Latest Articles
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The Most Common Mistakes MSPs Make With Off-Site Backups
5/15/2013
I recently spoke with three industry experts about the topic of cloud/off-site backups. I asked them about the most common mistakes MSPs make with regard to selling and implementing this kind of solution/service. Here is what they’re seeing as well as some tips they shared.
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Square Stand: A Lion Of A Product, Or A Lamb?
5/14/2013
If Square wasn't making waves for you in the past, you might need to buckle up for the future. Today the POS and payments disrupter announced its new Square Stand, which is essentially a fancy mount for an iPad that includes a handsome mag-stripe reader and Square's free Register app.
According to the company's Web site, Square is currently taking pre-orders at $299 a pop. Units are expected to ship on July 8.
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World-Class Advice For VARs: Inside Ingram Micro's Partner Invitational
5/13/2013
Last week I attended the Ingram Micro International Solutions Partner Invitational in Hollywood, FL. During my time at the event, I had the opportunity to listen to a variety of speakers and interview most of the distributor's top brass. Following are some of the best quotes/learnings I jotted down in my notebook...
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Can’t Keep Up? 3 Ways To Future-Proof Your Business
5/7/2013
A few weeks ago I attended the Epson partner conference in Palm Springs, CA. The keynote speaker was futurist/forecaster Daniel Burrus (www.burrus.com) who spoke a lot about technology trends shaping the future. He had three great thoughts in his presentation that are applicable to the reseller community.
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Why Sell Loyalty Solutions?
5/6/2013
Retailers are hot for customer intelligence, and there’s no better source for that data than from their most loyal customers. But, market demand isn’t the only reason VARs and ISVs should add loyalty programs to their solutions portfolios.
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PSA: The Must-Have Tool For Retail VARs Adopting The "As A Service" Model
5/1/2013
Retail- and hospitality-focused VARs looking to get into the "as a Service" model, take note. As you transition your business to this model, one of the first things you're going to want to do is implement a PSA (professional services automation) tool for yourself.
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The Video Surveillance Market Is Going Strong... With Or Without You?
4/30/2013
Interesting news for IT integrators this morning out of IMS Research, now part of IHS Inc., the video surveillance industry's leading analyst firm. According to Niall Jenkins, Manager, Video Surveillance & Security Services Research, 45% of surveyed North American companies reported that their budgets for security-related spend had increased in 2012.
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What's Keeping Retail Dealers Awake At Night?
4/29/2013
I don't need to tell you POS folk that you're in the middle of a huge transition. Increased competition, mind-blowing technological shifts, shrinking margins, ever cost-conscious customers, and so on all are creating both a threatening and opportunity-filled environment.
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How Will Epson OmniLink Alter Retail, Hospitality?
4/22/2013
I spent last week in Palm Springs, CA for Epson's partner conference where I had the opportunity to rub elbows with the company's top VAR and ISV partners. Both Epson and its partners seemed genuinely excited about Epson's new OmniLink products. As mentioned during one of my NRF recaps back in January, when it comes to OmniLink you can think of an Epson printer combined with an embedded processor and memory (i.e. computer) in a package about the same size as the printer.
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4 Tips For Getting Out Of Your Managed Services Sales Slump
4/18/2013
For as much positive press as the recurring revenue, as-a-service sales model has gotten lately, it may come as an initial shock that analyst group Ovum released a report recently stating that the "IT services market endured a dismal end to 2012," and "The TCV [total contract value] of deals announced in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $20.8 billion, down 34% from the same period the previous year."