Best Channel Products Page 2011

Best Channel Products 2011
Best Channel Products 2011

Click on any category below to see the list of Best Channel Products for that technology. For details on the methodology behind this survey, click here.

Data Collection

ECM

General Computing

Managed Services & Networking
Networking

Network Security

Physical Security
(Access Control & Video Surveillance)


Point Of Sale
Point Of Sale & Payment Processing

Storage

Unified Communications
& VoIP
 

Sponsored by:
AVG CyberPower Datamax-O'Neil
     
Element Payment Services   Merchant Warehouse

DATA COLLECTION

Bar Code Printers

Datamax-O'Neil I-Class
Top 2 Categories: VAR's Ability To Service, Ease Of IntegrationDatamax-O'Neil

The award winning I-Class is a comprehensive, cost-effective industrial printer, offering reliability and flexibility. With its revolutionary modular design, most I-Class options are field installable. I-Class printers are ideal for shipping & receiving, product identification, pharmacy labeling, and asset tracking.
The I-Class is all about value, performance and speed. From desktop to industrial settings, the I-Class offers excellent design characteristics, engineering superiority and unprecedented performance capabilities to meet your printing demands.
Engineered for quality, the foundation of the printer is a precision-crafted die-cast aluminum frame. This durable, yet lightweight, design increases the printer's longevity and reliability. With numerous easy-to-use features, it's no wonder the I-Class has become the standard within the barcode printer industry.
www.datamax-oneil.com

Zebra Xi4
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
Six products earned nominations in this category. The Datamax-O'Neil I-Class was a winner for the third straight year, and the Zebra Xi4 was a winner for the second straight year.


Bar Code Scanners

Datalogic Scanning PowerScan PM8300
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
Durability was a significant factor among voters in this category. One product had high enough scores to beat out the field of five products.


Handheld Computers

Psion Omnii XT10
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, VAR's Ability To Service

Unitech PA600
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
There were eight nominees in this category. These two products stole the crown from last year's winners.y


Labeling Software

Seagull Scientific BarTender Label & RFID Software
Top 2 Categories: VAR's Ability To Service, Reliability/Durability

Teklynx LABELVIEW
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionalityy

EDITOR'S NOTES
Five nominees made up this category. Seagull Scientific was a winner for the third straight year. Teklynx LABELVIEW won for a second straight year.


Mobile Printers
Psion Printabout MP2000
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality
Zebra QL320
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality
EDITOR'S NOTES
There were two winners (out of five nominees) in this category where reliability and features were scored particularly high.

ECM

ECM Software

Computhink ViewWise
Top 2 Categories: VAR's Ability To Service, Reliability/Durability

Hyland OnBase
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
There were six nominees in this category, with two scoring high enough to be named Best Channel Product.


Forms Processing Software

AnyDoc OCR For AnyDoc
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Upgrade, Reliability/Durability

Kodak Capture Pro 2.5
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
Out of five nominees, two products were named winners. Both of these products have been named Best Channel Products in previous years.


MFPs

Canon ImageRunner 1023
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Reliability/Durability

HP LaserJet Pro CM1415
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Upgrade Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
Two products overtook last year's winners, with reliability and durability being one clear category that was important to voters.


Network Scanners

Canon imageFORMULA ScanFront 300P
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Reliability/Durability

Fujitsu ScanSnap fi-6010N iScanner
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Integration

EDITOR'S NOTES
The Fujitsu ScanSnap returns as a winner for the third straight year. Out of four nominees, these two products were the voters' clear choice.


Production Scanners

Canon imageFORMULA DR-7550C
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

EDITOR'S NOTES
Out of a field of three nominated products, Canon's production scanner took the winner's spot and overtook last year's winners in this category.


GENERAL COMPUTING

Digital Signage

Panasonic Professional LCD LF20 Series
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

Samsung UT-2
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Features/Functionality

EDITOR'S NOTES
With more VARs offering digital signage solutions, along with tele- presence and unified collaboration deployments, the role of reliable and easily integrated display units has taken a front-and-center role.


