPs & IT companies can openly discuss all industry-relevant issues including product reviews, struggles and successes, trends…ect. |
| 9 | IT Owner’s Compass | Lori Tisinai | 2000 | I.T. Owner’s Compass – Get help navigating your IT business. We’re a community that encourages others to move forward on their goals, business and personal! This space was created as a safe place to share thoughts, exchange and explore ideas for those who own or manage IT |
| 10 | Connectwise Tips & Tricks | Jonathan Bullock | 1800 | This group is for MSPs and is run by MSPs. We are not affiliated with Connectwise. We exist to provide community support to Connectwise users due to a lack of support from the developer. |
| 11 | IT/MSP Buy-Sell Goods & Services | Lori Tisinai | 1700 | Do you have equipment you want to sell or cannot use? Do you need a part? Do you have a service that is IT/MSP related, as of now, services are free to post. I know we don’t really need another IT/MSP group, but we can BUY/SELL or give a way. |
| 12 | CompTIA’s Advancing Women in Tech Interest Group | Kathleen Martin | 1400 | AWIT works to: • Empower women with resources and information to positively impact their technology careers • Inspire women to choose careers in technology • Help technology businesses create cultures that support a diverse workforce |
| 13 | Tech Marketing Group – Tips for MSP & IT Service Businesses | Matthew Rodela | 1400 | A place to share marketing tips and tricks for growing your IT business. |
| 14 | ConnectWise Boss | Adam Bielanski | 1300 | We’re obsessed with ConnectWise. For the latest info on new software releases, security features, and much more for streamlining your business processes and profits in 2019 and beyond… JOIN THIS GROUP to discover what’s POSSIBLE with ConnectWise! |
| 15 | MSP marketing | Paul Green | 1300 | A group for MSP owners & managers around the world to discuss marketing ideas. Strictly for MSPs only. This is a vendor-free zone |
| 16 | MSPeers – MSP/IT Peer Group | Alex Payne | 1200 | This group is for like minded people to assist one another by networking with their peers, for getting help with projects, meeting others within the IT/MSP industry. Play nice, we only want to support one another in here. |
| 17 | DattoCon | Rob Rae | 1200 | Welcome to the DattoCon conference group where you can network and communicate with other attendees, speakers, sponsors, and Datto staff! Feel free to post questions you may have about the event or industry. |
| 18 | Ransomware and Security | Amy Babinchak | 1200 | We’re here to share information about fighting ransomware and staying on top of general security issues. Focus is on small and medium businesses |
| 19 | Modern MSP | Amy Luby | 1200 | Founded 2004 as MSP Revolution & SMBManaged Services yahoo group, moderated by Amy Luby. The way to sustainable, profitable growth is through a Managed Services business model. |
| 20 | Ulistic Insiders | Stuart Crawford | 1100 | This group is an open discussion about the IT industry for friends, clients, partners and anyone who wants to share tips, tricks and strategies for effectively marketing and sales operations for their IT business. |
| 21 | MSP BUSINESS OWNERS | Jimmy Kno | 1100 | If you own an MSP and want to chat with other MSP Owners then this is the group for you. Technical and Business discussions welcome. |
| 22 | You know you grew up with SBS if… | Harry Brelsford | 899 | This group is dedicated to those of us that grew up as SBSers in the 1990s, 2000s and now the 2011+”teens” with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server (SBS). Share your triva, fun facts, success stories, lessons learned and everything that made this time special. |
| 23 | Australian IT Industry Group – Sysadmin, MSP & Break/Fix | Stephen De Tomasi | 862 | Live in Aus and work in IT? You’re in the right place. Australian Sysadmins, MSPs, Break/Fix Techs and Vendors are welcome here. Share your knowledge and connect with others here. |
| 24 | MSP Unleashed | Shawn Sexton | 821 | This group was created so that IT/MSP business owners can collaborate on ideas, sales/marketing tactics, tech help, and much more! Please keep everything civil. |
| 25 | MSP Sales Revolution – Mastering Cybersecurity Sales With Jennifer Bleam | Jennifer Bleam | 729 | THE cybersecurity group for IT companies who want to add significant profit to their company by selling cybersecurity to their clients (and prospects,) learn from a close community of fellow IT business owners, and share wins (and losses) |
| 26 | Datto’s MSP Forum | Rob Rae | 685 | Welcome to Datto’s MSP Forum a group dedicated to facilitating dialogues that fuel MSP growth! Here you’ll find a group, not filled with vendors or promotions, but instead filled with MSPs and valuable peer-to-peer conversations on a variety of topics |
| 27 | MSP Business Owners | Mike Slodowski | 684 | MSP Business Owners discussing issues around the industry and what tools and processes are available. This group is going to focus on companies that MANAGE the IT infrastructure of their clients. |
| 28 | N-Able (SolarWinds) MSP Open Discussion Users Group | Robert Kircher | 655 | The purpose of this group is to provide those of us who use N-Able MSP products and services a place to discuss business practices in relation to how we use these and other products in our day to day operations. |
| 29 | IT & MSP – Talk and Discussion – Business Owners – No Sponsors | Lisa Hendrickson | 620 | This is for the IT & MSP owners and senior staff to discuss issues and problems in the community. It will not be sponsored, commercial talks, pushing product etc will not be tolerated here. |
| 30 | MSP Regulation and Legislation | Amy Babinchak | 612 | Why we started this group. For many years there has been occasional talk about licensing IT professionals. Some were for it to raise the bar to entry; other against because of the fluidity of technology. |
| 31 | Women of The Channel | Christina Crow | 528 | A place where Women of The Channel can share stories, inspire others and celebrate achievements. This group will also feature great content from The Channel Company’s Women of The Channel events, including but not limited to keynote speeches, presentations, videos and more. |
| 32 | CMMC,NIST, all things Compliance – Serving MSP/MSSP Community | Tim Golden | 490 | Cybersecurity | Risk & Compliance The Compliancy Guys /________/ Weekly chats at 3pm EST on Thursday /________/ The Compliancy Guys is a consulting company focusing on the business compliance. Join here: https://thecompliancyguys.com/ |
| 33 | The MSP Corner | Fernando Leon | 469 | The MSP Corner |
| 34 | MSP Mentor Community Group (Powered by Channel Futures) | Allison Francis | 434 | Closed discussion forum for members of the MSP Mentor Community Group only. |
| 35 | MSP Covid Help | Lori Tisinai | 324 | One place to keep posting about what you are doing, what you see other doings and resources. Please offer help and resources. |
| 36 | CompTIA’s Emerging Tech Community | Kelly Stone | 322 | This community seeks to continually identify emerging technologies that can help transform business operations, create business opportunities, overcome challenges, leverage new routes to market and pave the road for the future business of technology. |
| 37 | SMB Professionals I.T. Group | Chris Bangs | 322 | SMB IT professionals are faced with new challenges like never before, including new commoditizing innovations, aggressive competition from outside verticals entering the channel, emerging technologies, and more. |
| 38 | Sophos MSP Connect Flex | Scott Barlow | 288 | Sophos MSPs utilize a vast portfolio of industry leading solutions that secure clients against modern cyber threats. Designed as a complete system that is synchronized to predict and adapt to attacks using artificial intelligence and easily managed from a single cloud based platform. |
