Business Intelligence

Cisco To Acquire Data Analytics Firm Truviso (0) May 4, 2012 Cisco revealed plans to acquire data analytics and business intelligence firm Truviso, which will give channel partners a few new analysis and reporting tools to add to their professional services tool belt.
Tealeaf Steeps in IBM's Smarter Commerce (0) May 3, 2012 IBM picks up yet another analytics-based company with Tealeaf Technologies. IBM plans on using Tealeaf to augment its existing Smarter Commerce business with an advanced commerce analytics engine.
IBM's Big Appetite For Big Data (0) April 27, 2012 IBM is buying up all the big data technology it can in an effort to become an arbiter of all things big data.
NetSuite Touts Growing Midmarket Channel (0) April 26, 2012 The cloud-based ERP market leader announced the addition of four major midmarket solution providers to its channel program, reflecting the growing market demand for cloud resources. It may really be an indication of the market’s desire for cloud options.
QlikTech Partners Build On Business Intelligence (0) April 23, 2012 QlikTech brings business intelligence to the market with QlikView, uniquely offered through specialized software integration with OEM channel partners.
SAP Recruiting Partners To Expand Reach (0) April 23, 2012 SAP is focused heavily on expanding its partner program into key areas like mobility and data analytics as it looks to decrease direct sales involvement and expand market reach.
Sage Pricing Changes Concern Partners (2) March 7, 2012 The ERP and CRM software vendor is changing its licensing scheme to user-based pricing and giving customers the option to pay on a recurring monthly plan. Sage says this will increase partner yields, while solution providers see it eating into their profitability. The conflict is a reflection of the cloud transition challenges facing the channel.
VMware Rounds Up Cloud Security Partners (0) March 5, 2012 VMware continues to expand its arsenal of vendor partnerships. This round focuses on integrated security and compliance solutions aimed at delivering secure infrastructures for the cloud to a variety of solutions providers to help spur adoption.
Big Data’s Big Channel Opportunity (0) March 2, 2012 Stephen Colbert recently noted how big data is giving retailers the ability to peer into our private lives. He’s right, and there’s more opportunity for solution providers who can deploy and support systems that collect and analyze copious volumes of innocuous data.
IBM Partners in a Cloud State of Mind (0) February 29, 2012 IBM has a lot to talk about this week, and much of it relates to Big Blue’s promise of cloud computing. Partnerships with interesting results, more focused partner resources and targeted incentives expand and better organize IBM’s increasingly comprehensive cloud infrastructure.
Verizon, Motorola Team on Mobile Enablement (0) February 24, 2012 Verizon Wireless announced a new alliance with Motorola Solutions to provide more reliable data and voice transport services for enterprise-class mobile devices and machine-to-machine solutions. Motorola partners will provide the field sales, implementation and support for these mobile solutions.
Microsoft Using Mobile to Gain in CRM (0) February 9, 2012 Microsoft is releasing an update to Dynamics CRM to extend accessibility to virtually any mobile device via the cloud and enhance productivity through social communications features. The update is part of a long-running push to bolster its CRM market share against Oracle and Salesforce.com.
IT Buyers No Longer Looking at Tech in Isolation (0) January 23, 2012 Business analytics is the technology most on the minds of CIOs recently surveyed by Gartner. Along with mobility, cloud and social business, the survey reveals a shift in IT organizations newly focused on combining these forces to change the way a business interacts externally.
Oracle Building Channel Empire on HP Talent (0) January 6, 2012 Tom LaRocca is the latest high-profile Hewlett-Packard channel executive to defect to Oracle. It’s a significant loss, but may speak more about Oracle’s long-term market and channel ambitions. The lawsuits should start any minute.
MSP M&A Surge Driven by Taxes, Not Market (1) January 4, 2012 Several managed services mergers and acquisitions have heralded in the new year, perhaps signaling a surge in deals and buyouts. The reality is these deals were signed in December and are part of an annual rite of cashing out and buying up before the end of the tax year.
