Microsoft

Cloud

Archive360 reorganizes solution offerings around more flexible modular structure

June 18, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Archive360 reorganizes solution offerings around more flexible modular structure
The Archive360 Archive2Azure platform now has eight modules, which are purchased separately, allowing customers to tailor their solution to their organization’s specific needs.

Big Data

AtScale brings their Data Lake middleware to Amazon, Microsoft and Google cloud marketplaces

June 12, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on AtScale brings their Data Lake middleware to Amazon, Microsoft and Google cloud marketplaces
AtScale allows organizations to use their familiar BI tools like Tableau and Excel to process Big Data at extreme speeds. The new cloud marketplace initiative is aimed mainly at departments of enterprises.

Hardware

Lenovo reboots Smart Office message with ThinkSmart Hub 500 general availability

May 28, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Lenovo reboots Smart Office message with ThinkSmart Hub 500 general availability
Lenovo announces the GA of the Smart Office videoconferencing device, developed in partnership with Microsoft, that was announced last fall at Microsoft’s Ignite event. What they deem more important however, is their message to the market that this product is only the start of an initiative designed to make Lenovo a major player in the Smart Office space.

Printing and Imaging

HP completes A3 product portfolio for Office of the Future, deepens partner services play

April 17, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HP completes A3 product portfolio for Office of the Future, deepens partner services play
Part of the expanded services play is a new certification program to train HP print partners how to better sell security related solutions, and understand and recommend third party security integrations.

Virtualization

IGEL adds 4K, 60Hz four monitor support with new AMD-powered UD7 endpoint

April 17, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on IGEL adds 4K, 60Hz four monitor support with new AMD-powered UD7 endpoint
The UD 7, which serves the higher end of the thin client market with more demanding graphics requirement, also will feature the new Secure Boot validation IGEL just announced had been received for their OS.

Cloud

DataStax makes major enhancements to Apache Cassandra with DataStax Enterprise 6

April 17, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on DataStax makes major enhancements to Apache Cassandra with DataStax Enterprise 6
DataStax, which was the driver in building Apache Cassandra, makes major changes to the platform for the first time in their commercial product, to make it more enterprise-friendly by dramatically upgrading performance and removing manual work.

Channel Programs

Security vendor Ziften reboots partner program to better leverage strategic Microsoft relationship

April 13, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Security vendor Ziften reboots partner program to better leverage strategic Microsoft relationship
The program’s highlight is a fast track program to recruit high skill – not necessarily top tier – Microsoft partners by providing them with the Ziften program’s top tier benefits for a year.

Backup

Kaseya upgrades their Office 365 Backup capability with Spanning partnership

April 10, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Kaseya upgrades their Office 365 Backup capability with Spanning partnership
The new offering is much stronger than what Kaseya had before for Office 365 Backup, and is something that Kaseya partners should be able to sell to their own customers at a good margin,

Cloud

Cloud distributor Pax8 adds bill-forward consumption billing option for ConnectWise MSPs

April 4, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Cloud distributor Pax8 adds bill-forward consumption billing option for ConnectWise MSPs
Pax8 has converted its recommendations that MSPs practice bill-forward consumption-based billing into a console option for ConnectWise, and plans to offer the same for other RMM and PSA vendors.

Cloud

Strong channel opportunity in BlackBerry BRIDGE native integration of Microsoft apps within BlackBerry Dynamics

March 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Strong channel opportunity in BlackBerry BRIDGE native integration of Microsoft apps within BlackBerry Dynamics
BlackBerry BRIDGE integrates Microsoft Office 365 apps with BlackBerry Dynamics, bridging the two separate containers and encryption models, to provide enterprise security for Office 365.