Two-and-a-half years ago, the board of directors of IT distributor Tech Data issued a directive that software sales should account for 25 percent of the company's revenues, up from 17 percent at the time. The reason was obvious: Tech Data wouldn't have to carry as much inventory which was eating into its capital.
To get there, Tech Data knew it had to revamp its supply chain in order to connect software vendors and ISVs with implementation partners. Last year, the company launched its Software License Selector, a Web-based portal that allows systems integrators and VARs to locate correct SKUs and place orders right away. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on January 25, 20120 comments
The number of people who own tablet computers has doubled in the past two months, according to a report released Monday by the nonprofit Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.
Based on surveys of U.S. adults, Pew Research found that 19 percent now own tablet devices, up from 9 percent in November. Pew Research interviewed 2,986 people prior to the holiday season in November and subsequently conducted two separate surveys earlier this month in which it first interviewed 1,000 people followed by 1,008 a week later. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on January 23, 20120 comments
It's no secret Oracle is out for Hewlett-Packard's blood since bringing on deposed CEO Mark Hurd as president. Now it appears Oracle wants to onboard as many HP partners as it can.
Oracle has poached veteran HP channel exec Tom LaRocca, a move that escalates an already heated battle in the partner ranks of the two companies. The war ignited last year when Oracle hired onetime HP channel chief Adrian Jones as a senior VP for systems sales in the Asia Pacific region, a move that led to a lawsuit between the two companies (see "How Adrian Jones' Superstar IT Career Went Sideways"). More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on January 12, 20120 comments
Hewlett-Packard's decision to contribute its webOS mobile operating system to the open source community potentially breathes new life into the platform, but the prognosis that it will reemerge as a tangible threat to Apple's iOS, Google's Android or Microsoft's Windows 8 looks like a long shot.
The decision by HP to open source webOS and its ENYO application framework, announced late last week, was somewhat inevitable after months of trying to license or sell it to third parties apparently fell flat. What is surprising, though, is that HP isn't just cutting webOS loose but rather pledging to support the effort as "an active participant and investor in the project." More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on December 12, 20110 comments
After eight years as Citrix Americas Channel Chief, Craig Stilwell has stepped aside from the position to become VP of sales in the Southeast United States. Taking Stilwell's place is Mike Fouts, who actually was a director of sales in the territory Stilwell is moving into.
The move took place Oct. 1 but Fouts made it official in his inaugural blog post today, where he outlined his priorities. Fouts, whose actual title now is senior director of Americas channels and field operations, assured partners that Citrix will continue its model of offering programs, solutions and resources aimed at helping both the company and the channel remain profitable. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on November 28, 20110 comments
After six years as president of the New York chapter of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP), Howard Cohen has stepped down, citing term limits. Taking his place is Debra Pfundstein, a former Microsoft partner account manager and now a business development manager at Software One.
At last week's New York chapter meeting, Cohen received a sendoff celebration, where various members honored him for his role in boosting the profile of IAMCP. One of Cohen's contributions and rallying cries was that partners should team up with other partners, either formally or by referral. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on October 26, 20110 comments
Those who thought the spinoff of Hewlett-Packard's PC business was all but certain will be surprised to learn that the company may opt to hold on to its Personal Systems Group.
HP's analysis is showing that it might be more beneficial to keep the PC business, according to a report published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal. Looking to stem the uncertainty that resulted from its Aug. 18 announcement that HP was considering the divesture of its PC business, new CEO Meg Whitman last week said that the company is aiming to announce a decision by the end of October. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on October 12, 20111 comments
- Read our in-depth article on the Master VAR pilot program here.
Microsoft has announced its Master VAR program in an effort to enable smaller Dynamics partners to latch on to larger ones.
Jeff Edwards, director of channel strategy for Microsoft Business Solutions first revealed plans to offer the program this summer during an interview at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Los Angeles.
The Master VAR program aims to aid smaller partners that don't have the resources to gain the certifications needed under the new Microsoft Partner Network (MPN). Because of the new MPN requirements, those VARs are faced with either having to merge or forgoing the gold competency under the MPN. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on October 03, 20110 comments
It's no secret that small and medium businesses are the key engine to economic growth and job creation.
IBM on Thursday said it will pony up $1 billion in credit to provide financing to SMBs looking to purchase its software, hardware and cloud services through its network of partners over the next 18 months. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on September 08, 20110 comments
Samsung Electronics denied a published report that it plans to acquire Hewlett-Packard's PC business.
The Web site Digitimes earlier this week reported that Samsung was preparing to take over HP's PC business, citing unnamed sources. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on August 24, 20110 comments
As more companies look toward virtualization and cloud computing, solution providers are faced with the opportunity to offer more services than they ever have before. The problem is that many solution providers are still coming up to speed on the cloud themselves. To that end, Hewlett-Packard is looking to make it easier for partners to offer its portfolio of services to customers.
HP last week announced a new specialization to its PartnerOne network called ServiceOne, a designation that will officially go online Nov. 1 at the beginning of the company's 2012 fiscal year. Looking to ramp it up, though, HP is phasing ServiceOne in now for partners. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on July 21, 20110 comments
Microsoft on Wedneday announced its 2011 Partner of the Year award winners and finalists.
The annual awards are intended to recognize solutions that solved customer problems. Microsoft said it received 3,000 entries from over 100 countries. In all, there were 68 categories. More
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on June 23, 20110 comments