Articles by Mark Cox

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. .

Software

Condusiv V-locity 6.0 DRAM read caching enhancements triple performance

June 29, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Condusiv V-locity 6.0 DRAM read caching enhancements triple performance
Condusiv engineers redid the DRAM read caching algorithm so that DRAM, which is small but very fast, focuses only the smallest, random I/O that causes the most problems.

Computers

Acer brings first Chrome All-in-One desktop with touch display to Canada

June 26, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Acer brings first Chrome All-in-One desktop with touch display to Canada
Acer Chromebase DC221HQ series, which is coming to market in Canada through Acer’s commercial channel, has both touch and non-touch display options.

Storage

Intronis stresses better user experience with Summer Release ‘15

June 26, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Intronis stresses better user experience with Summer Release ‘15
A new dashboard provides a macro-level view that did not exist before, and a new Executive Summary report generator provides customers with brandable and customizable snapshots which demonstrate the MSP’s value.

VMware Canada country manager Sean Forkan
Storage

Veritas Canadian leadership team for post-Symantec divorce now in place

June 25, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Veritas Canadian leadership team for post-Symantec divorce now in place
Symantec’s Canadian GM, Sean Forkan, moves over to run Veritas in Canada – as well as the central U.S. Two other Symantec Canada execs join him in the move. All three are currently in their new roles, even though the two companies are still one. The new post-split leadership for Symantec in Canada has also been announced.

Channel Programs

How to build a successful channel organization

June 25, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on How to build a successful channel organization
Dell’s channel chief offers some suggestions how companies can effectively build or improve their channel programs.

Hardware

Paragon Software reworks tech license tool as multi-purpose utility for end users

June 24, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Paragon Software reworks tech license tool as multi-purpose utility for end users
The new IT Essentials Toolkit, which handles virtualization, disk management and system optimization for servers and workstations, is a product many Paragon partners use themselves, but now it is also packaged in a SKU they can sell to their own customers.

Cloud

SAP Canada channel chief Rob Stevens lays out Canadian channel plans

June 24, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on SAP Canada channel chief Rob Stevens lays out Canadian channel plans
Stevens talked with ChannelBuzz about how both SAP and its partners can work smarter, emphasized the importance of the cloud to SAP going forward, and indicated that they will wait to see if partners are on the same page with SAP before they start recruiting new ones.

Managed Services

Toshiba signs on IT Weapons to take Toshiba-branded IT services to market

June 22, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on Toshiba signs on IT Weapons to take Toshiba-branded IT services to market
Having exited the consumer market in Canada, Toshiba is beefing up their B2B offerings, and has partnered with Brampton managed services provider IT Weapons to provide what will be a growing package of services and support.