Channel Communities

GMS Live Expert seeks to expand MSP channel for outsourced help desk

GMS Live Expert offers MSPs boutique services around their help desk support offering. The Toronto-based company has ramped up its recruitment efforts, which included exhibiting at last week’s CompTIA ChannelCon.

Technical Support Alliance Network (TSANet) looking to recruit solution providers

The TSANet has facilitated inter-vendor collaboration for post-sales technical support for over 20 years. A year ago, its ranks were opened to the channel, and TSANet was at ChannelCon last week, to make its case why the channel should join.

CompTIA adds new free Channel Standards for Cybersecurity, Managed Print Services

The Channel Standards, which are now four in number, differ from the older Trustmarks in being completely free for anyone, as CompTIA’s priority with them is to expose them to the widest possible audience.

IT industry must redefine how it sells itself to youth: CompTIA

At its ChannelCon event, CompTIA reported results of research it commissioned on why the tech industry is increasingly failing to recruit suitable numbers of young players. Those findings indicated the industry has been using completely ineffective strategies, and needs to work on coming up with a different approach.

CompTIA rethinks approach to member education with new Channel Standards program

The IT Solution Provider Standard is the first of five scheduled to roll out this year. The Channel Standards differ from the Trustmarks in their emphasis on imparting best practices to make the business better, rather than earning a badge to use in your marketing.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise stresses SMB, channel commitment with new releases

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.

Millenium Micro partners with SolarWinds N-able in solutions push

The Quebec-based Canadian IT buying group has been moving beyond its traditional product focus to offer more service and solutions-focused services to its members, and has made its first foray into the RMM space with the selection of SolarWinds N-able as its preferred RMM vendor.

CompTIA’s Canadian community tackles transitions in IT market

Key members of CompTIA’s Canadian community sat down with ChannelBuzz at the association’s ChannelCon 15 event in Chicago this week to discuss what they are working on this year.

Getting your clients on the transformation path: CompTIA’s Thibodeaux

CompTIA’s Todd Thibodeaux laid out five steps that everyone in the IT business needs to do to overcome the many obstacles to getting customers to embrace transformation.

MaintenanceNet acquisition means non-Cisco vendors likely leave

Cisco acknowledges it acquired MaintenanceNet because it was uncomfortable with its longtime partner’s drive to sign on more OEM clients, and indicates that while Cisco doesn’t plan to fire those clients, it won’t have to.

TreeHouse rebrands as Impartner, launches new, easier to onboard PRM solution

Impartner believes its new partner relationship management solution will revolutionize PRM the same way Salesforce revolutionized CRM. It is going to market in Europe through a channel sales model, and if that it successful, they will look at doing the same here.

Customers moving beyond cost issues in considering managed services

CompTIA data indicate that customer knowledge of managed services is up significantly over last year, and that emphasis on cost saving is no longer their main concern. This should impact the way that MSPs sell their offerings.