Recent Articles
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Lenovo Partners Left Empty-Handed
Sales of IBM PCs under new owner Lenovo have proven so successful that the company is having trouble filling orders for some models, according to a Lenovo executive. For Lenovo Group Ltd. channel partners trying to fill customer orders, the product constraints are a hassle. Some partners worry their end-user customers will switch to other…
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IBM Changes Terms, Loses Partners
IBM Shrinks Suppliers: Round Two IBM has been offering lower margins in return for higher volumes to its staff augmentation contractors, a move that has caused some to leave the business. Keane Inc. last month dropped its staff augmentation work at IBM, citing a recent change in IBM’s direction. Another IT services provider, Ciber Inc.,…
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‘Information’ Part of IT is VARs’ Best Option
Las Vegas: The information-technology industry has always focused more on the technology than the information. But as margins tighten and customers seek more value, it’s time to shift the spotlight to information, Xerox North America President James A. Firestone told a gathering of VARs on Wednesday. “The t side [of the information-technology equation] is all…
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Channel Roundup: CBL Data Recovery, String Bean, Avanton, Finjan and Xyratex
CBL Data Recovery Technologies launches a Web portal for channel partners, String Bean Software partners with Planet Technologies, Avanton inks a distribution alliance with Marketlink, Finjan signs a distributor agreement with Alternative Technology, and Xyratex signs an OEM distribution agreement with Condre Storage. CBL Launches Online Portal CBL Data Recovery Technologies Inc., of Armonk, N.Y.,…
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Vendors: Eliminate Channel Conflict Now
It’s a story as old as the IT channel itself: A reseller contacts a vendor for product information to prepare a customer bid. Next thing you know, a vendor sales rep tries to steal the customer with a lower price. Such incidents could be the result of an unstated policy within the sales staff that…
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ERP Makes a Comeback
Enterprise resource planning projects have been a staple of the integrator’s business for years. Implementations of ERP’s antecedent, MRPII (manufacturing resource planning), were a huge business long before the Web came along, and even before client/server computing, for that matter. But the ERP business has had its ebbs and flows, hitting a particularly low point…