Notebooks

Dell Latitude
Top 2 Categories:  Richness Of Features/Functionality, Product Ease Of Integration, Features/Functionality

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
Despite the buzz about tablets, the channel still values reliable notebook products built for business use. Both of these winners scored high on ease of integration as well.


Power Protection

APC by Schneider Electric Smart-UPS
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

CyberPower Adaptive Sinewave Series
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/DurabilityCyberpower

Coveted ‘ Best Channel Product Award' winner, voted on by 11,000+ Resellers is CyberPower's Pure Sine Wave UPS System with PFC compatibility.
CyberPower's Adaptive PFC UPS system provides pure sine wave protection and is recommended for all computer systems and workstations, networking hardware, entry-level and work group servers, SOHO and Enterprise applications. CyberPower Systems, Inc. was founded in 1997 with a focus on innovation and reliability. Today, CyberPower has been awarded 90+ patents, has won numerous industry awards, and has achieved ISO 9001 Certification for its state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and operates in the North American, Latin American, Asian Pacific, and European markets.

EDITOR'S NOTES
Although not the most glamorous of IT products, reliable and manageable power protection is a foundation for nearly every successful IT deployment.


Servers

Dell PowerEdge Rack Server
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Features/Functionality

HP ProLiant Server
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
What is the channel looking for with servers? Features, features, and more features. Add to that, reliability and ease of integration, and you end up with these two product leaders.


MANAGED SERVICES & NETWORKING

Managed Services

Autotask Business Management Software
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Upgrade

CharTec Configurator Pricing Tool
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
Because of the nature of managed services tools and products, it is always difficult to compare and contrast products. These two rose to the top of the list based on reliability, ease of upgrade, and servicing.


Routers

Cisco 2911 Integrated Services Router
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

D-Link DIR-130
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Upgrade, Features/Functionality

EDITOR'S NOTES
With the amount of business-critical data racing through today's IT infrastructures, connection points can make or break a deployment. Channel integrators rank these two products top of class due to rich feature sets, reliability, and ease of upgrade.


Switches

Cisco Catalyst 3750-X Series Switches
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

HP Networking A-Series Switches
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Upgrade

EDITOR'S NOTES
Feature sets, reliability, and ease of upgrade were key components that VARs looked for when they ranked products in the switching category.



NETWORKING

Virtualization

Citrix NetScaler VPX
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

VMware VMware
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
As virtualization drives to the forefront, fueled by efforts to take advantage of cloud solution offerings, channel partners are looking for virtualization software that offers a deep feature set and reliability.


Wireless Access Points (WAPs)

Cisco AP1140 802.11n
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

Fortinet FortiAP 220B
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of Integration

EDITOR'S NOTES
When it comes to wireless access points, a wide range of features and functionality pushed these two products to the forefront.


Wireless Networking

Cisco WLC5500 Controller
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

SonicWALL SonicPoint
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
As with wireless access points, networking products must be reliable and full-featured. These two products took top billing by delivering on those aspects.


NETWORK SECURITY

Email Security

AVG Internet Security Business Edition
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Ease Of UpgradeAVG

It is our goal to keep businesses safe from viruses, spyware, and other cyberthreats - without getting in the way of business.
Designed and built exclusively for your SMB customers, AVG Internet Security Business Edition 2011 is engineered to deliver business security in a way that demands less of end-users, administrators and you the reseller.
See for yourself why AVG Internet Security Business Edition 2011 was voted a Best Channel Product for 2011 in EndPoint Security and Email Security - Download a FREE 30-Day Trial: click here
Contact us to learn more about our lucrative offers and promos: (866) 201-0003 or insidesales@avg.com

Fortinet FortiMail-3000C
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

EDITOR'S NOTES
The security needs of customers can range widely, and that is reflected in the rankings in this product class. For some voters, ease of integration and upgrade was most important; for others, reliability and a rich product feature set took top billing.


Endpoint Security

AVG Internet Security Business Edition
Top 2 Categories:  Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

Fortinet FortiClient
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Integration

EDITOR'S NOTES
Not surprisingly, reliability was a key factor in our readers' ranking of security products. Also important were the products' capacity for integration and a rich array of product features.


