Managed Services, Backup And Recovery, And Networking News From March 2015

By The Business Solutions Network

Each month, Business Solutions reports news on business in the channel. This month in managed services, backup and recovery, and networking news, CompTIA launches Cloud Trustmark+, Quosal adds video feature, ZyXEL releases a new 802.11ac access points series, Ingram Micro makes cloud-related announcements, Intronis adds new features to ECHOplatform, Brother introduces desktop scanning solutions for SMBs, Vorex announces a partner referral program, LabTech Software releases LabTech 10, and ConnectWise releases ConnectWise 2015.3.

CompTIA Launches New Cloud Trustmark+ For IT Channel

CompTIA recently announced the IT industry’s first formal accreditation for cloud-focused IT vendors and distributors. The new CompTIA Cloud Trustmark+ is a business-level credential designed to accredit and differentiate the IT channel’s best-practice cloud vendors and distributors.

“For decades the IT industry has been focused on the business credentials of the channel partner — from general testing, authorizations, and certifications to, more recently, performance and business valuations,” says Neal Bradbury, vice president of channel development, Intronis, and member of the CompTIA Cloud Trustmark+ Steering Committee. “It’s great to see the spotlight turned on the vendor and distributor community — especially as it relates to cloud — and allow those who continue to invest in research and development, partner enablement, and support services to more clearly differentiate their value proposition and business credentials by earning the vendor Cloud Trustmark+ from CompTIA.”

To obtain the CompTIA Cloud Trustmark+, vendors and distributors must pass a comprehensive third-party review covering a detailed list of business and technology criteria. Businesses that earn the Cloud Trustmark+ have demonstrated a commitment to providing IT channel partners with best-in-class technology, integrations, support, and enablement resources.

“CompTIA’s Cloud Trustmark+ removes the heavy lifting for channel partners when it comes to the time-consuming task of vetting emerging and established cloud vendors,” says Lester Keizer, CEO and co-owner of Business Continuity Technologies, a successful MSP and premier member of CompTIA.

“Too many cloud players and cloud technologies are here today, gone tomorrow,” says Chris Johnson, chairman of the CompTIA IT Security Community and CEO of Untangled Solutions, a specialty IT services provider and premier member of CompTIA. “The CompTIA Cloud Trustmark+ acts as a seal of approval that channel partners can trust and cloud vendors and distributors should definitely pursue.”

Quosal Makes Quotes More Personal

Quosal, a provider of software for the preparation, delivery, and management of sales quotes and proposals, recently announced the release of a new product feature that allows users to record a personal video for their quotes and proposals, giving an individual touch to the Order Porter, Quosal’s proprietary purchasing experience. The new feature allows sales reps to fully explain their quote to their clients, while providing a personal tone to a typically impersonal process.

During the quote creation process, users can record a personal video that can be posted directly to the Order Porter delivered to clients, allowing partners to make the video without leaving the application.

ZyXEL Launches Series Of 802.11ac Access Points For SMBs

Mobility and BYOD are dominant trends in the SMB workspace. SMBs are also utilizing cloud services with increased frequency, which is driving the need for more powerful Wi-Fi networks to keep mobile devices connected to these high-bandwidth applications. The speeds offered by the 802.11ac standard have made it possible for businesses to have these high-performance, client-side Wi-Fi networks.

Capitalizing on this trend, ZyXEL Communications recently announced its new WAC6500 series of 802.11ac Wi-Fi business access points (APs) covering several different deployment and application scenarios for SMBs. The APs include the WAC6503D-S with 3x3 smart antennas, the WAC6502D-S with 2x2 smart antennas, and the WAC6502D-E with 2x2 external antennas. The 802.11ac standard operates in the 5 GHz frequency band. Five GHz signals have a shorter range than traditional 2.4 GHz signals, meaning more APs are required to cover the same area. This makes the transition to 11ac networks more expensive for budget-conscious SMBs. ZyXEL’s WAC6500 series APs with Smart Antenna technology address this challenge. Smart Antenna technology computes and changes signal patterns dynamically to enhance accuracy over both frequency bands, eliminating the need for additional APs. APs with Smart Antenna are compatible with all existing clients and outperform conventional APs at longer distances, so SMBs get better Wi-Fi coverage with fewer APs.

Ingram Micro Makes Multiple Cloud-Related Announcements

Ingram Micro recently made a number of announcements that managed services providers will want to be aware of. For one, several vendors recently debuted on the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace including Acronis, Cirius, McAfee, Microsoft Office 365, Nomadesk, RingCentral, SkyKick, and TrendMicro. Additional new offerings include Ingram Micro Service Desk and a Healthcare Suite.

