Carolyn April

While there’s plenty of excitement about the prospects of cloud computing, there remains just as much skepticism in the marketplace, especially within enterprises skittish about putting highly distributed mission-critical applications outside of their own domain. Duncan Johnston-Watt, founder and CEO of U.K.-based cloud software company Cloudsoft, understands that trepidation and wants to do something about […]

Upon hearing his company is considered a potential acquisition target in the mind of No. 1 competitor ConnectWise, AutoTask CEO Bob Godgart quickly fired his own salvo on Tuesday. “We HAVE NEVER HAD any conversations with ConnectWise about a merger,” Godgart wrote in an email to Channel Insider. “Although I am working on my offer […]

The PSA market is never dull. It’s filled with a crowded cast of players constantly flexing their muscles to show dominance in the market. Like this week, when ConnectWise acquired the PSA assets—and customers—of CoreConnex in a long-rumored deal that will allow CoreConnex to focus on its financial dashboard business. The muscle-flexing piece is not […]

CORRECTION: The following story has been corrected. An article in Channel Insider erroneously characterized a new partnership between CoreConnex and channel consulting firm Service Leadership. The terms of the deal are that Service Leadership will provide summary, aggregate benchmark information to CoreConnex to use as the best in class indicators in CoreConnex financial dashboard. No […]

Many solution providers are unsure if there is real opportunity to be had in partnering with Google. The answer is yes. But the ones who will benefit most from the relationship appear will be those willing to make the greatest overall commitment. Just ask Shawn Wilke, president of Sheepdog Inc., a Nova Scotia-based company that […]

Web hosting company Verio launched a new offering today aimed at serving SMB customers that are looking to scale the scope of their online capabilities incrementally over time. Verio’s Advanced Business Hosting solution represents an amalgam of two hosting approaches the company uses: Shared hosting, which is less expensive yet enables less sophisticated functionality and […]

There’s no question that Google is a giant in the search engine and cloud computing markets, yet the company remains a neophyte when it comes to formally partnering with the solution provider community. Unlike more established channel programs, Google’s two programs, in particular the new Google Apps Reseller Program, are still a work in progress. […]

Sarah Palin is weighing in on healthcare today, so I figure the topic is fair game – at least from an IT industry perspective. Bottom line, vertical expertise in markets such as healthcare is in demand today and a valuable asset for the channel to have. Solution providers who hone specific industry skills and speak […]

Managed services has been one of the bright spots for solution providers in the down economy, primarily because the model makes sense for cost-conscious customers. By ceding control of their day-to-day IT operations to an outside provider, customers purge costs from their business, operate with predictable monthly pricing and gain back time formerly spent on […]

In an industry ripe with vendor rivalries, the latest battleground is notable for its many-against-one flavor. Alliances have been forming in what appears to be a mission with a singular goal: Anyone but Cisco. Clearly, Cisco’s breaking beyond its networking roots in a quest for dominance in the data center space has rattled more than […]

Cisco learned the hard way that most partners eyeing the managed services game are not in a position to own and operate their own network operating center in order to do so. When it first launched its Managed Services Channel Program in 2007, to much fanfare, Cisco’s primary requirement to gain certification was that partners […]

When Judson Althoff took on the role of senior vice president of Oracle’s worldwide alliances and channels business 18 months ago his first marching orders involved refocusing the direct-selling models of Oracle’s many new corporate acquisitions to a channel model. Given Oracle’s massive buying spree over the past few years, this was and remains a […]