Small Business

Partnerships

Untangle strengthens security suite with Malwarebytes partnership, looking to drive channel growth in 2019

December 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Untangle strengthens security suite with Malwarebytes partnership, looking to drive channel growth in 2019
Untangle recently announced their inaugural “Voice of the Channel” survey to determine the state and desires of their small business customers, as well as the priorities of their partners.

Managed Services

Malwarebytes looks to continue expansion from remediation into endpoint protection with MSP push

December 19, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Malwarebytes looks to continue expansion from remediation into endpoint protection with MSP push
Malwarebytes announces a new partnership with Bask Technology, which both highlights their endpoint protection product, and is part of the company’s plan to significantly expand their presence in the SMB space going forward.

Cloud

HPE SMB leader Tim Peters lays out the business unit strategy, with storage being the next target

November 29, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE SMB leader Tim Peters lays out the business unit strategy, with storage being the next target
HPE made a big play in 2018 around servers in the SMB space, followed up by solutions related to hybrid cloud. While those will continue in 2019, the company is also looking to roll out similar initiatives around simplification around storage and hyper-converged solutions for SMBs.

Networking

HPE unveils new SMB hybrid cloud solutions around new ProLiant Gen 10 ML30 and DL20 servers

October 9, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE unveils new SMB hybrid cloud solutions around new ProLiant Gen 10 ML30 and DL20 servers
The new solutions include the last two HPE ProLiant servers to be refreshed with Gen 10 technology, as well as software developed in collaboration with Microsoft, which includes new HPE Rapid Setup Software that HPE says will slash partner install times by up to 70 per cent.

Channel Programs

Square announces first formal program for channel partners

September 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Square announces first formal program for channel partners
Square has built a big business around providing support to microsellers who were too small to interest credit card companies, or who found their services too expensive. While this market is still their core, they have moved upmarket as well, with larger sellers, assisted by strategic partnerships with companies like SAP. The new channel program is designed to support partners in this upmarket transition.

Networking

Linksys looks to disrupt small business networking with Linksys Cloud Manager hosted Wi-Fi management platform

September 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Linksys looks to disrupt small business networking with Linksys Cloud Manager hosted Wi-Fi management platform
Linksys believes that the Linksys Cloud Manager, aimed at the sub-100 market, will be highly disruptive in the small business space. The cloud launch is also being accompanied by a channel push in Canada, which will see product authorized for the first time.

Security

Kaspersky Small Office Security beefs up protection for Very Small Businesses

September 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Kaspersky Small Office Security beefs up protection for Very Small Businesses
This is Version 6 of the low end of the Kaspersky business portfolio, which extends the use of functionality like System Watcher, makes improvements to the management console and the alerting system, and adds a search capability to find third party software that is in need of updates.

Randy Churchill, director of marketing and business development for D&H Canada
Distribution

D&H Canada looks to connect more small VARs with Cisco Meraki though “Driven” program

September 5, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on D&H Canada looks to connect more small VARs with Cisco Meraki though “Driven” program
The “Driven” program for Cisco Meraki is the first program D&H has offered specifically for Cisco Meraki, and includes measures to make it easier for small VARs to become certified on Meraki, and make more money once they are.

Distribution

D&H Canada continues as Ellis Island of distributors, topping 20 per cent growth again

May 30, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on D&H Canada continues as Ellis Island of distributors, topping 20 per cent growth again
D&H Canada head Greg Tobin reviews what worked well for the distributor in 2017, and offers some previews for the year ahead.

Cloud

Salesforce unveils Service Cloud Essentials for small business, enhances Sales Cloud Essentials

March 14, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Salesforce unveils Service Cloud Essentials for small business, enhances Sales Cloud Essentials
Salesforce adds a second Essentials cloud, and improves the original introduced last fall, although at this point in time, Essentials is still a marginal channel play, since the focus has been on improving the offering rather than broadening the go-to-market.