| 39 | IT & MSP Rockstars | Scott Beck | 270 | An exclusive group for IT & MSP Business professionals wanting to build their personal brand, become the local expert and grow their organizations profitably! A community filled with tips, tricks, motivation and support that will help you grow into the rock-star MSP that you already are!! |
| 40 | MSP/IT Professionals Water Cooler Chat | Tim Golden | 223 | A place for MSP/IT pros to have some brain relief and fun! |
| 41 | IT & MSP Business Growth Group | Ian Lane | 213 | THE IT & MSP Business Growth Group Hi and welcome, This group is for IT and MSP Business Owners wanting to grow a more productive, profitable and engaged Business, including specifically how to really nurture the best from your Team and Clients. |
| 42 | The MSP Initiative | George Bardissi | 204 | https://mspinitiative.com/ MSP Initiative was started by independent individuals and companies from around the IT & Managed Services landscape who wanted to come together and help build a new voice in the community. |
| 43 | MSP Voice Community | John Smith | 199 | This is the community group for IT business owners and managed service providers (MSPs) to share ideas and thoughts on the industry. Feel free to share industry information and your own thoughts on the business. Sponsored by MSP360: https://www.msp360.com/ |
| 44 | The MSP Marketing Lab | Scott Millar | 160 | Do you run an MSP? Want to know what marketing is working and generating leads We test marketing campaigns and share the results in this group. |
| 45 | Canadian MSP and IT Pros | Steve Dion | 137 | A place for Canadian MSP’s and members of the IT channel to gather, share and support. |
| 46 | MSPTag MSP Trusted Advisor Group | Paul Daigle | 119 | MSP Trusted Advisor Group – Strategy, Execution and Accountability. Tap into a pedigree of MSP executives and professional services. A community that provides MSP professional services and walk you through the multiple levels of growth. |
| 47 | MSPGeek | Martyn T. Keigher | 106 | MSPGeek is a community that focuses on all aspects of MSP related discussion. Previously LabTechGeek, we also happen to be the largest ConnectWise community in the world. |
| 48 | MSP (IT Managed Service Provider) Processes Creation and Automation | Daniel Wang | 100 | This group is focused on defining the processes for the MSP business and using automation to help execute those processes faster, more accurate, and cheaper. |
LinkedIn:
The Declining Giant of Professional Channel Communities
The Paradox of LinkedIn's Untapped Potential
From a purely demographic and professional targeting perspective, LinkedIn should dominate as the premier platform for MSP networking, VAR communities, and B2B technology partnerships. With 740 million registered users worldwide—overwhelmingly business professionals, decision-makers, and technology buyers—the platform's early leadership in professional social communities seemed unassailable.
Yet the reality tells a starkly different story. The early momentum LinkedIn built around Groups has largely dissipated, with many once-thriving communities now resembling digital ghost towns. For professionals seeking to connect with Managed Service Provider leaders, build Value Added Reseller partnerships, or access MSSP decision-makers, LinkedIn's declining engagement presents both a challenge and an opportunity to look elsewhere.
Research Findings: A Platform in Decline
To quantify the current state of channel-focused LinkedIn communities, we surveyed administrators of 81 channel-related LinkedIn Groups. Of these group owners, 37 responded, providing candid insights into a troubling trend.
Our hypothesis entering this research was that LinkedIn Groups have lost their engagement appeal, with many communities devolving into one-sided vendor spam repositories rather than genuine peer-to-peer collaboration spaces. The data not only confirmed this hypothesis—it revealed a situation worse than anticipated.
Since Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn, the platform appears to have never successfully monetized group engagement, steadily losing its first-mover advantage to Facebook Groups and emerging platforms detailed throughout this article.
Alarming Satisfaction and Investment Metrics
The survey results paint a concerning picture for LinkedIn's future as a channel community platform:
Engagement Perception: A striking 51.4% of group leaders reported negative perceptions of engagement within their own communities. This represents more than half of active administrators acknowledging that their LinkedIn Groups are failing to deliver meaningful interaction among MSP professionals, VAR executives, and technology channel partners.
Investment Trends: Perhaps even more telling, 40.5% of administrators are investing less time and energy into their LinkedIn Groups compared to just a few years ago. Most alarming: 27.0% are actively considering shuttering their groups entirely—abandoning communities some have nurtured for years.
Platform Support: When asked whether LinkedIn is adequately investing in features and promotion for Groups, the response was overwhelmingly negative. An astounding 91.9% of group owners rated LinkedIn's efforts as only moderate to nonexistent. This near-universal dissatisfaction among community builders signals fundamental platform neglect.
The Great Migration: Where LinkedIn Users Are Going
When we asked group administrators where their member base was migrating, clear patterns emerged:
Primary Destination: Facebook Groups – The overwhelming majority reported members shifting to Facebook Groups, where engagement tools, notification systems, and community features far exceed LinkedIn's current offerings. For MSP business owners, VAR professionals, and managed service provider teams seeking active discussion and collaboration, Facebook has become the default choice.
Surprising Second: Twitter – Despite lacking dedicated community engagement tools comparable to Facebook or LinkedIn, Twitter emerged as the second most common migration destination. The platform's real-time conversation format and hashtag-based discovery apparently outweighs its structural limitations for community building.
Alternative Platforms: Additional migrations include private web forums, Reddit communities, Slack channels, Microsoft Teams groups, WhatsApp networks, and even the emerging audio platform Clubhouse. This fragmentation reflects LinkedIn's failure to retain its position as the central hub for B2B technology networking and channel partner collaboration.
What Group Owners Say LinkedIn Needs
Administrators provided specific, actionable feedback about what LinkedIn must address to remain relevant for MSP communities, VAR networks, and technology channel groups:
-
Design Overhaul: A comprehensive UI/UX refresh to modernize the dated interface
-
Direct Messaging Restoration: The ability to message all group members (a previously supported feature now removed)
-
Improved Notifications: Better activity-based alerts that actually drive members back to conversations
-
Aggressive Spam Control: Systematic elimination of vendor spam, promotional noise, and low-value clutter
-
Content Segmentation: Better organization tools to categorize discussions, resources, and member expertise
-
Growth Tools: Enhanced features for recruiting new members and expanding community reach
For organizations like Channel Database that maintain comprehensive MSP contact lists, VAR email databases, and MSSP professional directories, LinkedIn's decline means diversifying outreach strategies across multiple platforms where channel professionals now actively engage.
