According to Lynn Skurla of Skurla's POS Solutions, there's an elephant in the room and many POS dealers (and POS vendors) are ignoring it. The elephant is the trend of low-priced tablet-based POS solutions that have flooded the market. "I think the POS dealer, especially the dealer who sells into the tier 3-4 market, is in serious trouble unless we figure something out," she warns. "Many customers don't want complex systems of the past. They don't use 90% of the capabilities of traditional POS systems. The 10% they do use is what's showing up in these new apps."
CURRENT ISSUE
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Build Your Business On An IP Video FoundationUnlike larger competitors that are entrenched in analog video, this IT solutions provider’s decision to sell and support IP-based solutions is leading to another year of triple-digit revenue growth.
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Salons And Service: Hot Industries For Recurring Revenue
This ISV (independent software vendor) is building a giant business in a crowded market by creating subscription-based software applications for a variety of hospitality and service-based retailers.
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Why MDM Is A Mobile Solution Must-Have
By uncovering a customer’s mobile computing pain points, this VAR won a 55-unit mobile computing install, plus an MDM (mobile device management) upsell.
- Take POS To The Cloud
- Mobile Install Trifecta: Hardware, Software, Recurring Revenue
- POS Evolution Can Boost Receipt-Printer Sales
PRODUCT REVIEWS
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Rugged 4-Inch Mobile Label Printers Product Review - Table Of ContentsA value-added reseller (VAR) evaluates three 4-inch mobile label printers and shares the pros and cons of each.
PREMIUM CONTENT
5 Ways to Convince Retailers To Upgrade Their Analog Cameras To IP
When you compare IP vs. analog, IP video simply offers more. More resolution, functionality, scalability, flexibility – the list goes on. With IP video, retailers and small businesses are not only protecting their property, but also optimizing business efficiencies and reducing costs. Yet many of these additional IP video benefits aren’t discovered until after the system is installed. The best surveillance integrators out there know how to position these benefits as part of the sales cycle to prove that, with IP video, there’s much more value. Here are 5 key benefits to help convince your customers to switch today
3 IP Camera Selection Mistakes You'll Regret
If you're new to the video surveillance game, you should be leaning on your vendor and distributor partners as much as possible for help. Making mistakes is unavoidable, but you can take steps to minimize the severity and frequency of those you do make. In addition to help from your partners, I recently spoke with Thomas McIntyre, National Sales Manager for the US and Canada at Merit Lilin USA who identified three common mistakes you could make when it comes to IP cameras.
3 Reasons IP Cameras Are Better Than Analog
Analog physical security solutions continue to be replaced by more advanced IP solutions. The benefits are clear, and if security dealers arm themselves with the key features of IP solutions, they will be well on their way to migrating their customers over to these productivity-enhancing solutions, while serving as trusted advisors to their customers.
Balancing Service Delivery & Delivering Sales
Resellers are constantly trying to find the right balance of driving higher quality delivery of services and increasing sales. It's a slippery slope and it’s hard to justify investing more time in the selling effort perhaps at the expense of customer service. It’s not that Solution Providers don’t value the role of sales in the overall business process, it’s just not the average resellers sweet spot. Rather, resellers are more typically aligned with the product and technology function and see it being way more constructive to invest their time in development and integration – plus, its just more fun. So, in effect, key partners are looking to reduce the amount to time spent selling and need more time in the day for service delivery.
IP Surveillance and VoIP: Is History Repeating Itself?
As IP-based surveillance systems continue to gain ground, we can’t help but be reminded of the challenges IP telephony – or VoIP – faced 10 years ago.
IP Video For Mom & Pop Retailers
IP video used to only make sense for mid- to large-sized surveillance systems [32 cameras or more]. But today smaller systems – and budgets – can reap big benefits with IP video. This is thanks to the continued decreasing cost of IP technology coupled with different storage and migration options of today. Here are a few ways to make the most of the system.
6 Common Lies About IP Video Surveillance
One of the factors holding backing the adoption rate of IP video surveillance is a lack of understanding by IT integrators. Much has changed in the video surveillance world, so without all the facts, IT integrators will be unable to make sound decisions regarding this technology.
