Articles by Robert Dutt

About Robert Dutt
Robert Dutt is the founder and head blogger at ChannelBuzz.ca. He has been covering the Canadian solution provider channel community for a variety of publications and Web sites since 1997.
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Podcasts

The Buzz: SonicWall extends Gen 8 to the cloud, Huntress ties security posture to insurance terms, and Intruder tracks the remediation gap

May 13, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on The Buzz: SonicWall extends Gen 8 to the cloud, Huntress ties security posture to insurance terms, and Intruder tracks the remediation gap
SonicWall launches a subscription virtual firewall for MSPs and MSSPs, Huntress and Acrisure team up on cyber insurance, and Intruder’s 2026 ASM Index finds midmarket orgs average 56 days to close exposures. Plus ThreatDown ITDR, Cycode AI dev security, an AYCE Capital acquisition, and MSPAlliance’s updated Cyber Verify program.

In The Channel

Top Down Ventures closes oversubscribed C$38M Founders Fund I, with a 5.3x agentic AI exit already in the books

May 12, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Top Down Ventures closes oversubscribed C$38M Founders Fund I, with a 5.3x agentic AI exit already in the books
Top Down Ventures has closed Founders Fund I at C$38 million, oversubscribed, as the first institutional VC fund focused exclusively on early-stage MSP software and AI. Managing partner Joel Abramson joined In The Channel on announcement day to unpack the thesis, the zofiQ exit, and the market shift that has the fund bullish on the decade ahead.

Podcasts

The Buzz: Canada ranks second globally for ransomware, Top Down closes $38M MSP fund, and Barracuda maps the new email threat landscape

May 12, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on The Buzz: Canada ranks second globally for ransomware, Top Down closes $38M MSP fund, and Barracuda maps the new email threat landscape
Canada moves to second globally in ransomware attacks per Fortinet, Top Down Ventures closes its oversubscribed Founders Fund I at $38M Canadian, and Barracuda’s analysis of 3.1 billion emails maps where the threat is heading next.

In The Channel

On site at ServiceNow Knowledge: What building Canada’s first ServiceNow elite partner teaches you about what’s coming next

May 11, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on On site at ServiceNow Knowledge: What building Canada’s first ServiceNow elite partner teaches you about what’s coming next
In the final episode of our Knowledge 2026 series, we sit down with Steven Kiss of EY Canada – the founder of SuMO IT Solutions, Canada’s first ServiceNow elite partner, now running EY’s national ServiceNow practice – for a practitioner’s view of where the channel is actually headed.

In The Channel

On site at ServiceNow Knowledge: What the agentic business actually looks like from a Canadian vantage point

May 8, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on On site at ServiceNow Knowledge: What the agentic business actually looks like from a Canadian vantage point
Recorded live at Knowledge 2026 in Las Vegas, Robert Dutt sits down with Cristin Gooderham of ServiceNow Canada to unpack what a week of big agentic AI announcements actually means for Canadian enterprises and the partners who serve them.

Podcasts

The Buzz: inforcer brings shadow AI monitoring to MSPs, SUSE launches sovereign partner specialization, and Cayosoft targets the Microsoft identity migration gap

May 8, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on The Buzz: inforcer brings shadow AI monitoring to MSPs, SUSE launches sovereign partner specialization, and Cayosoft targets the Microsoft identity migration gap
Today on The Buzz: inforcer’s Copilot Manager gives MSPs a new lens on shadow AI, SUSE formalizes a sovereign cloud path for channel partners, and Cayosoft reframes Microsoft identity migration as a managed practice.

In The Channel

On site at ServiceNow Knowledge: ServiceNow puts its AI leader in charge of the channel and the partner model is changing to match

May 7, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on On site at ServiceNow Knowledge: ServiceNow puts its AI leader in charge of the channel and the partner model is changing to match
Recorded live at Knowledge 2026 in Las Vegas, ServiceNow SVP of Global Partnerships and Channels Michael Park talks about why the company put an AI product veteran in charge of its partner organization – and what that signals for how the channel needs to evolve.

Podcasts

The Buzz: WatchGuard acquires Perimeters.io, Meter launches $100M partner fund, and ServiceNow and Tanium announce Autonomous IT solution

May 7, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on The Buzz: WatchGuard acquires Perimeters.io, Meter launches $100M partner fund, and ServiceNow and Tanium announce Autonomous IT solution
Today’s channel news includes WatchGuard’s move into shadow AI, a $100M networking partner fund from Meter, and a new joint Autonomous IT platform from ServiceNow and Tanium out of Knowledge 2026.

In The Channel

Reporter’s Notebook: Bill McDermott’s three big bets on the enterprise AI era

May 6, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Reporter’s Notebook: Bill McDermott’s three big bets on the enterprise AI era
Fresh from a press session with Bill McDermott at Knowledge 2026 in Las Vegas, we unpack the strategic argument underneath the keynote headlines: why governance beats models, why the labor math makes AI inevitable, and why ServiceNow thinks it was built for exactly this moment.

In The Channel

Third-party risk management: The recurring revenue opportunity hiding in your clients’ vendor stack

May 6, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Third-party risk management: The recurring revenue opportunity hiding in your clients’ vendor stack
Third-party risk management is emerging as the next major service category for MSPs. The starting point, according to Cynomi Chief Evangelist Tim Coach, isn’t a vendor questionnaire. It’s a conversation about how your client actually makes money.