Net-new offerings include 3PAR Flash Acceleration for Oracle and the 3PAR StoreServ 8200 Converged File and Block Starter Kit.
Storage
HPE announces flurry of 3PAR announcements
by Mark Cox •
Channel Programs, Unified Communications
Avaya Canada team front and centre in development of new Midmarket program
by Mark Cox •
The Avaya Midmarket Select Program is focused on a select number of partners, and lets them allow rock bottom pricing in packages designed to facilitate solution sales. Avaya Canada’s key role in the program’s development has resulted in six of the 40 partners in the global program being Canadian.
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Storage
Security, reporting, planning enhancements highlight Data Dynamics’ StorageX 7.7
by Mark Cox •
The 7.7 release’s emphasis is on a broad range of feature functionality enhancements.
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Cloud, Distribution, Networking
Tech Data Canada sees Cisco Meraki deal appealing broadly to partners
by Mark Cox •
Tech Data also sees the agreement, which fills an admitted gap in their line card, as very likely to open up Cisco technology to a large class of smaller customers who have not been buying Cisco to date.
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Big Data, Storage
EMC’s shift in Data Lake strategy opens up new partner opportunities
by Mark Cox •
EMC’s Data Lake 2.0 significantly enhances the original core-focused Data Lake strategy by extending it to the edge and the cloud, as well as strengthening the core. This is also likely to expand partner opportunities somewhat beyond the very limited involvement thought likely when the original Data lake was announced.
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Cloud, E-commerce
SAP sheds more light on channel role in SAP Anywhere North America go-to-market
by Mark Cox •
SAP Anywhere is going to market in China through a strategic partner, China Telecom. The go-to-market strategy when it goes into general release in the U.S. and Canada in 2016 will be very different however, and the company filled in the details for ChannelBuzz.
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Servers
Lenovo: We want to be the top OEM for hyperconverged
by Mark Cox •
Lenovo sees strong momentum in its server business, with its core server business showing signs of beginning to scale growth, and its roster of hyperconverged partners offering significant potential in that space.
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Channel Communities, Financing, Servers
Hewlett Packard Enterprise stresses SMB, channel commitment with new releases
by Mark Cox •
For partners, the most interesting thing here may be the Small Business Marketplace e-commerce platform, an explicitly channel-focused online site, rather than a direct-to-customer site that competes with partners. It’s in pilot now in the U.S., but when it will be in Canada is not yet clear.
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Hardware, Virtualization
HP Inc. brings thin client to workstation gunfight
by Mark Cox •
The new HP T730 Thin Client is a performance machine can support four UHD/4k displays natively, and six displays with an optional AMD FirePro discrete graphics card, to deliver what for the moment is a unique product in the market.
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Hardware, Storage
HP Inc. announces desktop workstation storage, cooling breakthroughs
by Mark Cox •
While HP announced a new mobile workstation, and major enhancements throughout all their ZBook technology, they also announced some significant technology enhancements in both storage and cooling.
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Hardware, Mobility
First quad core workstation Ultrabook highlights broad HP workstation refresh
by Mark Cox •
While HP highlighted its HP ZBook Studio, a brand new model in the ZBook family, the major enhancements to the whole family were arguably bigger news.
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Servers
Dell announces entry level 13th gen PowerEdge servers
by Mark Cox •
The enhancements to the four new 1U servers include their integration with Dell’s systems management portfolio, which provide tools that reduce deployment time by up to 40 per cent, and also provide streamlined management.
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Cloud, Software
SAP stresses simplicity for smaller firms at SME Summit
by Mark Cox •
At last year’s SAP SME Summit, SAP emphasized how much it valued its SME customers, including small businesses. This year they added a wrinkle to that, emphasizing that SMEs want and need simplicity, and that those taking their time to decide need to make the move – with SAP solutions.
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Cloud, Managed Services
New SAP IaaS for Business One Cloud benefits small partners most
by Mark Cox •
SAP announces a new infrastructure-as-a-service option for Business One Cloud which has been available in Canada since last Thursday, and in the U.S. for several weeks before that.
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Small Business, Software
SAP Business One helps drive Canadian medical distributor’s continued growth
by Mark Cox •
London, Ontario-based Tribe Medical Group moved to SAP Business One, version for SAP HANA last year, and have found its simplicity critical in helping them sell, keep staff, and control complexity.
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Channel Programs, Security
Bot-buster Distil Networks launches first channel program to build loyal partner network
by Mark Cox •
Distil is looking to supplement its direct sales with a significant partner presence, offering an enterprise grade proactive solution, which is very specific and complements other security solutions, and now a partner program to offer support.
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Distribution, Networking, Security
Network visibility vendor ForeScout turns to distribution with Arrow and Westcon
by Mark Cox •
ForeScout has shown strong recent growth that has begun to strain its old policy of dealing directly with its partners, so it has signed North American deals with the two VADs which best complement their product set. The company is already fairly strong in Canada, and is looking to distribution to strengthen Canadian presence further.
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Cloud, Distribution, Storage
New Ingram Micro-Acronis deal all about the cloud in Canada
by Mark Cox •
Ingram Micro has significantly expanded their relationship with Acronis, but only part of the deal is relevant to the Canadian market.
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Cloud, Software
Sage stresses customer choice with C-series launch
by Mark Cox •
The Sage 300c and Sage 50c solutions are particularly significant in the Canadian market, and both have received cloud-based mobility upgrades to make them hybrid solutions.
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Channel Programs, Security
Thycotic hires ex-Unitrends channel chief to build North American channel
by Mark Cox •
Bob Gagnon is revamping the partner program as he did at Unitrends, with a phased approach, beginning with a revised and enhanced deal registration program. Thycotic, which makes privileged account management solutions, is also looking to make a major push into the Canadian channel.
