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Partner Committee discusses best practices and globalization

By John Weber posted 09-20-2016 13:56

  

On September 7, Mitsubishi Electric hosted the Partner Committee's annual meeting at their North American headquarters in Vernon Hills, Illinois, outside of Chicago. We had 20 members, both SIs and Partners in attendance.

CSIA CEO Jose Rivera provided an update on the various initiatives CSIA has been working on. One of these was the new approach to communications approach, which now includes LIVE! Webinars and Member Plug-In (printed newsletters) in addition to e-Newsletters. This new mix of communication channels is designed to cater to various communication preferences and improve the likelihood of important membership information reaching all members.

CSIA staff members Lynda Patterson and Brittany Olson gave a brief presentation on the plans as they are shaping up for the 2017 Executive Conference. The Partner Committee was instrumental in making the decision to use pods at the 2016 Executive Conference. This minimized the logistical efforts by the Partners participating at the EXPO. It also allowed Partners to direct their efforts at the EXPO towards relationship building. The pod concept was viewed as a success and will be repeated in 2017.

CSIA Exchange Community Manager Tony Veroeven shared traffic, visitor and relevancy statistics for the CSIA Industrial Automation Exchange, proving that the Exchange attract industrial automation and control system integrator clients in addition to potential new members. He unveiled the Exchange’s new features including one that helps supplier partners feature their system integrator partners and programs in addition to their products and services.

The committee held insightful discussions two key areas:

  1. Core (Best Practices)
  2. Globalization

These topics were selected for the meeting because Partners play a key role in both. Partners can encourage and reward the SIs in their network that pursue and gain CSIA Certification. Similarly, a significant portion of our Partners are global companies, and as such can play a key role in helping CSIA expand its membership around the world. It was interesting to see how some SIs viewed the quarterly Partner-sponsored events that CSIA LATAM has been conducting in Mexico City as a desirable concept to be replicated as regional, half day events in the U.S. CSIA will be exploring this idea for 2017. Interestingly enough, on October 13, a CEO Roundtable will take place in Houston, Texas, sponsored by the AlliantGroup (a CSIA Partner member that helps SI companies gain R&D tax credits). All CSIA members are invited but we expect the largest participation by regional SIs. This event could develop as a pilot for other partner sponsored events in 2017.

Certification and globalization have long been important topics for CSIA. These discussions will continue at CSIA's strategic planning board meeting in October. The ideas generated by the Partner Committee will enrich these discussions.

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