The Top 81 Channel-Focused LinkedIn Groups
Despite declining engagement, LinkedIn Groups still represent significant concentrations of Value Added Reseller professionals, Managed Service Provider executives, MSSP leaders, and technology channel decision-makers. The groups below are ranked by membership size, though it's important to note that large membership numbers on LinkedIn increasingly don't correlate with active engagement or community vitality.
LINKEDIN GROUPS FOR MSPs, VARs & B2B TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS
LINKEDIN GROUPS
| # | Group Name | Admin | Members | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Telecoms Professionals: IoT, LTE, M2M, OTT, Internet of Things, Mobile, Telecom | Ian Johnson | 747940 | The group for Telecoms & Media to discuss: IoT, 5g, New Devices & Technology, Mobile, Billing, IPTV, Cloud Computing, LTE, WiMax, Connected TV, Edge Computing, Telecoms Marketing & Advertising, PR, Jobs, Events, Social media, VOIP, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Symbian, 3G, wireless, SaaS, Broadband, OSS. |
| 2 | B2B Technology Marketing Community | Holger Schulze | 134703 | We are the #1 LinkedIn group exclusively focused on B2B tech marketing. This group is designed for marketing professionals to get the latest digital marketing news, enable networking, sharing of ideas, best practices and opportunities. |
| 3 | Channel, Sales & Account Management Experts (37,000+) | Ian Moyse | 44011 | A group for Channel Managers, Account Managers & Salespeople (in Resellers, VARs, Distribution & Vendors) to connect together and share experiences and best practice in sales & marketing. |
| 4 | The IT Sales Global Community | Lucas Stiefel | 43631 | The ITsales Global Community is exclusively for information technology sales professionals including, Account managers, Sales managers,Business managers,Channel managers and all sales executives around the world. |
| 5 | VARs / Resellers / Distributors | Brian Court | 43217 | VARs have plenty of challenges to be successful. Competing on price is to die a slow death – so how do we add value to customers, increase our margins, our footprint in a customer and ultimately increase our ability to succeed in an ever changing environment. |
| 6 | Alliances & Channels Friends (Strategic Alliance, Business Development, Partnership, Channel) | Serge Costa | 30667 | The founders of this group have extensive experience in leadership of strategic alliances and management of global partnerships and sales channels. The founders of this group have extensive experience in leadership of strategic alliances and management of global partnerships and sales channels. |
| 7 | CompTIA – The Computing Technology Industry Association | Kelly Stone | 24071 | CompTIA is a member-led organization comprised of thousands of tech-focused companies and professionals. We are the go-to resource for unbiased insight, guidance, and tools to help companies drive more effective outcomes with their customers. |
| 8 | AVIXA | Hanane Abdalla | 24054 | This is a group for AVIXA Members and other AV professionals to share their expertise through discussions and networking. Please refrain from posting messages related to promotion of company/product/services or messages containing job listings. |
| 9 | Channel Partners Network | Brittany Watts | 22614 | An online extension of the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, Channel Partners Evolution and Channel Evolution Europe, this group is dedicated to the indirect sales channel for communications products and digital services. Its charter is to provide an ongoing forum for indirect sales partners to network. |
| 10 | PartnerPoint – An Online Community of Microsoft Partners | Brian Ocheltree | 14888 | Formed in 2005, PartnerPoint is one of the largest & most active online communities of Microsoft Partners w/ over 50,000 members from around the globe. As one of the largest Microsoft Partner groups on LinkedIn, our community includes all partner types. |
| 11 | Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals Community | Kimberly Miller | 11673 | ASAP is the only nonprofit, professional community with members across the globe dedicated to alliance management who seek successful outcomes for strategic alliances, partnerships, ecosystems, and key channel partner relationships. |
| 12 | Managed Service Providers Network | Allen Mapalo | 10934 | Managed Service Providers are invited to discuss ideas about services, implementation & marketing. Groups focus is success in the IT MSP market. |
| 13 | MSP 501 | Allison Francis | 10819 | This discussion forum is a place where managed service providers, VARs, ITSPs, consultants, etc. can engage in productive discussion about industry issues. Follow our other social accounts for even more MSP news and talk! |
| 14 | The Reseller Network | Grant Ward | 9966 | The Reseller Networks’ primary objective is to connect companies to help establish reseller, affiliate, distributor, retail and partner relationships to help grow businesses effectively and cost effectively nationally and internationally. |
| 15 | MSP – Managed Service Provider | Amir Quraishi | 9817 | This Group is for Individuals or Companies who are an MSP – Managed Service Provider. |
| 16 | IT Channel Alliance | Tiffani Bova | 8740 | This group is focused on the IT go-to market sales strategies focused on channel programs and enablement tools for VARs, System Integrators, Solution Providers, ISV, Managed Service Providers and Direct marketers. Identifying trends and current state insights will be the goal of this group via Q&A. |
| 17 | Alliance Best Practice | Mike Nevin | 7037 | A group dedicated to exploring best practice principles in business to business relationships. Particularly and specifically strategic alliance relationships. Typical key search words: partner, partnering, alliance, alliances, alliance best practice, best practice, alliance execution, collaboration. |
| 18 | Alliance Management and Business Development Network | Jim MacNeil | 6637 | The Alliance Management and Business Development Network provides a forum for an open exchange of ideas specific to the principles behind managing alliances. |
| 19 | ChannelWeb Network | Jennifer Follett | 6244 | A group for IT channel executives, VAR, systems integrator and solution provider executives and employees to find each other and share ideas about business and technologies that advance the agenda of the IT channel. |
| 20 | Managed Service Provider (MSP) Best Practices | Steve Simmons | 6077 | If you want to share ideas on how to successfully build and grow a Managed Services company, then this is the place for you. Meet other IT professionals and leaders involved with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) or IT Services delivery. Network and trade best practices for marketing, sales, pricing, and upselling. |
| 21 | Move the Channel – Marketing, Sales, Planning & Enablement | Travis Smith | 5865 | Move-the-Channel is the go-to resource for Channel Marketers, Channel Sales Leaders, Channel Enablement & Ops, and Channel Chiefs interested in what is working to drive profitable revenue growth. This one-of-a-kind LinkedIn private group provides channel executive members with access to industry executives. |
| 22 | Business Development & Strategic Alliances / IT & Telecom | Serge Costa | 5609 | Group for professionals involved in Channels & Alliances / IT & Telecom. Affiliate Agreement Alliances Channel Development Channel Partnership Channel Sales Channel Distribution Sales & Channel Management Indirect Channel eCommerce and Distribution OEM Planning Partnership Programs Channel Strategy. |
