Year: 2017

Mobility

Addition to Sophos Central big element for channel in Sophos Mobile 7 EMM release

March 2, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Addition to Sophos Central big element for channel in Sophos Mobile 7 EMM release
Sophos announced some significant feature additions, including the introduction of Internet of Things support and the further expansion of container support, but for most partners today, adding Mobile 7 to Sophos Central is likely to have the most immediate impact, because of the cross-sell opportunities.

Channel Programs

VIPRE looks upmarket with new, simplified VIPRE Advanced Security for Business

March 1, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on VIPRE looks upmarket with new, simplified VIPRE Advanced Security for Business
VIPRE has consolidated its business portfolio into a single full-featured offering, at a rock bottom price for 250 seats and over. It’s part of a broad strategy to expand the traditionally sub-250 seat-focused vendor upmarket.

Managed Services

SupportBots looks to save MSPs money with AI-driven support bots

March 1, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on SupportBots looks to save MSPs money with AI-driven support bots
SupportBots launched a free trial period in February so MSPs can test them and provide feedback. For now, their main functionality is booking customers with available technicians, but the plan is to eventually do much more than that.

Channel Programs

Massive partner recruitment a key goal of new Scale Computing channel program

February 28, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Massive partner recruitment a key goal of new Scale Computing channel program
The restructured Scale program accommodates managed service providers for the first time, and also makes provision for referral partners.

Security

Five ways to educate your customers about ransomware

February 28, 2017 Guest Poster Comments Off on Five ways to educate your customers about ransomware
Chris Crellin of Intronis MSP Solutions by Baracuda offers up five ways for MSPs to provide much-needed education to their clients on the topic of ransomware.

Tech Data Canada president Rick Reid
Distribution

Tech Data closes Avnet Technology Solutions acquisition

February 28, 2017 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Tech Data closes Avnet Technology Solutions acquisition
Tech Data closes its distribution mega-merger with Avnet Technology Solutions, but many major decisions on Canadian structure and leadership remain.

Networking

Riverbed adds NAS Storage support to SteelFusion in 5.0 release

February 28, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Riverbed adds NAS Storage support to SteelFusion in 5.0 release
Riverbed fills in what they state was the only void in their SteelFusion edge product, and expect this will open up new opportunities and continue the product line’s momentum.

Mobility

New IGEL Cloud Gateway software looks to improve support of off-network endpoints

February 28, 2017 Mark Cox 1
IGEL, which greatly strengthened its presence in North America last year, has mainly ramped up in the U.S. to date, but is planning a push in Canada this year.

Cloud

eSentire integrates cloud sources into its Managed Detection and Response service

February 28, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on eSentire integrates cloud sources into its Managed Detection and Response service
The addition of cloud visibility into the Managed Detection and Response service responds to the user vulnerability to issues like phishing and data exfiltration, and presents a strong new opportunity for partners.

Hardware

Lenovo to place new focus on workstations, desktops, low-lying services in 2017

February 27, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Lenovo to place new focus on workstations, desktops, low-lying services in 2017
Lenovo is preparing new incent programs to stimulate activity in these areas, believing that as areas where Lenovo lags the market, they represent relatively easy opportunities to grow against the market.