Unified Threat Management

Fortinet FortiGate-80C
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

SonicWALL TZ Series
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

EDITOR'S NOTES
When you depend on one appliance to protect your customers' networks, reliability is a product must-have.


Web Content Filtering

Fortinet FortiWeb-1000C
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Integration

SonicWALL Content Filtering Service (CFS)
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, Ease Of Upgrade

EDITOR'S NOTES
With Web-based threats continuously on the rise, VARs look for reliability and ease of integration in their Web content filtering tools.



PHYSICAL SECURITY (ACCESS CONTROL AND VIDEO SURVEILLANCE)

Access Control

Genetec Security Center
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Upgrade, VAR's Ability To Service

Honeywell Security Pro-Watch Security Management
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of Upgrade

EDITOR'S NOTES
Seven products were nominated in this category. In the end, two had scores that earned them top honors. Amongst voters, these two winners did particularly well in the category of Ease Of Upgrade.


IP Video Cameras

Axis P-33 Series Fixed Dome Network Camera
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, VAR's Ability To Service

Sony SNC Series Network Camera
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
Two products scored high enough amongst seven nominees to be named Best Channel Products. Both products scored highest in Features/Functionality and in a VAR's Ability To Service the products.


DVRs/NVRs

Panasonic WJ-NV200
Top 2 Categories:

Speco Technologies NVR P4
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
The scoring made it clear that VAR's Ability To Service was a high point for these two Best Channel Products.


Video Management Software

Genetec Security Center
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, VAR's Ability To Service

Milestone XProtect Corporate
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
There were seven products nominated in this category, of which two had scores higher than the rest. These Best Channel Products had particularly high scores in the area of features and functionality.


POINT OF SALE

All-In-One POS

Posiflex KS6215 Fan-Free 15" Touch Series
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

Touch Dynamic Breeze All In One
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
One of the largest categories in the survey, there were a total of 12 products that scored high enough in the Best Channel Vendors survey to earn a nomination here. In the end, two products had scores above the rest to earn the title of Best Channel Product.


Cash Drawers

APG Series 4000 Heavy Duty Cash Drawer
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Integration

M-S Cash Drawer CF-405
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Integration

EDITOR'S NOTES
Out of eight products nominated in this category, two scored higher than the others. Amongst voters, Reliability/Durability and Ease Of Integration earned the highest marks for these products.


Bar Code Scanners

Honeywell Voyager 1200g
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

Motorola LS4208
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Upgrade

EDITOR'S NOTES
Out of six nominees, two scored high enough to earn the title of Best Channel Product.


Hospitality Software

ASI Restaurant Manager
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, VAR's Ability To Service

Posera Maitre'D
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Upgrade

EDITOR'S NOTES
Eight products were nominated in this category. In the end, Posera Maitre'D was a winner for the second straight year while ASI Restaurant Manager joined the list for the first time.


POS Systems

HP rp5700
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

EDITOR'S NOTES
Readers requested this new category. Amongst nominees, the HP rp5700 was the top-scoring product.


Receipt Printers

Bixolon SRP-350plus
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of Integration

Epson TM-T88V
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

Star Micronics TSP100ECO
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of Integration

EDITOR'S NOTES
Out of six products included in this category, voting was highest amongst these three winners. Three winners were chosen due to the second and third place scoring products being tied.


Retail Software

Microsoft Dynamics RMS
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Ease Of Upgrade

Specialized Business Solutions Keystroke
Top 2 Categories: VAR's Ability To Service, Ease Of Upgrade

SBS is absolutely dedicated to the dealer channel. Since 1988, we've built our reputation providing quality retail automation software exclusively through the dealer channel. Our top-notch support services and award winning software help independent dealers prosper and shine in the eyes of our mutual customers. Keystroke POS software offers more flexibility and custom integration capabilities than you'll find anywhere.

Keystroke Advantages
 • Robust POS/IC software for retail & wholesale
 • Top-rated technical and dealer support
 • Generous dealer margins 50%+
 • Higher payment residuals 50%+
 • PCI PA-DSS validated processing

Learn more at Keystroke POS Partner Program or call Nik von Gundell at 866.469.8050

EDITOR'S NOTES
For the third straight year, voters ranked Microsoft Dynamics RMS and SBS Keystroke the top products. This year, there were a total of five products nominated.


