Manufacturing

Software

ECi to expand reseller and OEM channels of newly-acquired Vineyardsoft

September 10, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on ECi to expand reseller and OEM channels of newly-acquired Vineyardsoft
ECi, which acquired ERP vendor Macola last year, has made another acquisition relevant to their Manufacturing Division, purchasing Vineyardsoft, whose KnowledgeSync product was already being used by Macola and every other member of the Division. Vineyardsoft sold entirely through channels, and the plan is to expand those channels further.

Channel Programs

Claroty launches partner program around industrial control systems cybersecurity

May 29, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Claroty launches partner program around industrial control systems cybersecurity
Claroty is interested in working with a select number of partners who are developing a focus on this relatively new space, which brings cybersecurity skills from IT to the context and problems of the OT environment.

Big Data

Splunk unveils first packaged offering for Industrial Internet of Things

April 18, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Splunk unveils first packaged offering for Industrial Internet of Things
Splunk Industrial Asset Intelligence [IAI] makes monitoring and diagnosis of equipment and operational issues in industrial IoT environments much easier, and while initially a limited group of SI partners will take part, Splunk sees it as having broader channel applicability down the line.

Computers

HP touts digital enablement to top partners as key to strategy going forward

April 11, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HP touts digital enablement to top partners as key to strategy going forward
HP celebrated a very strong year with their top partners at the company’s Executive Forum, outlining the direction of their strategy, and the role of the channel in it.

SalesBuzz

Hindenburg Drone crash at Macola event previews, parallels channel go-to-market unpredictability

April 9, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Hindenburg Drone crash at Macola event previews, parallels channel go-to-market unpredictability
The opening keynote at the annual Macola customer and partner event featured a drone demo intended to show mastery over adjacent technology that backfired spectacularly, although harmlessly. The event itself also featured an air of unpredictability – over the role of the channel in the Macola go-to-market going forward.

Cloud

Macola cloud strategy still being assessed, with an offering likely in calendar 2018

April 6, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Macola cloud strategy still being assessed, with an offering likely in calendar 2018
ECi has instructed Macola to make development of a cloud strategy a major priority. Macola’s execs discuss the specifics of what they are doing, when customers are likely to see the fruits of this labour, and what they are likely to be.

Hardware

Ingram Micro veteran Holly Garcia looks to channel to grow ATEN North American business

February 5, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Ingram Micro veteran Holly Garcia looks to channel to grow ATEN North American business
After almost two decades at Ingram Micro, Garcia takes on her first country manager role, and looks to jump start the ATEN KVM and Pro AV connectivity business by better managing their channel, and making more effective use of distribution.

Storage

Panasas continues to move beyond HPC with next generation of scale-out NAS

November 8, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Panasas continues to move beyond HPC with next generation of scale-out NAS
The big breakthrough for Panasas here is the new ASD-100 disaggregated Director Blade, which allows metadata to be accessed twice as fast as the previous product generation.

Internet of Things

Hitachi investment in Internet of Things well-timed for Canada

October 2, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Hitachi investment in Internet of Things well-timed for Canada
Marcel Escorcio, the former head of HDS in Canada who now runs the new Hitachi Vantara company, discusses why he believes that Canada will be an exceptionally strong market for Hitachi’s increased emphasis on the Internet of Things.

Software

Calgary’s Harvest Ventures reaping bumper crop from refocused Macola

April 24, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Calgary’s Harvest Ventures reaping bumper crop from refocused Macola
Exact Macola’s largest Canadian partner is benefiting from the company’s reinvigorated channel focus, and sees great potential for Canadian customers in the new Macola product release.