How To Convince Your Customers To Choose IP Cameras Over Analog
As IP surveillance technology becomes more affordable, it’s also becoming a more attractive solution for smaller installations – installations that used to be the sole domain of analog product. But how do you convince your customers to upgrade their analog to IP, preferably before an incident forces their hand? There are three primary selling points for an IP system of an Analog system – higher resolution, more in-depth analytics, and the ease of new network configuration.
SPECIAL REPORTS
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FEATURED SUPPLIERS
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HoneywellEstablished in 1972, Honeywell Scanning and Mobility is a leading manufacturer of data collection and communication products designed specifically for mobile, on-site, and transaction processing applications.
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BlueStar, Inc.We at BlueStar, along with our mobility vendors and ISV partners, believe that offering the right tools, solutions, and education we can build a strong foundation for our partners selling and implementing mobility solutions.
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Tigerpaw Software, Inc.For more than 25 years, Tigerpaw has designed industry leading, business-building software to help people manage technology businesses more efficiently. -
SATO America, Inc.Today, SATO continues its tradition of designing and manufacturing high-quality industrial printers that deliver reliable performance with each print job.
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BlueStar HealthcareBlueStar Healthcare is here to help our partners navigate the unique needs of the changing healthcare industry, with wireless solutions and an array of value-added services to help VARs meet the complex demands of this massive market. From individual solutions to our specialty bundled Physician In-a-Box, we have the wireless technology medical customers are looking for. -
Datto Inc.Datto Inc. is an award-winning vendor of backup, disaster recovery (BDR) and intelligent business continuity solutions, providing best-in-class technology and support to its 5,000+ channel Partners throughout North America and Europe. Datto is the only hybrid-cloud BDR vendor that provides instant on- and off-site virtualization of servers and workstations, achieved through its Inverse Chain Technology.
LATEST HEADLINES
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RECENT NEWSLETTERS
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- 05.16.13 -- Can't Keep Up? 3 Ways To Future-Proof Your Business
- 05.15.13 -- An MSP's Guide To Managed Services SLAs
FEATURED PRODUCTS
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NetPRO® Ethernet Interface For Cash DrawersConnect your iPad or Mobile Device to APG's Ethernet Cash Drawer Need a cash drawer to connect to your mobile application? APG's NetPRO is an ideal solution! In verticals such as gas stations, C-stores, quick service food and more, the Ethernet cash drawer communicates with mobile POS devices for normal drawer operation. This dynamic network device has a time and date stamp with every transaction, improving loss prevention functions by providing security camera activation, mobile alerts to store management for unusual events, remote tech support, asset management and much more.
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Zebra HC100 Wristband PrinterZebra’s HC100 printer was developed to maximize ease of use. There’s minimal training required. Just pop the easy-to-load cartridges containing Zebra’s Z-Band® wristbands into the printer—and print individual wristbands.
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Managed Hosting Solutions: Colocation We took colocation and made it infinitely better. By better we mean you no longer have to take on everything—including the capital expenses—just to keep control of your OS. -
LabTech Remote Monitoring And ManagementFrom one-man break-fix shops to established managed service providers (MSPs), any business can benefit from the automation capabilities incorporated into the LabTech RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) platform.
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Motorola MC75 3G Worldwide Enterprise Digital Assistant (EDA) No matter what your workers need to get the job done, Motorola's MC75 Worldwide Enterprise Digital Assistant delivers by combining an unparalleled number of business capabilities into an easy-to-carry rugged device. 3.5G GSM HSDPA and 3G CDMA-EVDO Rev A support provides high performance voice and data services around the globe. -
KineticCloud Backup For OutlookKineticCloud Backup is an end-to-end data protection solution for small and medium businesses. It doesn't only backup your data automatically and reliably, it also gives you the power to share and access it securely.
ABOUT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Welcome to BSMinfo, the online presence of Business Solutions magazine. If you are a value-added reseller (VAR), systems integrator, managed services provider (MSP), or independent software vendor (ISV), this is the site for you! Whether here online or in each month's issue of the magazine, we strive to deliver actionable information you can use to add complementary technologies to your portfolio and penetrate thriving vertical markets.
Technologies and topics typically covered include data collection/supply chain, point of sale (POS), payment processing, video surveillance and access control, voice over IP (VoIP), networking, storage, managed services, network security, the cloud, mobile computing, and enterprise content management (ECM). From a market perspective, our articles focus on government, retail, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, education, legal, banking, and anywhere else solutions providers can find new revenue streams.
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