| 23 | Channel Executive Magazine | John Oncea | 5559 | The Business Solutions Network’s vision is to facilitate connections and foster collaborations throughout the IT channel and software community. VAR Insights (VARrinsights.com) feeds fresh business-enabling content to VARs in the IT channel on a daily basis through multimedia delivery of newsletters. |
| 24 | CRN UK – technology channel professionals | Sara Yirrell | 5440 | This LinkedIn group provides a networking opportunity for business people working in the UK technology distribution channel. It is run by CRN, Incisive Media’s publication for VARs, integrators and converged resellers. CRN is the UK’s leading business publication for the technology channel. |
| 25 | Technology Services Professionals – Collaboration & Networking – TSIA | Emily Murray | 5379 | This group strives to be the preeminent source of online networking, best practices and peer-to-peer collaboration for technology services professionals. Brought to you by Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA). |
| 26 | Channel Futures | Jessie Truscio | 4787 | Leading Channel Partners Forward – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChannelFutures/ Twitter: @ChannelFutures |
| 27 | ITdistri worldwide IT Distribution Specialists | Alain Godet | 4701 | ITdistri group aims to help vendors exchange on their experience on IT distribution in the whole world. Resellers are also welcome, to discuss about their distributors in any country. |
| 28 | Channel Live Discussion Group | Miles Bossom | 4490 | The Channel Live Discussion Group provides a forum for professionals working within the Voice, Data, IT and Mobile trade Channels to share ideas, interact and discuss topics of current interest. |
| 29 | PMAP – Partner Manager Alliance Program | Taylor Moran | 4321 | The Partner Manager Alliance Program group has been created to promote discussion and cooperation among channel professionals working in channel management/sales roles within IT and Telecommunications vendors. |
| 30 | Channel Sales for Hire North America | Lynn Bryant | 3869 | Are you a North American channel sales person looking for a career opportunity? Are you a company or recruiter looking for a strong channel sales specialist? Look no further than Channel Sales for Hire. North America only please. |
| 31 | The Channel Institute: Training for Channel Managers, Channel Marketing, Channel Sales | Mike Kelly | 3627 | The Channel Institute is an ISO certified training body that sets the global standard for training in channel management and channel marketing. Our courses are reviewed by the Industry Advisory Council, comprised of channel thought leaders at leading technology companies. |
| 32 | CompTIA Advancing Women In Technology Community | Kelly Stone | 3222 | The Advancing Women in Technology Interest Group is dedicated to empowering women with resources and information to positively impact their technology careers, inspiring women to choose careers in technology, and guiding technology businesses to create cultures that support a diverse workforce. |
| 33 | Telecom Channel Partners | Frank Wilkens | 2882 | Designed for Var’s, Vendors Agents and Dealers to meet with carriers and offer solutions throughout the world. |
| 34 | Channel Rewards & Incentives Best Practices | Andrea Benavides | 2714 | Our group’s network shares best practices around indirect channel incentive and loyalty rewards programs. Top-performing rewards and incentive programs share certain characteristics in the realm of channel relationships that contribute to their success. |
| 35 | Alliance of Channel Women | Khali Henderson | 2621 | Founded in 2010, the Alliance of Channel Women is a not-for-profit organization of women in the indirect sales channel of the telecom and IT industry. The Alliance of Channel Women brings us together to empower and advance women’s careers and leadership roles in the technology channel. |
| 36 | VAR Marketing | Jim Larkin | 2542 | Focused on IT channel marketing, channel sales, MDF management, social media, building pipeline and co-marketing best practices. Specific topics include; cloud marketing, SMB selling, lead generation, lead nurturing, marketing trends, and vertical marketing. |
| 37 | Dutch IT Channel Club | Witold Kepinski | 2171 | Welcome to the Dutchitchannel.nl Club at LinkedIn: a Dutch & worldwide networking group for all people who work in the IT-channel: vendors, distributors, resellers, system integrators and consultants. Dutchitchannel.nl Club enables participants in the Dutch IT business to exchange knowledge |
| 38 | Channel Focus | Caleb Brown | 2136 | The Channel Community is for channel sales and marketing executives in software, hardware and the telecoms industry responsible for aspects of channel marketing and sales, channel development, marketing communications and business strategy. |
| 39 | Indian IT Channel Alliance | Alok Gupta | 2134 | This group is for Indian Information Technology Channel and is focused on the IT go-to market sales strategies focused on channel programs and enablement tools for VARs, System Integrators, Solution Providers, ISV, Managed Service Providers and Direct marketers. |
| 40 | ChannelCrowd | Alan Paterson | 1915 | ChannelCrowd , is aimed specifically at Sales, Marketing and Supply-Chain professionals and other executives who have a shared interest in Channel Management. |
| 41 | MSPAlliance Group | Charles Weaver | 1885 | This group is for all existing or prospective members of the MSPAlliance. If you’re not a member of the MSPAlliance, join today for free and join over 25,000 MSPs & cloud providers world-wide! |
| 42 | Australian IT Channel | Mark Winter | 1874 | VARs have plenty of challenges to be successful. Competing on price is to die a slow death – so how do we add value to customers, increase our margins, our footprint in a customer and ultimately increase our ability to succeed in an ever changing environment. |
| 43 | The Channel Company | Lindsay Sawyer | 1817 | The Channel Company is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. |
| 44 | Alliances & Channels Friends / USA | Serge Costa | 1703 | OEM Partners Distribution Project funding capital equipment, knowledge expertise intellectual property Cooperation Collaboration Synergy technology transfer knowledge expertise specialization, shared expenses shared risk. Alliance Partner Channel Resellers Indirect Collaboration Distributor |
| 45 | MSP University | Erick Simpson | 1640 | MSP University (http://www.mspu.us) provides education, training, fulfillment and consulting services to Membership Organizations, Vendor Channels, Franchises and independent IT Service Organizations worldwide. We are the ultimate vendor-neutral resource for all IT Service Providers |
| 46 | Channel Insider | Howard Cohen | 1481 | The Premier News Resource for the Channel Community – Channel Insider is dedicated to the providing IT resellers and partner community with the technology and market intelligence to increase revenues and grow their businesses. Channel Insider addresses the $450 billion marketplace |
| 47 | Taking your partner channel from good to great | Lori Stutsman | 1374 | If you run a partner program within a technology company, this group is for you. Get tips on how to help your partner team maximize your channel’s sales and marketing efforts and how to influence business decision makers with powerful content that tells a unique and memorable story. |
| 48 | IT Channel Newspaper & community | Vikas Gupta | 1341 | Our vision is to provide detailed information of IT & telecom and make it easy to reach the customers needs through IT Voice. It is as simple as looking at the whole world with a bird’s eye view. |
| 49 | Channel Marketer | Sherri Butts | 1274 | Channel Marketer Report (CMR) is a targeted e-media publication covering the the latest solutions, trends, news and strategies to help vendors optimize their marketing both to and through their partner networks. The publication will only help point to solutions and processes that can help track results |
