Pedro Pereira

While other distributors in the past year have claimed a stake in the managed services market, Tech Data continues to weigh what the distributor’s precise role in this new model should be. The Clearwater, Fla., company is the world’s second largest IT distributor, behind Ingram Micro Inc., of Santa Ana, Calif. The two rivals often […]

Tech Data over the years has played the role of laggard as other large distributors have rushed to adapt to changing market pressures and the evolution of technology. It’s an approach that often has paid off for the world’s second largest IT distributor, but don’t think it will remain de rigueur. CEO Bob Dutkowsky said […]

A former SilverBack Technologies top executive said the company’s planned acquisition by Dell bodes well for the channel. It wouldn’t make sense for Dell to acquire SilverBack only to turn around and chuck the network of channel partners it has worked so hard to build, he said. Jim Hare, who was worldwide vice president of […]

It was only a matter of time. Sooner or later one of the managed services platform vendors that have gotten so much attention in the last couple of years was going to be acquired. Now it’s happening. SilverBack Technologies, based in Billerica, Mass., is the winner of this particular race. The surprise in this development […]

Since vendors spend a fair amount of time trying to copy each other, why not copy some worthy channel programs? Typically what vendors end up doing when taking cues from competitors on how to reach their channel partners is recreate a lot of bad habits. As a result, programs and communications meant to improve the […]

Level Platforms and Microsoft have teamed up to better integrate their remote management tools, making it easier for solution providers to take advantage of Microsoft’s technology. As a result, Level Platforms’ channel partners now can access the capabilities of Microsoft’s System Center Essentials from Level Platforms’ central management console. The two companies are announcing the […]

When I lived in Plymouth, Mass., I used to react with perverse amusement when I saw tourists with license plates from as far as Montana and Florida visit the famed Plymouth Rock. A first-time visitor’s reaction inevitably went something like this: “That’s it!? That’s Plymouth Rock!? We drove all the way from [insert faraway locale] […]

Sage Software is helping its channel partners with two of their biggest challenges—employee recruitment and health insurance. The Atlanta-based maker of business management and accounting applications launched a program that gives partners access to a Web-based health insurance broker that searches for coverage for their employees. In addition, the company partnered with two recruiting firms […]

Six months ago, I wrote what was surely one of my crankiest columns, which I thought would elicit enough “Get a life” responses to make me seriously question how I use my time. To my surprise, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. It turns out I wasn’t the only one who had noticed the industry has […]

With an eye on rounding out its technology’s functionality, managed services platform vendor Kaseya disclosed late on June 21 that it has bought a desktop migration software developer. Kaseya, based in San Francisco, acquired the technology assets of Versora, of Santa Barbara, Calif., to bolster Kaseya’s Managed Services Automation software. With Versora’s software, Kaseya gains […]

Iomega got on the map through the Zip drives that over the years became a part of numerous IT environments, but the vendor is working hard to transform itself into more than the "Zip drive company." On Tuesday, the San Diego-based vendor launched an e-mail security managed service in partnership with Postini, of San Carlos, […]

It seems just about every week I get a pitch in my inbox for a new or improved tool to help VARs and integrators do their business better. This is worthy of notice because it wasn’t too long ago that channel companies by and large were suffering from the cobbler’s children syndrome. While they were […]