Jessica Davis

Dell’s new channel partner program will operate through a Salesforce.com portal, will launch with a deal registration minimum of $75,000 and will offer neutral compensation to internal sales staff to reduce channel conflict. The PC maker took the wraps off the program Dec. 5—nearly seven months after announcing that it would create such a scheme—during […]

Dell and its solution provider partners are among the first customers of Salesforce.com’s Salesforce to Salesforce technology, which lets different companies share their Salesforce.com information. Dell first began using Salesforce.com’s CRM (customer relationship management) platform a year ago for its direct sales force. Over the last 60 days, the PC maker has taken the relationship […]

Distribution strength indicates a renaissance in the world of indirect sales as new technologies provide solution providers with the opportunity to combine them into solutions. Distributors reached record sales in fiscal 2006 that ended in the summer of this year to reach an all-time high that exceeded the previous record set in 2000, before the […]

OnForce, the online marketplace for IT services, last month expanded into Canada and will soon expand into Germany and the United Kingdom. The move to Canada followed customer requests for an expansion there, OnForce executives said. For example, a typical user of the service would be a U.S. solution provider with a U.S. client looking […]

Looking to capture more of a fast-growing market for channel partners, Ingram Micro has launched a new division devoted to digital signage solutions. The division will focus on selling digital signs, both LCD and plasma-based, as well as the products that work behind the scenes to enable digital signage. “The channel as a whole is […]

Intel has unveiled its Modular Server, a server and integrated storage on a single platform aimed at SMBs through the channel that company officials are calling “a business in a box.” The new server platform, which will begin shipping in December, is built using Intel’s 45-nanometer 2P quad- and dual-core Xeon processors, code-named Harpertown and […]

Still stinging from recent partner problems in the aftermath of a disastrous ERP integration, Symantec has delayed delivery of its first software-as-a-service offering on the advice of those same partners. The security and storage vendor had planned to deliver a selection of its technology as a service to reach more small and midsize businesses, announcing […]

New IT delivery models such as software as a service, infrastructure utility and managed services have the potential to turn the traditional VAR and solution provider channel upside down. That’s according to a research report from Gartner that further said the changes will impact the way traditional IT channels and distribution companies operate. With their […]

Microsoft has launched a suite of tools aimed at driving greater networking and interaction between its Microsoft Certified Professionals and allowing them to differentiate themselves. The software giant is giving MCPs access to the partner level of its Microsoft Product Support Knowledge Base, previously accessible only to Microsoft partners and Most Valuable Professionals, or MVPs. […]

Arrow’s recent appointment of Sean Kerins as vice president of its North American Storage Group marks an increased focus on fast-growing storage sales at the distribution giant. The Englewood, Colo., company’s Enterprise Computing Solutions Group recently named Kerins to the newly created position, where he will own worldwide storage for both independent and embedded storage […]

AMD’s newest and best chips usually ship first with well-known OEMs such as Hewlett-Packard. But not so with the x86 processor maker’s new Spider platform, designed for the enthusiast market. AMD is leading with the channel–or whitebox makers–with this quad-core processor, chip set and graphics co-processor combination, according to Gary Bixler, the company’s channel chief. […]

IT security and management vendor BigFix has formed a partnership with solution provider Patriot Technologies to provide asset discovery and systems management solutions to all U.S. federal agencies, including those that fall under the Department of Defense, such as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all military departments, NATO, defense agencies, and intelligence […]