| 50 | Channel Gurus Europe | Greg Taylor | 1270 | A place for senior level channel sales and marketing executives from the software, hardware and telco industry to share best practices and strategies |
| 51 | MicroScope Channel Network | Alex Scroxton | 1261 | MicroScope is the longest running channel publication in the UK and has built a reputation for delivering hard hitting news and definitive analysis of the IT supply chain in the UK. No rumours, no speculation, just the facts. |
| 52 | Microsoft Partner Group from Redmond Channel Partner Magazine (RCPmag.com) | Donovin Matthews | 1197 | Breaking news, features and commentary about the Microsoft channel designed to help readers navigate the unique technical, business and even political issues that come from being a Microsoft partner. |
| 53 | CompTIA UK Channel Community | Estelle Johannes | 1150 | The CompTIA UK Business Technology Community centers around the Business of Technology by helping members build and expand their businesses and careers.Together, we explore business opportunities and challenges and put a focus on the UK region as a world leader in technology innovation. |
| 54 | Channel Update – An agent community for positive change | Rob Camargo | 833 | Official Group for channelupdate.com we provide user generated news content and an open forum for Telecom Agents involved in the indirect channel. We’ve made a place where agents in the industry can come and discuss topics relevant to them and share ideas on how to make their needs available |
| 55 | B2B & Channel Marketing Insight Community | Jon Clarke | 744 | A networking community for anyone with an interest in the latest trends and insights in B2B and channel marketing. Join our community if you want to share ideas and news on: customer insight; buying journeys; behavioural economics; social selling; and inbound marketing. |
| 56 | Alliance For Channel Success | Jeff Hilton | 737 | IT Businesses and Channel Program Owners can join the Alliance For Channel Success and use its programs to help grow and develop increased business success. The purpose of this group is to foster discussion between leading channel program owners, partners and channel development professionals. |
| 57 | Beyond channel enablement … motivation | Tony Serino | 729 | Motivation trumps enablement. Perhaps it’s personal, but the term “Enablement” as used in “enabling the channel” grates on me. First, because it presumptuous and even condescending … and second, because it sets the performance bar too low to make a difference. |
| 58 | Partner Relationship Management Tools & Best Practice | Chris Marshall | 717 | PRM and other partner management tool selection and usage best practice. |
| 59 | EMEA Channel Vendors / Distributors / VARs / Resellers | Brian Holohan | 655 | Welcome to EMEA Channel Vendors / Distributors / VARs / Resellers. Join the group if you are involved in the industry. Feel free to promote your company, but please keep this in the “Promotion” section, the “Discussions” section is restricted for conversations on industry news / trends / strategies. |
| 60 | MSP/ VAR Marketing & Operations Group | Paul Barnett | 591 | My name is Paul Barnett and I am the Marketing Director for Virtual Administrator (VA for short). During my time at VA, I have worked with hundreds of small VARs and MSPs from all over the country. |
| 61 | IT Channel Partners | Elias Ndreu | 591 | IT Channel industry is a group that connects IT channel professionals. You can share anything important (news, updates etc) about the IT channel industry and how to improve your network |
| 62 | Frankly IT Community | Steve Petryschuk | 553 | Welcome to the Frankly IT Community LinkedIn group! We’re excited you’ve joined the community. You’ll find conversations and resources meant to help you: • Building & managing a high-performing IT team • Ways to optimize your service desk or help desk • Best practices for IT project management |
| 63 | Channel Marketing and Communications | Gennifer Biggs | 538 | Successful marketing and clear, concise communications are an ongoing struggle for many in the IT channel. As channel comms specialists, we’re trying to share on insight and best practices. |
| 64 | Channel Sales & Marketing Jobs UK, Ireland and Europe | Zoe Chatley | 501 | This group has been set up for all Technology channel sales and marketing professionals who are looking to make their next move. Whether you just want to see what the market is like or you are seriously looking for your next challenge, this group will give you access to the latest jobs in the channel. |
| 65 | Channel Partner Alliance, Formerly VARCoach | Julian Lee | 495 | As we continue our mission to help Resellers, VARs, MSPs, ITSPs, MSSPs and ISVs to become bigger, better, stronger and smarter through better business practices, we have expanded beyond providing Coaching services. We offer best business practice assessments; Peer-group collaboration |
| 66 | VAR Marketing Tips and Tactics | Mark Badran | 478 | This group is dedicated to helping Sage, Microsoft, Acumatica and other software resellers discuss and discover marketing tip and tools available to technology VARs. You’ll learn useful marketing tips that will help you climb the ranks on Google, leverage social media, discover effective inbound strategies. |
| 67 | Global Channel Network | Joe Kiddle | 472 | News and discussion from across the U.S, U.K and EMEA IT channel, including breaking stories, exclusive research and industry events. |
| 68 | CompTIA ANZ Channel Community | Moheb Moses | 458 | This community seeks to be the voice of the entire ANZ business technology community, for small-, medium- and enterprise-focused businesses. As part of a nonprofit, vendor-neutral industry association, this CompTIA community offers a unique voice in the industry where all can participate |
| 69 | ChannelTune | Laurent Glaenzer | 433 | Channel Tune is a community of international business executives involved in channel management. We share practices, trends, visions…to reach new business through our channel. This group is moderated by: Lemon Operations |
| 70 | Mid-Market Channel Professionals | Heather K. Margolis | 433 | We’ve started this group for mid-market channel professionals to share ideas, questions and resources with each other while building channel programs, communications to channel partners and resources to market through channel partners. |
| 71 | Global Channel Management | Johnny Walker | 406 | Global Channel Management is a group created to share best practices and industry knowledge with seasoned channel sales and marketing professionals. Our group aims to uncover all relevant aspects of Channel Investments including Product Realization, Product Development, Channel Programs. |
| 72 | Global IT Community Association (GITCA) | Felipe Zuñiga | 395 | Representing over 800 member organizations and over 3.7 million IT professionals, GITCA is the world’s largest international not-for-profit independent organization powered by dedicated volunteers devoted to the development and growth of the IT community by providing services to support leaders |
| 73 | Strategic Alliances & Partner EcoSystem | Sridhar Throvagunta | 379 | Strategic Alliances WhatsApp group is a self-managing team of alliance professionals coming together to enhance their knowledge and careers. The twin dimensions of the charter are as follows: 1. Business & Technology Discussions 2. Professional networking for mutual advancement |
| 74 | CompTIA Emerging Technology Community | Kelly Stone | 374 | As a group of emerging technology thought leaders, this community will seek to continually identify emerging technologies that can help transform business operations, create business opportunities, overcome challenges, leverage new routes to market and pave the road for the future business of technology. |
