Small Business

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.