M&A

In The Channel

The evolution of an MSP: WBM’s 75-year journey and the “curse” of the entrepreneur

April 14, 2026 Robert Dutt 0
WBM Technologies president JoeAnne Hardy discusses the company’s transition from a 1950s typewriter shop to a leading Canadian MSP. She opens up about the “curse” of the entrepreneur, the deliberate pivot that aligned business growth with personal well-being, and why knowing your non-negotiables is the key to navigating private equity and growth capital.

Channel Programs

Fortra: building a channel platform from 20-plus acquisitions

April 2, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on Fortra: building a channel platform from 20-plus acquisitions
Faraz Siraj, vice president of global channels and alliances at Fortra, joins the podcast to talk about what it looks like to build a channel program around a cybersecurity platform assembled through more than 20
In The Channel

WatchGuard CEO Joe Smolarski on doubling MSP margins, the Kaseya playbook, and why Canada’s cybersecurity moment is now

March 31, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on WatchGuard CEO Joe Smolarski on doubling MSP margins, the Kaseya playbook, and why Canada’s cybersecurity moment is now
WatchGuard’s new CEO sits down for a wide-ranging conversation about why 2026 may be the year MSPs stop being commodity IT providers – and what the company’s 30-year track record, Kaseya-honed economics playbook, and new Bell Cyber partnership mean for Canadian partners.

In Case You Missed It

ICYMI: Sherweb goes global, Broadcom’s VMware reckoning arrives, and the commercial refresh just got more expensive

March 30, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on ICYMI: Sherweb goes global, Broadcom’s VMware reckoning arrives, and the commercial refresh just got more expensive
This week’s In Case You Missed It: Sherweb secures its first outside investment in 28 years and expands into the UK. Broadcom faces an EU antitrust complaint as the VCSP deadline hits. Intel and AMD both signal price hikes squeezing the commercial PC refresh. And converging data from Auvik and OpenText reveals how far AI adoption has outrun AI governance.

In The Channel

From NetSuite President’s Club to grain-to-bottle whisky in the Eastern Townships

March 27, 2026 Robert Dutt Comments Off on From NetSuite President’s Club to grain-to-bottle whisky in the Eastern Townships
In the first episode of our “Life after the channel” series, former Gurus Solutions founder Martin McNicoll talks about trading SaaS targets for organic farming, why owning the whole supply chain matters more to him now than it did then, and what it’s like to plant oak trees for barrels you’ll never use.