Jessica Davis

VARs are wary of the uncertainty and chaos in financial markets and its potential to filter down to their businesses as well, but they haven’t seen that happen. Yet. That’s the message they sent to their distributor at D&H Distributing’s conference in Pennsylvania this week, according to Dan Schwab, co-president of the Harrisburg, Pa.-based SMB […]

Ever try to explain the benefits of unified communications to one of your customers? It’s not so easy to convey in words. Showing is typically a more effective means of communication than telling, but when it comes to technology, demonstrations can be costly and complicated to set up. Enter Cisco Systems’ new Cisco Solutions Center […]

As IT spending contracts, supply chain checks indicate lower PC shipments into next year, and the rest of the economy seems to be falling apart, Dell’s nascent PartnerDirect program has become a bright spot for the PC maker. While Dell’s Americas channel chief Greg Davis has never provided details about the company’s mix of sales […]

Dell is increasing its PartnerDirect footprint by offering a Federal Practice Certification for channel partners. The new certification path marks the third for Dell and the first that focuses on a vertical industry space. Dell’s previous certifications included IT Enterprise and Managed Services. "We have a history with federal partners that goes back 10 years," […]

If you are seeing PC hardware sales turn cold, you are not alone. FBR Research reports that its supply chain checks indicate that shipments of PCs for both Dell and Hewlett-Packard have slowed down even more than previously reported. “This is the second time in three months that we have cut our PC vendor estimates,” […]

When it comes to credit for technology deals, IT lenders are saying that it is business as usual in spite of the Wall Street financial meltdown and subsequent failed bailout package. Using Credit to Boost Sales: Where Solution Providers Can Go for Help That’s according to Ingram Micro, Tech Data and IBM Global Financing, three […]

IT hardware spending will likely show low single-digit growth for the second half of 2008, lower than original estimates, in the wake of weak corporate earnings and other indicators. That’s according to a report from Bernstein Research Senior Analyst A.M. Sacconaghi Jr., who said while the current consensus expectation is for 7.5 percent IT spending […]

CHANNEL INSIDER: Inside the Mind of the Midmarket IT Executive  Inside the Mind of the Midmarket IT Executive IT vendors have long recognized the potential value of midmarket customers. Most agree that the best way to reach these customers is through channel partners, VARs, resellers, IT consultants and solution providers. But in order to win […]

In a market where customer service often means getting filtered through a phone tree and tech support means talking to a faceless scripted hourly worker, you may feel like you just don’t matter to your vendors anymore. Some companies, however, may recognize that in this kind of low-touch environment, face-to-face connections go a long way. […]

On the morning of Sept. 26, Americans woke to the news that Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan, had failed under the weight of $31 billion in bad debt. It was the latest, as of this writing, of a string of disasters plaguing Wall Street and threatening the entire global financial system. The […]

Companies finance durable goods. In technology and the channel, that often means heavy iron – large storage arrays, mainframes, clusters of servers and bulk-ordered notebooks. But you’d finance nondurable goods, such as software? Big software vendors, such as IBM and Microsoft, are expanding their financing programs to include software and associated services to help solution […]

CHANNEL INSIDER: Use Financing to Boost Sales—Credit Options for Solution Providers By Jessica Davis If you are overwhelmed by the complexity of offering credit to your customers, you are not alone. IDC estimates that only a third of solution providers offer finance options to their end customers to help facilitate a deal. But in today’s […]