| 75 | Channel & Reseller Certification Forum | Gordon L. Johnson | 372 | Come chat with other channel chiefs and certification professionals about reseller certification programs and solving the challenges of increasing your reseller engagement and performance. Discuss what makes world-class certification programs; tips, technologies and incentive programs that drive certification |
| 76 | The Channel Meet-Up | Emily Cotton | 372 | B-to-B-to-B has unique challenges. Channel partners are under pressure to keep up with the new era of marketing, as traditional sales and marketing approaches are no longer helping customers make informed buying decisions. |
| 77 | Channel Partner Strategies | Jordan Linford | 321 | If you are in channels sales or marketing then this group is for you. It is made to share best practices, tips and advice for improving and optimizing the indirect channel. |
| 78 | IT Channel Insight | Gilly Zammit | 250 | IT Channel Insight is a one-stop source of information for IT resellers, managed service providers and channel partners.The idea of this group is to discuss major concerns and problems that MSPs and channel partners are encountering in their business. Please feel free to share your ideas. |
| 79 | Middle East Forum for Channel Partners | Angelina Jardin | 242 | This group is poised to provide partners with a wealth of information and educations, giving us a platform to discuss new tools that help us realize ICT’s full potential to transform our customers’ businesses. |
| 80 | PRM ~ Partner Relationship Management | Eric Herschkorn | 185 | BtoB Partners Relationship remote . Social selling i(ex “Business Social Networking”) nteraction with the evolution and convergence trade of commercial. We use this business model to redefine a new one for B2B. PRM is the group of the think tank “Des idées pour Innover”. |
| 81 | Marketing Multiplied – Channel Marketing Community | Mike Moore | 130 | A group for communication and collaboration among Channel professionals around the book Marketing Multiplied: A Real-World Guide to Channel Marketing for Beginners, Practitioners, and Executives. The book will be available in early 2018. www.marketingmultiplied-book.com. |
Reddit:
The Unfiltered Frontier of MSP and VAR Communities
According to official company data, Reddit reached 52 million daily active users worldwide by the end of 2020, representing a remarkable 44% year-over-year increase. This explosive growth hasn't gone unnoticed in the technology channel in mid-2018, our closer analysis of Reddit revealed it had become the number-one platform for authentic channel partner professional discussions, MSP peer collaboration, and VAR knowledge sharing.
Where LinkedIn Groups have devolved into near-ghost towns, Reddit represents something closer to the digital Wild West for Managed Service Provider communities and Value Added Reseller networks. The platform's culture might initially seem intimidating to newcomers, but it offers something increasingly rare: genuinely unfiltered peer feedback.
The Reddit Advantage: Anonymity Breeds Honesty
Reddit's degree of user anonymity can feel unsettling for professionals accustomed to LinkedIn's verified identity model. Content on Reddit channel communities is frequently unfiltered, uncensored, remarkably blunt, and yes—often peppered with expletives. But this raw authenticity is precisely what makes it valuable.
For MSP business owners researching vendor options, VAR professionals evaluating technology partnerships, or MSSP operators seeking honest product reviews, Reddit delivers what sanitized vendor communities cannot: the unvarnished truth from practitioners who have nothing to sell.
Quality Control Through Community Moderation
Despite its "Wild West" reputation, Reddit's content quality often surpasses more formally moderated platforms, thanks to its sophisticated user-generated voting system. Valuable contributions rise to prominence through upvotes, while spam, vendor pitches, and low-quality content gets downvoted into obscurity or removed entirely.
Moderators wield powerful tools to maintain community standards without stifling honest conversation. This balance creates environments where managed service provider best practices, VAR partnership strategies, and technology channel insights flow freely without the constant vendor spam plaguing other platforms.
The broader technology channel's demographics align perfectly with Reddit's user base: 87% male and 74% under age 50. This demographic overlap explains why Reddit has become the go-to platform for technical discussions, troubleshooting advice, and no-BS vendor evaluations among MSP technicians, VAR engineers, and channel professionals.
The r/msp Subreddit: Engagement Central
The primary r/msp subreddit has amassed 112,000 subscribers, with an impressive 84,000 active users participating in any given month. This 75% monthly engagement rate far exceeds typical social media benchmarks and rivals only Discord (detailed below) for sustained, active participation.
For companies like Channel Database providing MSP contact lists and VAR email databases, Reddit presents unique challenges—its anonymous nature makes it unsuitable for direct outreach. However, understanding Reddit conversations provides invaluable insights into what Managed Service Provider decision-makers actually need, which technologies they're evaluating, and which vendors they trust (or distrust).
The r/msp community serves as the ultimate focus group for understanding MSP pain points, channel partner priorities, and technology purchasing criteria—insights that inform smarter B2B lead generation and more relevant channel partner engagement strategies.
Clubhouse:
The Newest Player in Channel Community Building
Clubhouse burst onto the social media scene as the year's most talked-about newcomer. Despite remaining invite-only through much of 2020-2021 and only recently launching an Android version, the audio-only platform reached 10 million weekly active users by mid-2021—a staggering jump from just 600,000 users in December 2020.
The app's momentum extends beyond North America, currently ranking as the number-one most-downloaded application in Germany, Japan, Slovakia, and Turkey. This international expansion suggests Clubhouse has tapped into something fundamental: professional appetite for real-time, voice-based connection.
Channel Adoption: Promising but Measured
Adoption within MSP communities, VAR networks, and the broader technology channel has been more measured compared to Clubhouse's explosive growth in entrepreneurial and startup circles. However, the audio-only, real-time conversation format may ultimately serve a valuable subset of channel professionals who prefer consuming information through dialogue rather than text-based posts and scrolling.
Clubhouse has become particularly popular among entrepreneurs in the startup ecosystem—a demographic that overlaps significantly with managed service provider owners, Value Added Reseller founders, and channel partner executives who similarly seek collaboration opportunities beyond passive content consumption.
For MSSP professionals juggling operational demands, VAR sales leaders constantly traveling, or MSP technicians working hands-on, audio-based networking offers the ability to participate while multitasking—a compelling value proposition for time-constrained channel professionals.
Top Clubhouse Rooms for Channel Professionals
Below are the leading Clubhouse rooms serving MSPs, VARs, MSSPs, and the broader technology channel ecosystem, ranked by membership size. As Clubhouse matures and potentially opens API access, platforms like Channel Database may eventually integrate Clubhouse activity data into comprehensive channel partner contact databases and MSP professional directories.
