Articles by Mark Cox

Backup

New Zerto channel leader looks to unite cloud and traditional channel teams in unified partner strategy

March 8, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on New Zerto channel leader looks to unite cloud and traditional channel teams in unified partner strategy
Jim Ortbals is looking to design a channel system that both encourages collaborative relationships between cloud and traditional partners, and effectively assesses and values the contributions made by each to a joint sale. The complicating factor is that he is aware of no one else who has done this effectively to date.

Security

WhiteHat CEO explains why being acquired by NTT Security helps both WhiteHat and their channel partners

March 8, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on WhiteHat CEO explains why being acquired by NTT Security helps both WhiteHat and their channel partners
WhiteHat will operate as an independent subsidiary of NTT Security and retain both its name and its brand. They provide NTT with a capability it did not have in-house before at all, while receiving access to NTT’s broader array of security services. Initial feedback from partners at the RSA event was highly positive.

Cloud

SAP names Karl Fahrbach first chief partner officer in reworking of channel chief role

March 7, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on SAP names Karl Fahrbach first chief partner officer in reworking of channel chief role
Fahrbach’s new position is a hybrid of the work he had already been doing and the large scope of the role formerly filled by Rodolpho Cardenuto, who recently left SAP.

Partnerships

Hitachi Vantara, Cisco extend partnership around converged infrastructure

March 7, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Hitachi Vantara, Cisco extend partnership around converged infrastructure
The new Cisco and Hitachi Adaptive Solutions for Converged Infrastructure will go to market through a select number of channel partners, building on the channel focus of the recent VSP Pro solutions.

Printing and Imaging

Strategic partnering, new technologies dominate blueprint on roadmap Konica Minolta lays out for dealers

March 6, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Strategic partnering, new technologies dominate blueprint on roadmap Konica Minolta lays out for dealers
Konica Minolta also provided an update on the state of the Canadian services business, where IT Weapons was acquired three years ago to serve as a bridgehead into the Canadian market.

Printing and Imaging

Konica Minolta continues to hammer home messaging that traditional imaging dealers must evolve businesses

March 6, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Konica Minolta continues to hammer home messaging that traditional imaging dealers must evolve businesses
Something old was new again at the Konica Minolta 2019 Dealer Conference, as the company emphasized how and why dealers need to update their business to deal with digital transformation – which has been a recurring theme at the event in recent years

Storage

NGD Systems unveils disruptive 14nm ASIC-Based NVMe SSD devices with high capacity and low power consumption

March 6, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on NGD Systems unveils disruptive 14nm ASIC-Based NVMe SSD devices with high capacity and low power consumption
For channel partners, the immediate plus here is a massively dense NVMe device, which can be sold on the basis of those capacity and power features, even if a customer doesn’t need the devices’ computational storage capabilities today.

Security

BlackBerry Cylance adds UEBA monitoring capabilities to platform with CylancePERSONA

March 5, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on BlackBerry Cylance adds UEBA monitoring capabilities to platform with CylancePERSONA
The new capability for intelligent detection of anomalous behavior fills what had been a void in the Cylance endpoint offering – one that they have been working on addressing for an extended time.

Channel Programs

Malwarebytes introduces first partner program for MSPs

March 5, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Malwarebytes introduces first partner program for MSPs
Malwarebytes has managed its MSP partners as resellers until now, but as that segment of the market grows, the company will be rolling out a program specifically designed for MSPs following a successful pilot in Australia.

Security

Avast Business launches enterprise-class secure web gateway for SMBs

March 4, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Avast Business launches enterprise-class secure web gateway for SMBs
Avast adds a new capability to its CloudCare platform that provides turnkey and policy-based protection against malicious websites, downloads, and locations.