POINT OF SALE & PAYMENT PROCESSING

Payment Processing

Element Payment Services Express Processing Platform
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of UpgradeElement Payment Services

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Element Payment Services, Inc. is the industry-leading provider of fully integrated PCI DSS compliant payment processing solutions for merchants and business management software providers. Engineered using service-oriented architecture, Element's Express Processing Platform allows for easy integration, supports advanced technologies and manages more than $6 billion in transaction volume annually.
Element's TransFormTM approach to payment processing is built on a simple idea – remove the value and accessibility of cardholder data to eliminate the risk. Leveraging advanced point-to-point encryption and tokenization, Element's suite of payment solutions transform how payments are secured in a simplified way-delivering optimal security that not only meets but exceeds PCI DSS/PA-DSS compliance requirements. Element's innovative technology, Hosted Payments, was the first payment processing solution on the market to take software providers out of scope for PA-DSS/PCI DSS compliance requirements.
More information about Element Payment Services can be found at www.elementps.com.

Merchant Warehouse MerchantWARE
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration Ease Of UpgradeMerchant Warehouse

The MerchantWARE® Security Platform from Merchant Warehouse is the easiest way to help your merchants manage PCI compliance and keep card data secure. Tokenization and end-to-end encryption minimizes or reduces chance of data breaches. When used with encrypted key pads, our Security Platform provides an additional ‘out-of-scope' solution for PA-DSS audits too.


Security Platform Benefits
  • Helps achieve and maintain PCI compliance
  • New ‘out-of-scope' solution for PA-DSS audits
  • Card data is never ‘in the clear'
  • Tokenization secures recurring and repeat transactions
  • Approved decryption provider for Magtek and IDTech
Learn more about secure solutions that save money. (866) 381-1381 | merchantwaresolutions.com/PCI_security.

Mercury Payment Systems MercuryPay
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
Out of seven nominees, three products were named winners due to a tie in scoring. Additionally, Element and Mercury repeated as winners this year.


STORAGE

Backup And Disaster Recovery

Axcient Data Backup, Business Continuity
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of Integration

Symantec Backup Exec
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
In the heavily competitive backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity industry, two products rose to the top based on richness of features, reliability, and ease of integration.


Data Management Software

Symantec Backup Exec
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of Integration

EDITOR'S NOTES
With the amount of data protected and managed in today's networks on the rise, data management software has become a found- ational part of many VARs' storage offering.


NAS

HP StorageWorks X1000 System
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

Netgear ReadyNAS Pro
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
Despite all the talk about cloud, on-premise storage options remain a large part of many VARs' portfolios. These top choices address the need for reliability, ease of integration, and ease of service.


SAN

Dell EqualLogic PS Series
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of Integration

IBM SAN 24B-4 Express
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Reliability/Durability

EDITOR'S NOTES
The clear driver in this product category was richness of features within storage products, as well as reliability and ease of integration.


UNIFIED COMMS/VOIP

IP PBX

Allworx 48x
Top 2 Categories: VAR's Ability To Service, Ease Of Integration

Zultys MX250 "All-In-One"
Top 2 Categories: VAR's Ability To Service, Features/Functionality

EDITOR'S NOTES
When it comes to business-critical voice over Internet Protocol products, the ability to access and service the product is a key driver behind product choice.


IP Phones

Aastra 6757i SIP Phone
Top 2 Categories: Features/Functionality, Ease Of Integration

Allworx 48x
Top 2 Categories: Ease Of Integration, VAR's Ability To Service

EDITOR'S NOTES
Integration seems to be the deciding factor for VARs offering IP phones to customers.


Unified Communications

Cisco UC 500 Series
Top 2 Categories: Reliability/Durability, Features/Functionality

Zultys MX Release 6.0
Top 2 Categories: VAR's Ability To Service, Features/Functionality

EDITOR'S NOTES
As unified communications moves to the forefront of high-demand business solutions, voters say richness of features is a deciding factor when they pick products.

Best Channel Products 2010