Small Business

Distribution

Strong turnout at D&H Toronto Technology Show reflects booming Canadian business

September 22, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on Strong turnout at D&H Toronto Technology Show reflects booming Canadian business
Attendance at the D&H Toronto event was up significantly this year among both vendors and resellers, with the show floor having a high-number of gaming-focused companies pitching VARs for their business.

Small Business

HPE unveils new StoreVirtual, MSA entry level storage arrays

August 15, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE unveils new StoreVirtual, MSA entry level storage arrays
HPE’s strategy with its new offerings is to offer strong featured hybrid-flash and software-defined offerings to the entry level at a sub-$10k price where they haven’t played before.

Managed Services

My Digital Shield adds assurance protection against breaches

August 15, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on My Digital Shield adds assurance protection against breaches
Security-as-a-service provider My Digital Shield recently launched an assurance program to cover its small business customers in the event of a breach, with a major mobility initiative likely the next to roll out.

Distribution

AVG completes North American disti strategy with D&H agreement

August 3, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on AVG completes North American disti strategy with D&H agreement
While its acquisition by fellow Czech-based security vendor Avast approaches, AVG continues business as usual, completing the final phase of its North American distribution strategy that was first announced months before the acquisition. The deal will also apply in Canada, but has not yet been implemented here.

Cloud

SAP Business One 9.2 enhances analytics, adds project management capabilities

July 6, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on SAP Business One 9.2 enhances analytics, adds project management capabilities
SAP’s channel-focused product for the lower part of the SMB market brings in new functionality from the HANA platform to add the ability to forecast product demand.

Managed Services

HPE releases hybrid compute managed service for small business/ROBO market

April 13, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE releases hybrid compute managed service for small business/ROBO market
The HPE ProLiant Easy Connect Managed Hybrid solution is a subscription based offering for small businesses and ROBO environments. But while American partners get access to it in a couple weeks, Canadian ones will have to wait a while – like until Q4.

Networking

Linksys enhances small business line by adding clustering to all wireless APs

March 15, 2016 Mark Cox 1
Linksys continues a strategy it began by expanding captive portal from its flagship product to its entire wireless line, to beef up the entire portfolio at a time when small business demand for wireless is strong.

Channel Programs

Kaspersky to introduce small business specialization

March 7, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on Kaspersky to introduce small business specialization
While Kaspersky is emphasizing the enterprise in its strategic objectives this year, it is also providing more segmented assistance to partners focusing on different parts of the market. This includes a new specialization which will see small business leads limited to partners who have secured it.

Small Business

HPE enhances entry level MSA 1040 and StoreEasy storage

February 9, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE enhances entry level MSA 1040 and StoreEasy storage
The addition of SSD support to the HPE MSA 1040 also enables software enhancements which have been available on the flagship MSA 2040, and removes much of the feature gap between the two models.

Small Business

SAP Business One helps drive Canadian medical distributor’s continued growth

November 11, 2015 Mark Cox Comments Off on SAP Business One helps drive Canadian medical distributor’s continued growth
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.