AI

In The Channel

Not a concept, not a pilot: GTIA’s Innovate Awards are looking for AI that’s earning its keep

April 27, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Not a concept, not a pilot: GTIA’s Innovate Awards are looking for AI that’s earning its keep
The inaugural GTIA Innovate Awards aren’t looking for AI pitches or proof-of-concepts. They’re looking for IT service providers who have deployed AI in production and can prove it’s generating revenue or saving money. In a channel where 98% claim to use AI but few have a formal strategy, the bar is both a competition requirement and a mirror.

Podcasts

The Buzz: Canadian cyberattacks surge, Microsoft’s AI bundle overhaul lands Friday, and OpenAI goes channel

April 27, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on The Buzz: Canadian cyberattacks surge, Microsoft’s AI bundle overhaul lands Friday, and OpenAI goes channel
New CDW Canada and IDC research finds Canadian enterprise cyberattacks jumped 80 percent in the past year, with cloud infection rates at a record high. Microsoft drops new agentic AI-powered 365 bundles on Thursday, May 1. And OpenAI makes a major channel hire, signalling a shift toward building a real partner program.

Channel Programs

Cisco 360, three months in: Canadian partners are responding better than expected

April 24, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Cisco 360, three months in: Canadian partners are responding better than expected
Cisco Canada’s VP of Partner Organization and SMB Sales takes stock of the first quarter of the new Cisco 360 Partner Program – including the partner feedback that caught her off guard, what “Preferred” means now that Gold is gone, and why Canadian partners should start building their adopt-and-renew practices before the incentive structure forces them to.

Podcasts

The Buzz: Acronis launches GenAI Protection, Everpure CEO warns of sustained RAMageddon pricing, and Cisco’s quantum networking milestone

April 24, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on The Buzz: Acronis launches GenAI Protection, Everpure CEO warns of sustained RAMageddon pricing, and Cisco’s quantum networking milestone
Acronis launches GenAI Protection, giving MSPs a billable way to govern shadow AI across client environments. Everpure CEO Charles Giancarlo publishes an open letter warning of 70-percent average price increases driven by AI-fuelled semiconductor demand – with multi-year disruption likely. And Cisco announces a working Universal Quantum Switch prototype that routes quantum information between incompatible systems without destroying it. Three stories worth your attention to close the week.

In The Channel

The gaps are the opportunity: Dell’s Eric Arcese on the AI Factory, VxRail’s evolution, and what’s ahead

April 23, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on The gaps are the opportunity: Dell’s Eric Arcese on the AI Factory, VxRail’s evolution, and what’s ahead
Dell’s Eric Arcese joins In The Channel with a message for Canadian partners navigating the AI era: the opportunity isn’t in the infrastructure itself – it’s in the gaps around it.

In The Channel

AI thinks, automation acts: Rewst founder Aharon Chernin on building the automated MSP

April 22, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on AI thinks, automation acts: Rewst founder Aharon Chernin on building the automated MSP
Rewst founder Aharon Chernin draws a distinction that should reshape how you think about both AI and automation: there is a difference between an MSP that does automation and an automated MSP. One is a project. The other is a culture.

In The Channel

Jennifer Roy on culture, scale, and what PE really looks like from inside a Canadian MSP

April 21, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Jennifer Roy on culture, scale, and what PE really looks like from inside a Canadian MSP
Jennifer Roy didn’t know what half the acronyms in the job description meant when she applied for her first role in managed services. Fifteen years later, she’s CEO of Nucleus Networks, operating across five Canadian cities, and one of the more candid voices in the Canadian channel on what people-first leadership actually costs you.

Channel Programs

OutSystems’ Ben Yerushalmi on Elevate, agentic AI, and why partner work is moving to the front end

April 20, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on OutSystems’ Ben Yerushalmi on Elevate, agentic AI, and why partner work is moving to the front end
OutSystems SVP of Partners and Alliances Ben Yerushalmi joins In The Channel to discuss Elevate, the vendor’s new outcome-based partner program built for the agentic AI era. The conversation covers where partners are actually generating revenue with agentic AI today, why the services model is shifting from implementation to front-end advisory, and how OutSystems thinks about competing – and coexisting – with Microsoft, ServiceNow, and Salesforce.

Distribution

From bank and warehouse to ecosystem orchestrator: A conversation with Frank Vitagliano

April 16, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on From bank and warehouse to ecosystem orchestrator: A conversation with Frank Vitagliano
Every few years, someone announces the end of distribution. Direct sales was going to kill it. Then e-commerce. Then cloud. Then hyperscaler marketplaces. And yet here we are. Frank Vitagliano is CEO of the Global Technology Distribution
In The Channel

Canada’s data sovereignty moment: why partners who move first will own the space

April 15, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Canada’s data sovereignty moment: why partners who move first will own the space
Rob Falzon of Check Point Software has a candid observation: even after his company launched a dedicated Canadian data region, the phone calls aren’t coming. That, he says, is exactly the problem – and for MSPs paying attention, it’s a window.