Latest Articles

91. What Spencer's Taught Me About Digital Signage
    8/28/2012

    You might recall a previous video blog where I talked about the homemade digital signage I came across in a small privately-owned pizzeria in a nearby college town. At that pizzeria, the owner had mounted a digital photo frame on the wall to create his own digital signage solution. It was about as low tech as you can get when it comes to "high tech" signage. Charming.

92. What A Former 'Total' IT Solutions Provider Taught Me About Profitability
    8/27/2012

    If there's one message Business Solutions makes more than any other, it has to be this: The big winners in the channel are the companies that figure out how to bundle multiple IT hardware and software products, wrap services around these offerings, and sell total solutions. After my interview with Jim Steinlage, president of Choice Solutions, I realized there is a pretty big clarification and caveat we need to make to this claim.

93. The Death Of POS VARs
    8/24/2012

    What are you? A POS dealer? A POS VAR? An integrator? Does it even matter what you call yourself or how the industry refers to itself? This past RSPA RetailNOW will forever remain in my mind as the time when I felt like the industry really understood and embraced that fact that the world of POS is changing, and that things will never be the same.

94. A Marriage Of Cloud & POS
    8/23/2012

    Imagine the significance of offsetting your utility payment, mortgage, an employee's wages, or your child's college tuition. The most successful profitable retail IT VARs are figuring out ways to increase the amount of recurring revenue they earn on a monthly basis to do just that.

95. Where Are They Now? Choice Solutions (May 2009)
    8/22/2012

    Choice Solutions was a $21 million general practice networking VAR when we first spoke with their president, Jim Steinlage, back in April 2009. The company was projecting 17% growth at a time when the economy was tanking. Three years later I caught up with Jim Steinlage to see how things turned out and was surprised to hear what he had to say.

96. Are You Out Of The Loop About EMV?
    8/21/2012

    Over the past few months, I've written quite a bit about the opportunity for POS VARs to sell payment processing services. Assuming you're already on board with this concept, your next step -- and ongoing challenge -- is to stay on top of the latest payments trends. One big trend that should be on your radar is EMV.

97. If You Don't Start Selling Flash Storage Now, You'll Hate Yourself Later
    8/20/2012

    you're currently selling backup and business continuity solutions, there's a good chance you're offering a disk-based solution that includes a local backup server coupled with a remote backup solution. However, have you considered what you could be missing by not also selling flash-based storage? In a recent article in ComputerWorld, titled, "Flash Storage Can Help Some IT Operations," the author shares the results of a survey of 255 IT professionals, conducted by TheInfoPro, which revealed about 7% were currently using all-flash arrays and another 6% said they were planning to make the move within the next 18 months.

98. A Little-Known Factor That Could Affect Your Apple iPad Solutions
    8/17/2012

    Retailers of all sizes are looking to figure out how they can leverage the power and customer-enhancing features of mobile POS solutions. However, at the recently-held RSPA RetailNOW, I learned about a factor that is the #1 obstacle to mobile POS deployments today.

99. Why Now Is The Right Time To Sell IP Camera Solutions
    8/16/2012

    During the recently held RSPA RetailNOW, a conference dedicated to retail IT resellers and software developers, I heard numerous times about how physical security technology -- specifically IP video surveillance -- is something that retail-focused solutions providers should be adding to their line cards. These statements came from attendees (retail VARs already having success selling IP video), as well as speakers and panelists participating in the education sessions at the event.

100. 2 Surprising Reasons Payment Processing Companies Recruit VARs
     8/15/2012

     We've written a lot about how recurring revenue can be used to vastly improve the profitability of your company -- and pad your pocketbook for years to come. If you're a POS VAR, payment processing services can be a fantastic source of recurring revenue and are a "must have" for your line card.