Additionally, through the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace, partners can now directly provision and offer unique Office 365 bundles, set their own price, and invoice monthly, resulting in a more direct relationship with their customers. Channel partners also can leverage the marketplace to bundle the Ingram Micro Service Desk for 7/24/365 support and SkyKick Migration Suites to help customers move to Office 365.

Ingram Micro Service Desk provides a solution for resellers that wish to brand and bundle a global customer support service staffed by Ingram Micro associates. The Ingram Micro Service Desk offers a 7/24/365 multilingual team that provides support for front office, desktop, and many IT-related issues via phone, chat, and email.

While the Service Desk helps channel partners support end user customers, Cloud Ignite supports Ingram Micro’s channel partners. Recognizing technology does not solve business problems on its own, the Ingram Micro Cloud Ignite Services assists channel partners with the implementation of cloud-based solutions including a free Level 2 service desk and assistance with migration and onboarding needs.

Cloud Elevate, a new partner loyalty program, delivers rewards and enablement services to help channel partners accelerate their cloud sales and profitability. In addition to accessing exclusive go-to-market services from Ingram Micro, participating channel partners are able to receive discounted education, marketing, and business transformation services from leading third-party vendors.

Intronis Update Brings New Features To ECHOplatform

Backup and data protection provider Intronis recently announced the Winter Release ‘15 of its ECHOplatform. The update introduces several new business-building features and core functionalities. The enhancements are designed to help channel partners better support more complex cloud, virtualized, and physical IT environments, grow their share of wallet with existing customers, and attract new business by offering a real-time, cloud-based data recovery solution that’s built to protect the business. New key features within the Intronis ECHOplatform include:

• Hyper-V Rapid Recovery: Enables channel partners to better support hybrid IT environments by offering Hyper-V environment recovery from local image-based storage in as fast as 30 seconds.
• Imaging Rapid Recovery: Supports and simplifies rapid recovery for physical server environments from local image-based storage, using a combination of advanced algorithms, native data formats, and reverse incremental back-up techniques.
• Object-Level Restore: Allows channel partners to retrieve specific files, folders, and databases from physical and virtual local image-based backups.
• VMware 6.0 Ready: Ensures channel partners will be able to provide native backup for the upcoming release of the industry’s leading hypervisor platform.

Brother Introduces Desktop Scanning Solutions For SMBs

Brother International Corporation recently unveiled medium-to-high volume desktop scanners designed to play a role in the SMB document life cycle, increasing efficiency for SMBs in industries such as healthcare, retail, education, finance, legal, and more.

First, the ADS-2000e and ADS-2500We, enhanced versions of the ADS-2000 and the ADS-2500W, package business-grade features to support an effective decentralized document capture and management strategy for SMBs. Features include Kofax certification, infrastructure to allow developers and integrators a greater level of customization, cloud services integration to support corporate mobility and collaborative processes, and enhanced security to aid IT compliance and data protection efforts.

Brother also introduced two new high-speed, high-volume desktop scanners, the PDS-5000 and PDS-6000, with features that cater to a more dedicated workflow. The new PDS models feature increased speed and throughput, as well as improved image processing and compatibility through drivers and bundled software solutions. Features include Kofax certification for improved optical character recognition (OCR) processing, and bar code batch scanning to process multiple mixed sets of documents without presorting or stopping and starting.

Vorex Announces Partner Referral Program

Professional services automation (PSA) and project management software vendor Vorex recently launched its first partner referral program. The referral program allows Vorex channel partners to resell the cloud-based project management software, earning as much as 10 percent for referrals up to a six-month timeframe, with a continuing two percent reward for the remaining term up to 24 months. Channel partners earn monthly stipends following receipt of the first payment, creating a consistent and profitable recurring revenue stream.

LabTech Software Releases LabTech 10

LabTech Software has released LabTech 10, the newest version of its remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform. The new release includes an integrated ScreenConnect remote control license at no additional cost, enabling users to install, configure, deploy, and use the power of ScreenConnect from a single pane of glass within LabTech.

Some additional features of LabTech 10 include a script debugger to locate, troubleshoot, and calibrate scripts faster at any stage of development; access to the LabTech Solution Center to download entire bundled solutions and reduce the risk of making system changes with new rollback capabilities; network monitoring capabilities to automatically detect and categorize more device types than ever before with more than 500 SNMP detection templates; and a refactored Mac agent built on the POSIX platform to provide multiplatform supportability.

ConnectWise Announces Version Update

ConnectWise recently unveiled the latest version of its business management platform, ConnectWise 2015.3. The new version, which incorporates ongoing partner feedback, includes a reinvented projects module that can now complete updates and mass actions directly from the project work plan, enhanced service surveys with more options, new enhancements to the Dispatch Portal and My Calendar, and bar code scanning in ConnectWise Mobile to search and update configurations.