Small Business

Managed Services

German cybersecurity vendor Hornetsecurity looking to create North American buzz with ChannelCon return

August 6, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on German cybersecurity vendor Hornetsecurity looking to create North American buzz with ChannelCon return
Hornetsecurity, a significant player in Europe, entered North America a little over a year ago focused specifically on SMBs and looking to attract MSPs. They provide an update on their progress.

Backup

StorCentric acquires Retrospect, which will become a separate subsidiary like Drobo and Nexsan

June 25, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on StorCentric acquires Retrospect, which will become a separate subsidiary like Drobo and Nexsan
Retrospect, which started out as Dantz and whose products have been around for 30 years, will be paired with Drobo, as both are heavily focused on the sub-150 seat market.

Networking

Aruba unveils Instant ON portfolio right-sized for small business

June 11, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Aruba unveils Instant ON portfolio right-sized for small business
The new portfolio is targeted at the sub-100 market, although it can scale higher than that, and will go to market solely through channel partners.

Cloud

Avaya leverages Google, containers to take cloud UC downmarket with Powered by Avaya IX

May 31, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Avaya leverages Google, containers to take cloud UC downmarket with Powered by Avaya IX
The SMB space was a hard sell for partners with virtualized Powered by IP Office, but the company thinks this next-gen rebranded play that runs on the Google cloud will be a popular partner offering.

Servers

HPE upgrades HPE Small Business Solutions portfolio

May 29, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE upgrades HPE Small Business Solutions portfolio
HPE enhances six of their SMB solutions, to provide more customer choice and provide additional performance and capacity.

Computers

Lenovo sees new ThinkBooks as Vostro-killers and ProBook killers in SMB space

May 15, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Lenovo sees new ThinkBooks as Vostro-killers and ProBook killers in SMB space
While the preview of Lenovo’s foldable PC was the big ‘wow’ factor at the Lenovo Accelerate event, the launch of the new ThinkBooks is really the big news for partners this year.

Small Business

netTALK seeks reseller partners for newly launched cloud-based telephone system for small business

April 24, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on netTALK seeks reseller partners for newly launched cloud-based telephone system for small business
netTALK, which has been in the consumer phone market for years, enters the commercial market, and is looking for both Master Agents and VARs to sell it.

Security

Kaspersky Lab adds upgraded option, free second device per user to Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud

April 5, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Kaspersky Lab adds upgraded option, free second device per user to Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud
Kaspersky has sold the cloud version of their SMB endpoint offering mainly through traditional partners, and not MSPs, but would like to attract MSPs to sell the product going forward.

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.

Networking

Netgear bolsters commercial portfolio with new IPV6 switch family, AP point, router, and Wi-Fi satellite

January 8, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Netgear bolsters commercial portfolio with new IPV6 switch family, AP point, router, and Wi-Fi satellite
Netgear is highlighting the Orbi Pro Mesh Wi-Fi Ceiling satellite, which has received a CES Innovation Award nomination, but the announcement includes multiple products for the channel SMB space.