Small Business

Managed Services

RocketCyber unveils free live threat map for Managed Service Providers as security platform launches

January 14, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on RocketCyber unveils free live threat map for Managed Service Providers as security platform launches
RocketCyber is recruiting SMB-focused MSPs with a cybersecurity platform that offers 15 separate services that can be offered to customers, with more being developed. The new threat map provides SOC-like identification of threats that impact each MSP’s specific customers.

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Networking

Netgear bolsters commercial portfolio with new IPV6 switch family, AP point, router, and Wi-Fi satellite

January 8, 2019 Mark Cox Comments Off on Netgear bolsters commercial portfolio with new IPV6 switch family, AP point, router, and Wi-Fi satellite
Netgear is highlighting the Orbi Pro Mesh Wi-Fi Ceiling satellite, which has received a CES Innovation Award nomination, but the announcement includes multiple products for the channel SMB space.

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Managed Services

Malwarebytes looks to continue expansion from remediation into endpoint protection with MSP push

December 19, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Malwarebytes looks to continue expansion from remediation into endpoint protection with MSP push
Malwarebytes announces a new partnership with Bask Technology, which both highlights their endpoint protection product, and is part of the company’s plan to significantly expand their presence in the SMB space going forward.

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Cloud

HPE SMB leader Tim Peters lays out the business unit strategy, with storage being the next target

November 29, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE SMB leader Tim Peters lays out the business unit strategy, with storage being the next target
HPE made a big play in 2018 around servers in the SMB space, followed up by solutions related to hybrid cloud. While those will continue in 2019, the company is also looking to roll out similar initiatives around simplification around storage and hyper-converged solutions for SMBs.

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Mobility

TeamViewer adds OT-focused Augmented Reality for servicing through phone in TeamViewer 14

October 23, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on TeamViewer adds OT-focused Augmented Reality for servicing through phone in TeamViewer 14
TeamViewer has many customers, but hasn’t had much relevance for the channel in North America until this year, when they fundamentally reshaped their go-to-market approach to offer channel partners a solutions focus that the company thinks they will find attractive.

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Printing and Imaging

Lexmark channel chief Kinlaw brings GO Line products for small business to market

October 10, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Lexmark channel chief Kinlaw brings GO Line products for small business to market
Lexmark has reoriented its channel to add a strong SMB focus to their historic focus on the high end of the channel space, with a new branded line covering the whole gamut of the product line, with channel-friendly pricing and policies.

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Cloud

CloudJumper targets smaller end users with Single Server Version of Cloud Workspace Management Suite for MSPs

September 25, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on CloudJumper targets smaller end users with Single Server Version of Cloud Workspace Management Suite for MSPs
WaaS provider CloudJumper makes single-tenanted deployments feasible for MSPs and customers in the 10-15 seat range – down from about 100 seats before.

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Networking

Linksys looks to disrupt small business networking with Linksys Cloud Manager hosted Wi-Fi management platform

September 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Linksys looks to disrupt small business networking with Linksys Cloud Manager hosted Wi-Fi management platform
Linksys believes that the Linksys Cloud Manager, aimed at the sub-100 market, will be highly disruptive in the small business space. The cloud launch is also being accompanied by a channel push in Canada, which will see product authorized for the first time.

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Security

Kaspersky Small Office Security beefs up protection for Very Small Businesses

September 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Kaspersky Small Office Security beefs up protection for Very Small Businesses
This is Version 6 of the low end of the Kaspersky business portfolio, which extends the use of functionality like System Watcher, makes improvements to the management console and the alerting system, and adds a search capability to find third party software that is in need of updates.

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Data Centre

Server, storage success in Q2 show continued Dell EMC progress on integration journey

September 13, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Server, storage success in Q2 show continued Dell EMC progress on integration journey
Kevin Connolly, President of Commercial Sales at Dell EMC Canada gives his take on why the company had another strong quarter, what’s happening in the market, and where Dell EMC still has room for substantial growth in Canada.

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Distribution

D&H Canada continues as Ellis Island of distributors, topping 20 per cent growth again

May 30, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on D&H Canada continues as Ellis Island of distributors, topping 20 per cent growth again
D&H Canada head Greg Tobin reviews what worked well for the distributor in 2017, and offers some previews for the year ahead.

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Channel Communities

D&H cops ASCII Group’s top broadline distributor award – again

April 30, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on D&H cops ASCII Group’s top broadline distributor award – again
While D&H’s win will shock few — they win the ASCII award every year — the ranking of price on criteria in choosing a distributor may be more surprising.

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Backup

Unitrends targets Veeam with VM Backup solution

April 25, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Unitrends targets Veeam with VM Backup solution
This initial version of VM Backup Essentials supports a maximum of six sockets, and so is aimed at enterprise departments and SMBs, but Unitrends says that an enterprise version will be out later this quarter.

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Cloud

Salesforce unveils Service Cloud Essentials for small business, enhances Sales Cloud Essentials

March 14, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Salesforce unveils Service Cloud Essentials for small business, enhances Sales Cloud Essentials
Salesforce adds a second Essentials cloud, and improves the original introduced last fall, although at this point in time, Essentials is still a marginal channel play, since the focus has been on improving the offering rather than broadening the go-to-market.

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Small Business

Ooma CEO says Voxter acquisition moves them up from small business VoIP, creates new channel plays

March 8, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Ooma CEO says Voxter acquisition moves them up from small business VoIP, creates new channel plays
Ooma’s CEO Eric Stang discusses the implications of the deal with ChannelBuzz, including the likely impact on both the Ooma and Voxter solution provider channels.

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Channel Programs

ShoreTel influence strong in new Mitel channel program and shift to two-tier distribution

March 7, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on ShoreTel influence strong in new Mitel channel program and shift to two-tier distribution
Specific details on the new Mitel channel program elements, and the distributors involved, will not be announced until April, but the strategic outline of both elements of the go-to-market strategy was made clear.

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Cloud

Sage announces UPS as first strategic partner on the Sage Business Cloud

January 24, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Sage announces UPS as first strategic partner on the Sage Business Cloud
The UPS shipping solution is being integrated into Sage Financials, to provide single pane of glass functionality on the Business Cloud.

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Backup

IT Cloud launching BDR appliance service with StorageCraft tech for small Canadian MSPs

January 18, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on IT Cloud launching BDR appliance service with StorageCraft tech for small Canadian MSPs
IT Cloud Solutions is also now offering StorageCraft Cloud Backup for Microsoft Office 365 to their MSPs.

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Cloud

Salesforce offers CRM for very small businesses with Salesforce Essentials

November 7, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on Salesforce offers CRM for very small businesses with Salesforce Essentials
Priced at $25 per user per month, Salesforce Essentials contains core CRM components like Einstein Artificial AI to help customers work smarter, and includes the Salesforce Trailhead online learning environment to make their experience easier.

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Networking

HPE makes flurry of new solutions up and down SMB portfolio

September 29, 2017 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE makes flurry of new solutions up and down SMB portfolio
In addition to new SMB-focused server, storage, networking and hyper-converged product, HPE has brought their Consume IT OPEX pricing model from the enterprise to SMBs as well.

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