CLUBHOUSE ROOMS FOR MSPs, VARs & CHANNEL PARTNERS
Here are the top 7 groups based on membership size (not engagement):
CLUBHOUSE ROOMS
| Group Name | Admin | Members | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tech Partnership Alliance | Bader Hamdan | 3000 | Ecosystem Partnerships – Alliances – Channels. Empowering Your Go-To-Market Journey. Wondering how a partnership works, align with cloud, launch a SaaS marketplace offer, integrate ISV tech stack, or drive joint GTM with partners?… | |
| MSP/MSSP NSIT/CMMC/SOC | Tim Golden | 313 | A place for Managed Service Providers MSP and managed security services providers MSSP can chat about tools, tech, tips and more | |
| Channel Growth Hacking | Michelle Ragusa-McBain | 169 | Join the Technology Channel Ecosystem’s key #Influencers #ChannelChiefs and #ThoughtLeaders for #ChannelGrowthHacks that take you from incremental to break through growth. Also a gathering place for advocacy for #WomenInTech and #Diversity… | |
| Modern MSP | Amy Luby | 116 | w/ Amy Luby, Scott Sanders, Gjeret Stein, Bagaudin Satuev — Calling all MSP business owners! Join your peers each week in a casual conversation around building a profitable IT services business. Bring your successes, challenges, frustrations & ideas to share with your peers. | |
| IT Business Owners Group | Scott Sanders | 99 | Discuss topics relating to owning an IT service business with an emphasis on managed services. | |
| ICE MIGHTY NETWORK CLUB | Nadio Granata | 70 | The place to discuss the role of the Channel Partner and Alliance professional. Topics include but are not limited to: SaaS/Leadership/Sales/Marketing/Best Practice/Technology/Inclusivity/Diversity/Workplace/Age of Human | |
| Partnership Leaders | Asher Mathew | 35 | Partnership Leaders is the community focused on business development, alliances, channel and partnerships executives and professionals at modern technology companies. Join us at —> www.partnershipleaders.com |
Slack:
The High-Engagement Hub for MSP and Channel Collaboration
Slack has evolved far beyond simple team messaging to become a critical infrastructure for channel professional networking. The platform now serves over 10 million daily active users globally, with penetration spanning the entire spectrum of Managed Service Providers—from single-person operations to enterprise-scale VAR organizations and MSSP firms.
The platform's business credibility is undeniable: 43% of Fortune 100 companies pay for Slack subscriptions, validating it as enterprise-grade collaboration infrastructure. Perhaps most remarkably, the average Slack user remains logged in for 9 hours daily—positioning it alongside email as an always-open, continuously monitored communication channel in most MSP professionals' and VAR executives' daily workflows.
Why Slack Excels for Channel Communities
Unlike Facebook's casual social environment or LinkedIn's declining engagement, Slack delivers exceptionally high participation rates within technology channel communities. Conversations center primarily on technical troubleshooting, operational best practices, business coaching, and peer mentorship—exactly what MSP business owners, VAR sales leaders, and MSSP operators need most.
Content Segmentation: Slack's channel structure allows communities to organize discussions with surgical precision. A single workspace might feature separate channels for RMM tools, cybersecurity strategies, pricing discussions, hiring challenges, vendor evaluations, and regional meetups. This granular organization means managed service provider professionals can focus exclusively on relevant conversations without wading through off-topic noise.
Administrator Control: Slack provides community administrators with sophisticated permission controls that rival or exceed any social platform. Admins can manage membership tiers, control posting permissions, moderate content efficiently, and maintain community standards without the limitations plaguing Facebook Groups or the neglect affecting LinkedIn Groups.
Integration Ecosystem: Perhaps Slack's most differentiating feature is its nearly unlimited integration capabilities with other software platforms. Many technology vendors and distributors maintain official Slack integrations, allowing channel partners to receive product updates, support ticket notifications, deal registrations, and technical alerts directly within their community workspace.
For MSP owners managing multiple vendor relationships, VAR professionals tracking partner programs, or channel consultants monitoring industry developments, these integrations transform Slack from a communication tool into a comprehensive business intelligence dashboard.
Strategic Value for Channel Database Users
Organizations like Channel Database that provide comprehensive MSP contact lists, VAR email databases, and MSSP professional directories should recognize Slack's unique position. While individual Slack communities are private and membership-protected, understanding which workspaces attract concentrations of managed service provider decision-makers and Value Added Reseller executives provides critical intelligence for B2B outreach strategies.
Slack communities often represent the most engaged, operationally sophisticated segment of the technology channel. MSPs and VARs who invest time in Slack workspaces are typically growth-focused, technology-forward businessesprecisely the high-value prospects that drive ROI for channel partner lead generation campaigns.
Leading Slack Communities for Channel Professionals
Below are the most substantial Slack workspaces serving MSPs, VARs, and technology channel professionals, ranked by membership size. These communities represent thousands of engaged managed service provider owners, channel partner executives, and IT services professionals collaborating daily on business challenges and growth opportunities.
SLACK CHANNELS FOR MSPs, VARs & TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS
Here are the top 4 groups based on membership size (not engagement):
SLACK CHANNELS
| Group Name | Admin | Members | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSPGeek Slack | Martyn T. Keigher | 6833 | MSPGeek was founded in 2013, as ‘LabTechGeek’, by Martyn T. Keigher & Greg Buerk. Their goal was to build a platform to provide ConnectWise Automate (formerly LabTech) administrators the ability to communicate and collaborate on common challenges, issues and ideas. | |
| Cloud Software Association | Sunir Shah | 2702 | Over 4,000 of the cloud software industry’s partnership leaders have joined the Cloud Software Association for a good reason. It’s a lot easier to make relationships, close deals and learn from peers inside the network. | |
| IT Pool Party | Chris Burns | 1918 | Today, it’s a slack community of MSP owners that share ideas, services, and more with other MSPs around the world. Our slack group was created by Chris & Paul, who both own MSPs in South Florida. |
Discord: The Gaming Platform That Found Business Purpose
Discord originated as a communication platform for gamers but has evolved far beyond its roots. The platform now serves a diverse range of professional communities, including growing segments of technology channel professionals, MSP operators, and IT service providers.
With monthly active users in the hundreds of millions and thousands of servers dedicated to various topics, Discord has proven its versatility. The platform's voice channels, screen sharing capabilities, and bot integrations make it particularly appealing for technical communities that need real-time collaboration tools.
Several MSP-focused Discord servers have gained significant momentum, attracting thousands of active members who appreciate the platform's superior voice quality, robust moderation tools, and gaming-inspired engagement features that make professional networking feel less formal and more collaborative.
The platform's demographics align well with younger MSP technicians and VAR engineers who grew up with Discord for gaming and find it natural to use for professional networking as well.
Other Social Platforms:
Twitter: The Megaphone Without the Community
Twitter boasts 353 million total users, though the company specifically tracks 192 million "monetizable daily active users" for advertising purposes. The platform's 2020 growth trajectory tells an interesting story: initially projected at just 2.8%, the pandemic accelerated adoption to 7.9% year-over-year growth.
Despite these impressive numbers, Twitter functions primarily as a broadcasting megaphone rather than a community-building platform. Celebrity users and influencers drive the overwhelming majority of engagement, while meaningful peer-to-peer collaboration remains elusive.
