The Business Solutions Network

This week I’ve been at CompTIA’s ChannelCon conference in Chicago. Talking with attendees and listening to speakers, I discovered a theme I’d like to share. At ChannelCon, the organization’s president and CEO Todd Thibodeaux took to the stage Tuesday morning to deliver his state of the industry keynote. During his presentation he shared some keys to success in managed services and one of them was to get your customers on...  Continue Reading..

We’ve done plenty of surveys, formal and informal, to know that VARs don’t historically put much emphasis on PCI with customers. It seems like many choose to take the path of “the software I sell is PCI compliant — I think — so me and my customers are good.” That might be true for some, but it’s not true for all. While I can’t stress to you the importance of PCI compliance, I also can’t seem...  Continue Reading..

VARs looking to make the transition to managed services need to overcome some hurdles. We’ve been writing about them for a while now. Cash flow, training, a different sales methodology, selecting the right automation tools, etc. Another hurdle is running an efficient business. With that in mind, here’s a tough pill for many to swallow: Many VARs who have historically been project-/break-fix-based probably have a headcount issue....  Continue Reading..

I recently had a conversation with a retail and restaurant IT reseller. This VAR used to be a salesperson for one of the largest VARs in the United States. He would often have million dollar years as far as sales were concerned. His pay was good, but he wanted more. He left to start his own business.  Continue Reading..

Each month, Business Solutions reports news on business in the channel. This month in point of sale, payment processing and data collection news, TSYS and PAX Technology launch a semi-integrated solution, NCC offers an EMV-enabled interface with Reflection POS, Zebra introduces a managed services platform and new support services, and ScanSource collaborates with Star Micronics. In other news, Pivotal Payments launches a point-to-point...  Continue Reading..

Each month, Business Solutions reports news on business in the channel. This month in access control and video surveillance news, Samsung Techwin joins SYNNEX’ VISUALSolv Physical Security Lineup, Tyco Security releases new IP video solutions for SMBs, Exacq Technologies introduces camera links which allow exacqVision users to configure overlay controls that will display when hovering over a camera in live view, and Genetec expands support...  Continue Reading..

Each month, Business Solutions reports news on business in the channel. This month in managed services, backup and recovery, and networking news, Tigerpaw announces two integrations, Unitrends moves to a 100 percent channel sales model, Intronis announced a new dashboard design and automated executive report generator, and Datto announces its Networking Appliance Router as well as four additional new products. Also in the news,  MAX Backup...  Continue Reading..