SMB

Partnerships

Untangle strengthens security suite with Malwarebytes partnership, looking to drive channel growth in 2019

December 20, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Untangle strengthens security suite with Malwarebytes partnership, looking to drive channel growth in 2019
Untangle recently announced their inaugural “Voice of the Channel” survey to determine the state and desires of their small business customers, as well as the priorities of their partners.

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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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Managed Services

Avaya sees its new Master Agent channel as the primary route to market for new Online Store

December 13, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Avaya sees its new Master Agent channel as the primary route to market for new Online Store
Avaya believes its solution provider channel will also have some interest in the store, which offers Avaya’s UC and CC as-a-service options. They also confirmed that this online store is not a direct play.

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Cloud

Integration of SAP Business One and Business ByDesign units producing positive channel synergies

December 10, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Integration of SAP Business One and Business ByDesign units producing positive channel synergies
SAP has been encouraging Business One partners to start Business ByDesign practices as well, touting the success of partners who have recently made the move, like Calgary-based VistaVu.

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Cloud

SAP global channel chief Cardenuto is leaving company

December 6, 2018 Mark Cox 1
The surprise announcement comes before an announcement where Cardenuto had been scheduled to speak. No successor has been immediately named, and SAP says no changes to channel policies should be anticipated, as Cardenuto’s channel leadership team remains in place.

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Backup

Nutanix-focused backup vendor HYCU to be resold by Lenovo

December 4, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Nutanix-focused backup vendor HYCU to be resold by Lenovo
HYCU extends the market reach for their backup solution designed specifically for Nutanix environments with this new reseller agreement, which will let Lenovo sell HYCU with their Nutanix solutions in a single sale.

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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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Managed Services

RocketCyber emerges from stealth at ConnectWise Connect with platform of free and paid security apps for MSPs

November 16, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on RocketCyber emerges from stealth at ConnectWise Connect with platform of free and paid security apps for MSPs
RocketCyber’s founders have a track record of two successful startups behind them, and are looking to provide MSPs who don’t offer a full portfolio of services with a set of such offerings. The platform is scheduled for availability in early December.

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Cloud

Free SD-WAN capability highlights new SonicWall Capture Cloud Platform announcements

November 13, 2018 Mark Cox 1
SonicWall also makes several other announcements, with the common theme being the extension of the company’s hybrid cloud portfolio and capabilities.

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Backup

HYCU unveils new sub-program to provide additional benefits to Nutanix Velocity partners selling HYCU

October 29, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HYCU unveils new sub-program to provide additional benefits to Nutanix Velocity partners selling HYCU
HYCU was created to develop and sell a custom-built backup solution for Nutanix, and this new program is designed to parallel the go-to-market strategy for the upper SMB and midmarket that Nutanix launched with their Velocity program in June.

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Backup

Pax8 strengthens backup portfolio with addition of Singapore-based Dropsuite to line card

October 29, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Pax8 strengthens backup portfolio with addition of Singapore-based Dropsuite to line card
Pax8 bolsters MSP choices in email archiving and Office 365 backup with Dropsuite, while emphasizing that they have some technology and pricing features that partners should find attractive.

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Networking

TP-Link launches Omada OC200 cloud controller for decentralized wireless operations

October 29, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on TP-Link launches Omada OC200 cloud controller for decentralized wireless operations
TP-Link adds a new cloud controller to the Omada line they introduced almost a year ago. Aimed at SMBs, the Omada family is a hybrid cloud platform to manage decentralized wireless networks.

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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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Storage

Object storage vendor Caringo ramps up Swarm 10 to support denser environments, introduces single server offering

October 10, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Object storage vendor Caringo ramps up Swarm 10 to support denser environments, introduces single server offering
The new Caringo single server offering, which is aimed at smaller and midsize intense data users like media post-production houses, is likely to be the most interesting thing here to channel partners.

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Security

Sophos adds an Endpoint Detection and Response option to its Intercept X Advanced portfolio

October 9, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Sophos adds an Endpoint Detection and Response option to its Intercept X Advanced portfolio
Sophos supplements their Intercept X Advanced deep learning offering with EDR investigation and response capability, designed to save larger companies with SOCs time with EDR that is relatively easy to use, while giving partners downmarket access to the technology, particularly through MSPs. It is now in the early access stage.

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Networking

HPE unveils new SMB hybrid cloud solutions around new ProLiant Gen 10 ML30 and DL20 servers

October 9, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on HPE unveils new SMB hybrid cloud solutions around new ProLiant Gen 10 ML30 and DL20 servers
The new solutions include the last two HPE ProLiant servers to be refreshed with Gen 10 technology, as well as software developed in collaboration with Microsoft, which includes new HPE Rapid Setup Software that HPE says will slash partner install times by up to 70 per cent.

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Unified Communications

Vancouver UCC vendor CounterPath adds new Bria Teams collaboration service

September 25, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Vancouver UCC vendor CounterPath adds new Bria Teams collaboration service
CounterPath has added a VAR channel in the last couple years, although the new service will initially launch only through service provider and retail channels, in case any issues need to be worked out.

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Managed Services

Solarwinds MSP launches Threat Monitoring Service Program for MSSPs, and through Master MSSPs for small MSPs

September 19, 2018 Mark Cox Comments Off on Solarwinds MSP launches Threat Monitoring Service Program for MSSPs, and through Master MSSPs for small MSPs
SolarWinds launches a Threat Monitoring service based on their Trusted Metrics acquisition, in a go-to-market model designed to make it widely available to partners, but in a way that the company thinks maximizes the chances of success for specific partners.

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