---
title: "Edge Solutions: Solution Provider Community More Relevant Than Ever Before"
date: 2021-10-21
summary: "CRN coverage of The Channel Company's Best of Breed 2021, quoting Nathan Phinney on Windows 365 cloud desktops."
outlet: "CRN"
source: "https://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/edge-solutions-solution-provider-community-more-relevant-than-ever-before"
url: "https://nathanphinney.com/edge-solutions-solution-provider-community-more-relevant-than-ever-before/"
author: "Nathan Phinney"
author_role: "COO, AllSafe IT"
author_url: "https://nathanphinney.com/about/"
same_as: ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanphinney"]
expertise: ["IT", "InfoSec", "Managed Services", "Cybersecurity", "Business Operations", "Technology for Escrow Companies", "Technology for Nonprofits"]
updated: 2026-10-10
---

CRN coverage of The Channel Company's Best of Breed 2021, quoting Nathan Phinney on Windows 365 cloud desktops.

By C.J. Fairfield, CRN, October 21, 2021, covering The Channel Company's Best of Breed Conference in Atlanta. CRN printed Nathan's title as "Nathan Phinney, director of business development at DataPath, a Modesto, Calif.-based solution provider" (as printed by CRN).

[Read the article at CRN](https://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/edge-solutions-solution-provider-community-more-relevant-than-ever-before) (CRN: The Channel Company's IT channel publication)

## What Nathan said

> "There's a strategic opportunity with Windows 11," he said. "A lot of the existing hardware is aging out and we believe that cloud desktops with Windows 365 is a way to extend the new operating system and all of its features and benefits to existing hardware. It'll also be good to be able to use that across platforms with whatever screen people happen to have available to them, which has become really important during a global pandemic."

CRN reported: Nathan Phinney said his company is heavily focused on public cloud desktops right now.

[Read the original](https://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/edge-solutions-solution-provider-community-more-relevant-than-ever-before)

## About the author

**Nathan Phinney**, COO, AllSafe IT.

- Co-founded Bright Bear Technology Solutions (2010 to 2020), which reached the CRN MSP 500 and Ingram Micro SMB 500 lists before its 2020 acquisition by Datapath.
- 17 SOC 2 initiatives across six companies, never an exception on an effort he led
- Member of InfraGard
- Member of the XChange Advisory Board, The Channel Company (2018 to 2022 and 2026)
- Author of _CTRL ALT SURVIVE: The Secrets of My Small Business Success_

Expertise: IT, InfoSec, Managed Services, Cybersecurity, Business Operations, Technology for Escrow Companies, Technology for Nonprofits.

Featured in: CRN (7 articles, 2019 to 2026), Backblaze, Bigleaf Networks, Channel Partners Expo, GTIA, Orange County Business Journal. See https://nathanphinney.com/press.md

Recommended on LinkedIn by Brook Porter (Partner and Co-Founder at G2 Venture Partners; previously at Kleiner Perkins, where he worked with Al Gore) and Tim Acker (Former channel chief at Lumen).

More: [About Nathan Phinney](https://nathanphinney.com/about.md) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanphinney)