The IT channel has never been more commercially ambitious.

Private equity investment remains strong. MSPs are scaling. Cyber vendors are accelerating. VARs are repositioning around services. AI is reshaping infrastructure conversations.

But there’s one consistent constraint holding back growth across the channel:

Technical talent.

Over the last 18–24 months, we’ve seen a clear shift. While sales hiring remains critical, the bottleneck in 2026 is increasingly technical capability — particularly in cyber security, cloud architecture, pre-sales engineering, and delivery.

Projects are being delayed not because demand is lacking, but because the right engineers, consultants and architects simply aren’t available.

And that changes everything.

The Technical Hiring Squeeze

Channel businesses are facing a combination of challenges:

• Cloud and cyber skills remain in short supply.
• Pre-sales engineers are being counter-offered aggressively.
• AI and automation skills are emerging faster than talent pipelines can respond.
• Technical candidates are increasingly selective about culture, progression and hybrid working.

At the same time, end users expect deeper specialisation and faster implementation.

The result?
Commercial growth plans are being limited by delivery capability.

This isn’t just a recruitment issue. It’s a strategic one.

A Natural Evolution for Robertson Sumner

For over 25 years, Robertson Sumner has been known as a specialist recruitment partner to the IT channel — primarily across sales and marketing.

However, as the market evolved, so did client demand.

We’ve consistently been asked:

• “Can you help us hire a Solutions Architect?”
• “Do you cover cyber engineers?”
• “We need a Head of Technical / Technical Director — can you support?”

The answer increasingly needed to be yes — with depth and credibility.

That’s why we’ve formally launched Robertson Sumner Technical, a dedicated division focused exclusively on technical and cyber recruitment within the IT channel.

Introducing Dane Carter – Head of Technical

The division is led by Dane Carter, who brings specialist experience in technical and engineering recruitment.

Dane’s focus is clear:

“Channel businesses don’t just need CVs — they need technical hires who understand both the technology and the commercial environment they operate in. My goal is to help clients build technical teams that unlock revenue, not slow it down.”

Robertson Sumner Technical will support hiring across:

• Solutions Architects
• Pre-Sales Engineers
• Cloud & Infrastructure Engineers
• Cyber Security Specialists
• Consultants & Professional Services
• Technical Leadership (Head of Engineering / Technical Director)

Importantly, the division remains focused exclusively on the IT channel ecosystem — VARs, MSPs, vendors, distributors and cyber specialists.

Why This Matters in 2026

The next phase of channel growth will not be driven purely by sales capacity.

It will be driven by:

• Technical credibility
• Delivery excellence
• Security maturity
• Cloud transformation capability
• AI integration

Businesses that solve their technical hiring strategy early will scale faster.

Those that don’t may struggle to convert pipeline into revenue.

A Fully Integrated Hiring Partner

With Sales, Marketing and now Technical recruitment under one roof, Robertson Sumner is uniquely positioned to support the complete go-to-market build-out of channel businesses.

From Account Directors to Architects.
From CRO to Cyber Engineer.

The message to the channel is simple:

If 2026 is a growth year for you, technical hiring cannot be reactive.

It must be strategic.

And we’re here to support that journey.