The Business Solutions Network

Do you feel that making the move to managed services isn't much better than your break/fix past? Do you know what things you may need to change about your business to grow? Alex Osipov, the CTO of OS33, recently gave us his insight into why he thinks MSPs should focus more on relationships with their clients instead of one-time implementations.  Continue Reading..

Having interviewed a number of POS (point of sale) VARs, software developers, and payment processing companies, I'm confident in stating that POS VARs are in a great position to secure merchant processing business from their customers. In fact, I covered just that topic in a recent blog post, "Are POS VARs Missing Out On Payment Processing Revenue?"  Continue Reading..

Once a week I like to take an hour or so to randomly call readers of Business Solutions magazine. I do this for a few reasons. First, it helps me stay in touch with what’s going on in the industry. Frankly, since I’m doing no technology selling or installing myself, if I don’t talk to readers or attend shows and conferences, my articles will miss the mark. Second, having these conversations gives me ideas for...  Continue Reading..

Back in our July 2010 issue, I interviewed brothers Howard and David McCarthy of Dumac Business Systems in an article entitled "A New Twist On POS." In the article, the brothers spoke about how they're leveraging two of the RSPA's (Retail Solutions Providers Association) member benefits to reduce expenses and increase sales. (If you've ever wondered if the membership fees of the RSPA are worth it, read...  Continue Reading..

Every month, the editors of all of Jameson Publishing's (Business Solution's parent company) magazines and web portals get together and review the feature articles of each pub. In these meetings, we disscect articles, critique the writing, word choices, headlines, optical elements, and many other things in an attempt to make the following month's articles even better for our readers.  Continue Reading..

If you don't know, we work pretty far in advance on our print publication, Business Solutions magazine. In fact, next week we begin the layout (meaning, all the articles will be written and edited, and photos are collected) and send the digital files to our printer.  Continue Reading..

I recently returned from the Motorola Solutions Partner Expo in Las Vegas. According to Motorola, there were 3,000 partners at the show, which spanned three days and included a variety of general sessions speakers, breakout education sessions, and a solutions showcase. Right from the start, it was clear this event was going to be different than those in the past as the conference kicked off in an exciting way, with a high-octane rock video...  Continue Reading..

If you would have asked me three months ago how many of the Business Solutions magazine POS readers sell payment processing services to their merchant customers, I would have guessed that the majority did. However, today, after the Business Solutions team recently completed phase one of a reader outreach campaign to better understand the challenges VARs face, I feel differently. Based on these recent reader calls, I'm shocked at how...  Continue Reading..

If you've been keeping current with your copies of Business Solutions magazine, you know we've been covering the trends in IP (i.e. network) video surveillance a lot over the past 12 months. The reason why is simple: as camera technology has shifted from analog to IP, the technical difficulty has increased. Our network-savvy readers now have a very important skill set that's integral to installing the latest security...  Continue Reading..

I’ve held enough interviews to know that many VARs don’t do a great job of marketing to their customers. Lack of marketing budget need not be an excuse. There are many free things you can be doing to get in front of your customers. Have you considered a blog or email newsletter to your customers and prospects? If you’ve got the inclination and the time to write your own case studies or blogs, here are some tips that might...  Continue Reading..