I recently spent three days in Las Vegas for ISC West, one of the physical security (video surveillance and access control) industry's largest trade shows. During that time, I talked with many manufacturers and saw a lot of different products and solutions. After seeing it all -- or at least as much as I could because the show is so large -- I came home with three key takeaways that are relevant to IT integrators like yourself...  Continue Reading..

When it comes to all the articles I've written for Business Solutions, one of my favorites goes way back to May 2007 with GENESIS, a point of sale solutions provider. In the article, Driving Grocery POS Sales, Terry Selkirk, VP of sales and co-owner of the company, shared a lot of detail on how his company is succeeding in the grocery vertical. While Selkirk and I see one another each year at BlueStar's VARTECH, we...  Continue Reading..

I recently sat down with Scott Henry, VeriFone’s director of product marketing, and had a discussion regarding the relationships between POS VARs and traditional ISOs/agents.  When I asked Henry if he thought it was easier for a POS VAR to learn payment processing than it was for an ISO/agent to learn POS technology, he explained it like this:  Continue Reading..

Most of the articles in Business Solutions magazine pertaining to IP cameras have talked about the technology as your next revenue generator and the huge competitive advantage IT integrators have in selling such solutions. However, one common complaint I get from integrators about IP cameras is the high cost.  Continue Reading..

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..

In our February 2010 issue, we featured KT's Office Services , an office services VAR that was projecting 20% growth by the end of 2010 due in part to selling MPS (managed print services). (Check out, “Copy Managed Print Sales”).  Continue Reading..