Jessica Davis

LAS VEGAS—Cisco Systems is planning a low-end monitoring service that lets VARs offer customers an inexpensive, VAR-branded, managed-services type of offering that provides recurring revenue opportunities. Cisco announced the Smart Care program April 4 during a keynote address at its annual Cisco Partner Summit here. The service is designed to monitor Cisco products on customer […]

LAS VEGAS—While his small business customers may not have been clamoring to try IP telephony—if they even know what it is—Stuart Raburn, president of VAR Teklinks, said that he has been at a loss for what phone system to suggest if their current system needs replacing. The Cisco VAR, based in Homewood, Ala., has wanted […]

Gamma Enterprise Technologies has launched a new partner program with an eye to enabling partners to create solutions for end-customers that those customers would not be able to get from any single vendor alone. The Woodland Hills, Calif.-based maker of data management software for companies running SAP applications is offering partners a 35 to 40 […]

OnForce, the eBay-like online marketplace for buying and selling IT services, is rolling out a deeper market research component to its site, and is also offering a Microsoft Vista information section to link buyers to Vista experts. Called MarketView Index, the new research section of the New York-based company’s Web site gives users a window […]

Security vendor ArcSight is upping the benefits to partners in an effort to expand its channel program, and part of the plan is a channel-neutral compensation program. That’s probably one of the most significant benefits, according to one of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company’s existing partners, who said that the change means that the company will […]

Looking to take the complexity out of contract management and renewals for all concerned, networking vendor Cisco is rolling out a new tool that automates much of the process of renewals for partners and inventory for customers. Cisco Systems, based in San Jose, Calif., also announced that it is creating a new online service for […]

Intel will offer financial enhancements to its marketing program for partners, and also provide enhanced marketing opportunities through a partnership with Google. In addition, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip maker is in the process of enhancing its supply chain program for distributors to speed up request confirmations. Intel will announce complete details of the marketing […]

Partners’ relationships with vendors are likely to undergo a transformation over the next year, but some of those changes are likely to enhance partner profitability. That’s according to a new report from channel partner consulting firm Amazon Consulting, which noted that partners make up a key component of sales for technology vendors today, both in […]

Looking to identify which partners wield the most influence over sales rather than just recording the revenue on their own balance sheets, big vendors are eyeing new ways to measuring the real value of channel partners. From Microsoft’s recent announcement of its U.S. Influence Revenue Model —a plan to capture data about which of its […]

Linux operating system distributor Red Hat Inc. and microprocessor maker Intel Corp. are teaming up on a joint channel partner program, the companies announced at the Intel Solutions Summit in San Diego March 19. The move comes as Linux is gaining even more momentum in the enterprise and Red Hat makes moves to become a […]

Customers whose businesses are down for the count if their IT stops working are often the best prospects for managed services offerings. That’s according to Ted Warner, president of Connecting Point, a managed service provider in Greeley, Colo. Warner made those observations and others during a panel discussion as part of the the Ziff Davis […]

SonicWall Inc. has added new partner categories to its channel program to recognize partners that product sales services without onsite visits. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based IT security vendor said it is adding two new categories, one for DMR (direct market resellers) such as CDW and Dell, which sell high volumes of a broad set of security […]