For MSP and VAR Communities: Our research uncovered virtually no evidence of successful, sustained communities on Twitter for Managed Service Providers, Value Added Resellers, or channel partners. While individual MSP thought leaders and VAR executives maintain active Twitter presences for personal branding, the platform lacks the structural features necessary for genuine channel professional collaboration.
Technology vendors and distributors have attempted Twitter-based community initiatives, but engagement rates pale compared to Facebook Groups, Slack workspaces, or even Reddit communities. For organizations seeking to connect with MSP decision-makers or build VAR email databases, Twitter serves better as a brand awareness channel than a community engagement platform.
Instagram: Visual Branding Without Meaningful Engagement
Instagram has reached 1.2 billion monthly active users, with impressive 43% growth in site traffic year-over-year, driving approximately 5.3 billion visits monthly. As a Facebook-owned property, it benefits from sophisticated advertising infrastructure and extensive business tools.
Technology vendors have experimented with Instagram presence, typically focusing on visual "branding" accounts showcasing company culture, event highlights, and product aesthetics. However, the platform's image-centric format fundamentally misaligns with B2B technology discussions, MSP operational challenges, and VAR partnership conversations.
Channel Community Reality: Active commenting and genuine engagement remain virtually nonexistent in the technology channel space on Instagram. Managed Service Provider professionals, MSSP operators, and Value Added Reseller executives overwhelmingly prefer text-based platforms for Continue the detailed technical discussions, pricing conversations, and strategic collaboration their businesses require.
For Channel Database clients seeking MSP contact lists or VAR professional directories, Instagram provides minimal value for B2B lead generation or channel partner outreach.
YouTube:
Video Warehouses, Not Communities
YouTube dominates video content with 2 billion monthly active users, ranking as the second-most-visited website globally by traffic trailing only Google Search itself.
From a community perspective, YouTube serves primarily as a video hosting warehouse. Many MSP consultants, channel advisors, and technology vendors maintain YouTube channels for educational content, webinar recordings, podcast episodes (vodcasts), and product demonstrations.
The Community Gap: Despite its massive reach, YouTube offers minimal useful "group" functionality for channel professional collaboration. Comments sections beneath videos generate some discussion, but these conversations lack the depth, organization, and sustained engagement found in dedicated Facebook Groups, Slack channels, or Reddit communities.
MSP business owners and VAR professionals consume YouTube content for learning and professional development, but they build relationships and solve operational challenges elsewhere.
TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest: Consumer Platforms Without Channel Presence
Several additional major social platforms demonstrate significant consumer traction but remain essentially irrelevant for B2B technology communities, MSP networking, or VAR collaboration:
TikTok: The number-one most-downloaded app in 2020, with 689 million active users globally. Despite explosive growth and expanding business features, TikTok shows zero meaningful channel-related activity. The short-form video format appeals to consumer entertainment but hasn't translated to managed service provider or technology partner use cases.
Snapchat: Maintains 498 million total users, with 265 million active daily. Like TikTok, Snapchat remains overwhelmingly consumer-driven with no substantive MSP communities, VAR groups, or channel professional engagement.
Pinterest: Reached 459 million active monthly users, representing 37% growth year-over-year. The platform added 100 million users during the pandemic, primarily consumers seeking inspiration for home projects, recipes, fashion, and lifestyle content. No meaningful technology channel business or B2B partnerships occur on Pinterest.
Why These Platforms Fail for Channel Communities: All three platforms optimize for visual, ephemeral, entertainment-focused content—fundamentally incompatible with the detailed technical discussions, operational problem-solving, and strategic business conversations that MSP owners, MSSP executives, and Value Added Reseller professionals require.
Private Forums and Closed Communities:
Beyond Consumer Social Platforms
Beyond mainstream consumer social media, a rich ecosystem of private, specialized forums serves the technology channel with remarkable effectiveness. These platforms often deliver higher engagement quality than their public counterparts, though their closed nature makes them difficult to catalog comprehensively.
Association-Based Communities: Organizations like ASCII Group operate private newsgroups and member forums exclusively for vetted Managed Service Providers and technology consultants. These closed communities foster extraordinary candor, with MSP owners sharing financial benchmarks, pricing strategies, and vendor evaluations they'd never discuss publicly.
Technology Platform Communities: Tools like Spiceworks have integrated robust social features directly into their platforms, creating natural gathering places for IT professionals. These built-in communities benefit from immediate context discussions happen alongside the actual tools and technologies being discussed.
Subject-Focused Forums: Specialized forums like Technibble (focused on computer repair and small MSP operations) attract highly targeted audiences around specific technical domains, business models, or operational challenges. These niche communities often provide more relevant insights than broad-based platforms.
The Closed Environment Challenge: While these private forums generate exceptional channel partner engagement and rich professional discussions, their exclusivity creates barriers. Technology vendors and distributors struggle to enter, participate authentically, and build community relationships within closed environments designed specifically to keep vendor influence at arm's length.
For companies like Channel Database providing MSP email lists, VAR contact databases, and MSSP professional directories, understanding these private community ecosystems provides context for the professionals in those databases even if the communities themselves remain inaccessible for direct outreach.
Help Us Build the Definitive Channel Community Resource
The technology channel ecosystem evolves constantly, with new communities emerging while others fade. This comprehensive guide represents extensive research across 143+ social media groups serving Managed Service Providers, Value Added Resellers, MSSPs, cloud providers, and technology partners worldwide.
Know of a great MSP group, VAR community, or channel partnership social space that we missed? Let me know, and I'll add it to this definitive list of where channel professionals actually gather, collaborate, and build their businesses.
Whether you're an MSP owner seeking peer connections, a VAR executive exploring partnership opportunities, an MSSP operator researching security communities, or a technology vendor trying to understand where your channel partners spend their time—these communities represent the digital heartbeat of the technology channel.
Access Verified MSP, VAR, and Channel Partner Contact Data
For organizations seeking direct access to MSP decision makers, comprehensive VAR contact information, or verified channel partner email databases, Channel Database provides the most current, accurate contact data for technology channel professionals across all these communities and beyond.
Our databases include:
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Managed Service Provider (MSP) contact lists with verified decision-maker emails – Access MSP Contacts
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Value Added Reseller (VAR) directories with key executive contacts – Access VAR Contacts
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Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) databases with security leadership information – Access MSSP Contacts
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Cloud provider contact information for partnership and sales outreach
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Technology partner directories across all channel segments
Understanding where channel professionals gather is just the beginning. Channel Database connects you directly with the verified contact information you need to reach them effectively.
For direct inquiries or personalized assistance, connect with our expert on Email: info@channeldatabase.com
Contact Channel Database today to access the most comprehensive, up-to-date MSP, VAR, and channel partner contact databases available.