Year: 2015

Cloud

SAP makes new partner initiatives in Business ByDesign

July 7, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on SAP makes new partner initiatives in Business ByDesign
With a view to both expanding the number of skilled ByDesign people available to partners, and sharpening partners’ ability to use and extend the solution, SAP has launched several ByDesign initiatives, including a partner enablement portal and collaborative tool, and a certification program through Open SAP.

Big Data

Canada needs to move beyond traditional IT: Dell

July 6, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Canada needs to move beyond traditional IT: Dell
Canadian organizations are not as far along the transition to the new IT as some in other countries, so Dell’s global strategy of forming deep ISV alliances to create Dell Blueprints to help customers make that transition seems particularly relevant here.

Channel Communities

TreeHouse rebrands as Impartner, launches new, easier to onboard PRM solution

July 6, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on TreeHouse rebrands as Impartner, launches new, easier to onboard PRM solution
Impartner believes its new partner relationship management solution will revolutionize PRM the same way Salesforce revolutionized CRM. It is going to market in Europe through a channel sales model, and if that it successful, they will look at doing the same here.

Channel Programs

Entry level-focused StorMagic launches first channel program

July 2, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Entry level-focused StorMagic launches first channel program
StorMagic has sold mainly direct since its founding in 2006, but is transitioning to a 100 per cent channels strategy, and to expand its base of quality partners has unveiled its first partner program.

Cloud

Toronto’s Breqwatr taking appliance to simplify private cloud deployments through the channel

July 2, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Toronto’s Breqwatr taking appliance to simplify private cloud deployments through the channel
The Toronto startup is going to market through the channel out of the gate, and unusually for a startup, has been picked up by a major distributor. Arrow is handling their North American distribution.

Anthony D’Angelo, vice president of global partner management and business development at Westcon
Distribution

Westcon introduces vendor incubator

July 2, 2015 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Westcon introduces vendor incubator
Distributor Westcon has a new program that aims to help new vendors bring their technology to the channel, or to broaden their reach around the world.

Printing and Imaging

Ricoh Canada buys western Canadian VAR Graycon to accelerate managed IT services business

June 30, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Ricoh Canada buys western Canadian VAR Graycon to accelerate managed IT services business
Ricoh, which is building up its services business to offset a decline in print volumes, sees Graycon as providing new capabilities for them in the west. The company also suggested they would be interested in a similar acquisition in the east.

Channel Programs

Quick Heal introduces loyalty program for enlisting successful channel partners

June 30, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Quick Heal introduces loyalty program for enlisting successful channel partners
The Quick Rewards program, which begins in Q3, gives partners who refer other partners to Quick Heal a reward of six per cent of their sales for the first year and four per cent for the second – giving Quick Heal a cost-effective way of enlarging their channel.

Data Capture/Point of Sale

ScanSource beefs up mobile POS portfolio with new Star Micronics partnership

June 30, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on ScanSource beefs up mobile POS portfolio with new Star Micronics partnership
Star’s strength in mobile printing in particular will enhance ScanSource’s ability to provide total POS and retail solutions to their reseller partners.

Channel Programs

SolidFire adds specialization tiers to partner program

June 30, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on SolidFire adds specialization tiers to partner program
Four specializations are being announced, one of which is around OpenStack, which SolidFire believes is an industry first. .