What do light quanta, communication psychology, and NIS2 have in common? All three were at the center of the GTIA DACH Community Forum, held at the Adina Hotel in Munich’s Werksviertel district. Nearly 90 industry representatives gathered to discuss what is challenging the IT channel today — and how a strong community can make all the difference.
Anyone expecting just another IT event at the GTIA DACH Community Forum 2026 — slides, coffee breaks, small talk — was in for a pleasant surprise. The April 28 gathering in Munich made clear that the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA) has a different ambition: genuine exchange, tough questions, and practical answers.
Norbert Neudeck, Director of Sales at MailStore and member of the GTIA DACH Executive Council, welcomed the approximately 90 attendees to the Adina Hotel high above Munich’s rooftops. A special touch: MJ Shoer, Chief Community Officer of GTIA, had flown in from the United States and opened the event with remarks delivered in German — making it hard to argue that GTIA isn’t serious about the DACH market.
Otto Schobert, Managing Director of thefi.com and Chair of the GTIA DACH Executive Council, summed up the spirit of the day in a single sentence: “What unites us is the ambition to get better at our jobs, to learn from each other, and in doing so to advance the entire industry.” Not marketing speak — but a motto that carried the day.
From Photons to Prompts: the technological kick-off
The opening keynote came from Walter Hölblinger, VP Global IT at Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik, who himself announced it as “not technical” — a claim that almost held up, given the topic of quantum cryptography. He explained how individual light particles — photons — can transmit information with proven security during quantum key exchange. His central message: quantum cryptography will fundamentally transform cybersecurity. Even if the technology is not yet widely deployable, its potential is already clear, and the IT channel would be wise to engage with it now rather than be caught off guard later.
The perspective then shifted radically. Nils Söder (industrial engineering student) and Paula Glatter (psychology student) led an interactive workshop on why communication with AI systems so often falls short — for the same reasons human communication does: missing context, unclear expectations, poor structure. Participants crafted their own prompts and tested how much difference framing and phrasing can make. The takeaway was clear: to work well with AI, you first have to think — and communicate — clearly.
Cybersecurity: more than software
After lunch — with plenty of time for networking — things got more concrete. Hena Kless (Senior Solution Engineer at Wire) and Jürgen Ebner (CEO of ICTE — Managed IT Services) presented the current state of the GTIA Cybersecurity Interest Group in the DACH region. Founded just last year in Berlin, the initiative has established itself as a space for peer-level, vendor-neutral exchange among practitioners.
That cybersecurity is no longer a purely digital concern was demonstrated by Henry Werner, Sales Engineer at Enginsight, in his live demo titled “Hack or get hacked.” Werner showed, with real examples, how frighteningly easy physical attacks on companies can be — through unattended laptops, tampered USB drives, or open network access points. The core insight: security culture does not start with a firewall ruleset; it starts with the awareness of every single employee.
World Café: NIS2 and the question of who really controls AI
The World Café format tackled two pressing industry topics. Stefan Wickenhäuser, founder and CEO of Rethinking Job GmbH, moderated the roundtable on AI in everyday work — with a sobering but realistic conclusion: it is not the technology that determines productivity, but how and by whom it is used. AI is no self-starter.
In the second session, Jürgen Ebner and Markus Bauer, Senior Technology Evangelist EMEA at Acronis, examined the practical implementation of the NIS2 directive. Conclusion: lack of awareness, unclear requirements, and financial barriers are currently the biggest obstacles. A frequently voiced wish: a binding NIS2 label — similar to an ISO certification — that gives companies a reliable benchmark.
Leadership in the AI age: understand yourself first
The closing keynote came from Michael Ćaćić-Escalera, Director of the Pax8 Academy — and it could not have been more deliberate. Instead of technology, he spoke about people: self-awareness, communication styles, and the ability to meet others where they actually stand. Using the DISC model, he illustrated how differently individuals respond to change — and why effective leadership in the AI era means adapting your own communication, not expecting others to adapt to yours.
It was a powerful closing note: in an industry being reshaped by technological disruption, the final keynote brought people back to the center. Technology changes what we do. Communication determines how we treat each other in the process.
Key takeaways
The GTIA DACH Community Forum 2026 demonstrated what this kind of event can achieve when done right: knowledge transfer without sales pressure, networking without superficiality, and discussions that go beyond the boundaries of any single company. The blend of technological depth, strategic questions, and very human perspectives on ongoing change was the defining quality of the day.
For MSPs, resellers, and all other channel players in the DACH region, GTIA is worth a closer look — not just for its events, but for the network behind them. More information at www.gtia.org.
Dr. Jakob Jung is Editor-in-Chief of Security Storage and Channel Germany. He has been working in IT journalism for more than 20 years. His career includes Computer Reseller News, Heise Resale, Informationweek, Techtarget (storage and data center) and ChannelBiz. He also freelances for numerous IT publications, including Computerwoche, Channelpartner, IT-Business, Storage-Insider and ZDnet. His main topics are channel, storage, security, data center, ERP and CRM.
Contact via Mail: jakob.jung@security-storage-und-channel-germany.de