Retail

Partnerships

Scale Computing, Lenovo formally announce major strategic partnership

October 18, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Scale Computing, Lenovo formally announce major strategic partnership
Lenovo and Scale Computing have been working together for some time, but have now formally announced both a strategic partnership and a joint solution designed for the edge and suitable for organizations with many locations in highly distributed environments.

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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.

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Computers

HP looks to channel to drive new Pavilion gamer lineup

April 12, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HP looks to channel to drive new Pavilion gamer lineup
HP made its first announcement of a consumer product family at a channel event, as it expects the channel will sell almost all of these new rigs, and while much of it will go through etailers and retailers, there is a VAR channel play here as well.

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Mobility

Extreme Networks introduces first new solution from Zebra acquisition with ExtremeLocation

January 18, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Extreme Networks introduces first new solution from Zebra acquisition with ExtremeLocation
The new Extreme Networks retail offering is a location-based platform that gives retailers real time analytics data about customers, and lets them manage associates’ interactions with them as well.

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Partnerships

SAP partnership key element in Square channel push

November 20, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on SAP partnership key element in Square channel push
Square, which built its business on simple point-of-sale solutions for microbusinesses, is moving upmarket, and partnerships like their new integration with SAP are putting them in touch with an integrator channel for the first time.

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Backup

Arcserve adds direct-to-cloud capability with Zetta acquisition

July 11, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Arcserve adds direct-to-cloud capability with Zetta acquisition
Arcserve also says out a roadmap to have, within twelve months, a midmarket disaster recovery offering based on a fusion of the two technologies that overcomes today’s pricing, complexity and efficiency issues.

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Digital Signage

ViewSonic Canada drives strong results after return of Canadian autonomy

May 5, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on ViewSonic Canada drives strong results after return of Canadian autonomy
While monitors still make up 70 per cent of their business, falling prices has also led ViewSonic Canada to scale back its retail business and put more emphasis on the B2B market.

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Computers

Zebra upgrades its mid-range mobile computers

November 23, 2016 Mark Cox 2
These machines, targeted mainly at standard retail outlets, have met with a strong initial response, selling more units before launch than other Zebra phones typically sell in 3-5 months.

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Channel Programs

SonicWall names new CEO as it becomes formally independent of Dell

November 1, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on SonicWall names new CEO as it becomes formally independent of Dell
Bill Conner, best known as the CEO of identity-based security product vendor Entrust, takes over as SonicWall’s CEO, and talks with ChannelBuzz about the company’s plans going forward.

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Big Data

Sad news: SAP Anywhere launch in Canada delayed indefinitely

May 19, 2016 Mark Cox Comments Off on Sad news: SAP Anywhere launch in Canada delayed indefinitely
SAP Anywhere formally launched in the U.S. this week. But while demand for the small business-focused CRM solution is strong, a change in SAP’s SMB applications strategy has led to the Canadian launch being put on hold for now.

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