The Business Solutions Network

In the Feb. 2008 issue of Business Solutions, I interviewed Bob Hess, president of Paragon Print Systems. In the article ("The Vertical Market Gamble"), Hess explained that his company's growth strategy was focusing on one specific vertical as opposed to multiple verticals.   Continue Reading..

The foundation of the editorial in Business Solutions magazine is built on selling complementary technologies, not just being a one-trick pony. In today's competitive and evolving tech landscape, it takes more than just a standard hardware and software bundle to win clients.  Continue Reading..

The April issue of Business Solutions should have hit your mailbox last week. In that issue is an article entitled "(Re)Birth Of A POS VAR," which does a great job of addressing much of what's happening in the POS channel today. POS of Michigan, the article's focus, is pretty much a start-up headed by three partners of various ages and backgrounds.  Continue Reading..

I've written a lot about IP video as a potential revenue opportunity for our integrator audience. Much of that editorial has been from the perspective of video surveillance.  Continue Reading..

I've written a lot lately about how easy it is to install some of the latest IP-based cameras coming to market. At ISC West, the security industry's largest show, I saw something that takes the concept of "easy" to a new level.  Continue Reading..

I've been thinking a lot lately about the future of the point of sale (POS) VAR. When our kids look back on this time period, I'm convinced these years will stand out  in the history of retail solutions providers as one of those time periods of considerable transition, evolution, and probably a little chaos.  Continue Reading..

Earlier this week, IMS Research (the physical security industry’s go-to analyst firm), issued its forecast for video surveillance-as-a-service (VsaaS) or cloud-based video surveillance. The punch line of the report is that VsaaS is on pace to rapidly grow (IMS Research predicts that the world market could exceed $1 billion by 2014).  Continue Reading..

What can I say to convince you to add IP video surveillance to your line card? As a network-savvy integrator with a customer base, you've got many of the attributes necessary to sell and implement this technology (with some vendor support in the early stages, I'm sure).  Continue Reading..

There's the very real trend of retailers and restaurateurs asking their point of sale (POS) suppliers for iPad/Android consumer-grade tablet-based POS solutions. If you're that retail or restaurant solutions provider, you know that you can't make any money selling iPads or consumer-grade Android tablets.  Continue Reading..

In our September 2010 issue, I interviewed Ed Levin, the owner of International Point Of Sale. In the article, Levin explained how he felt as if his company lacked a competitive advantage by only selling hardware. To remedy the situation, Levin developed his own retail software (hence the title of the article, "Should You Become A POS ISV?") targeted at mom and pops. At the time of the article, Levin was able to speak...  Continue Reading..