Top Tech CEOs of 2011 (1) January 2, 2012 Tons have been discussed and written about everyone on the Channelnomics’ list of Top CEOs for 2011, which we offer in no particular order. From Tim Cook taking the helm at Apple following the death of Steve Jobs to former eBay chief Meg Whitman stepping in as chief executive at HP, it’s been a busy year at the top.
Dell Aims Low to Battle Cisco in Data Centers (0) December 21, 2011 A new report suggests Dell’s key weapon in its battle plan for war with Cisco in the data center is low pricing and attached sales. The idea: Attack with servers and drag low-cost networking gear to undercut Cisco’s premium advantage. This battle will have significant cost implications for solution providers, too.
Sourcefire Releases Next-Next-Gen Firewall (1) December 7, 2011 The company better known for its open-source cousin, Snort sensors, and intrusion detection systems is entering the next-generation firewall fray with a next-next-generation firewall that includes a next-generation IPS. The release raises questions on technology consolidation and nomenclature.
Gartner’s IT Predictions Hold Channel Promise (1) December 2, 2011 It’s December, so it’s time for the prognosticators at Gartner to publish their annual list of things-to-come in IT. This year’s forecast is heavy in predictions for cloud computing, mobility, security and managed services. While some of the list may seem daunting, it’s full of great possibilities for the channel.
IBM Looks to Redefine ‘Managed Services’ (0) November 2, 2011 Big Blue is finding traction in the midmarket through “next-generation business partners” who not only deliver conventional managed services but also application and business services. Midmarket general manager Andy Monshaw believes it’s the next stage in channel evolution.
Oracle Goes Small with Database Appliance (0) September 23, 2011 The new Oracle Database Appliance comes prepackaged with Oracle Database 11g and an ‘pay-as-you-grow’ model, a combination of technology and sales designed to make it easier for the channel to sell and small enterprises to buy. It’s also a reflection of the growing interest in future-proofing customer bases.
IBM Offers SMBs $1 Billion in IT Financing (0) September 8, 2011 Big Blue unveiled an ambitious and large $1 billion financing pool to help small and midsized businesses adopt advanced technologies such as analytics and cloud services. It’s yet another IBM push beyond enterprise. Will this time be different?
IBM Brings Business Analytics to Partners (0) August 24, 2011 Big Blue launched a new initiative to enable partners to sell and support its Netezza business analytics and intelligence appliances. The program includes training, marketing support and financing. Can IBM catch the business intelligence wave with Netezza?
How Data Dispels Faulty Sales Assumptions (0) August 16, 2011 Solution providers often assume they have a special relationship with their customers. They’re often right, as many have been selling into accounts for years. But, according to Ingram Micro’s Kirk Robinson, many solution providers fail to see who else is selling into those accounts.
What’s Your Cloud ARPU? (0) July 19, 2011 Cloud computing promises solution providers predictable and profitable recurring revenue. True financial return only comes when customers are engaged and expanding their service utilization – and the measurement for that is ‘average revenue per user.’
HP Targets SMBs with Raft of Products, Services (0) June 22, 2011 Hewlett-Packard sees a $234 billion opportunity in the SMB marketplace, and intends to capitalize on it through a series of new hardware, software and service programs designed to make technology easier for solution providers to sell and small businesses adopt.
Intacct Credits Channel for Growth (0) April 29, 2011 The cloud-based financial intelligence platform added 20 new reseller partners in the first quarter, which helped push channel-driven business to a tenfold increase over the previous year. Is there a secret ingredient to this success?
Standardized IT Services: As IBM Goes, So Goes the World (0) March 24, 2011 Technologies such as virtualization and cloud computing are making standardized platforms acceptable... even preferable. Enter IBM with new, pre-engineered delivery of like servers, storage, service-desk assets and more as a way to speed deployment and lower cost. Are you ready for this shift?
Nobody Is Going to Tweet You a Paycheck (5) March 21, 2011 The ties in social media are too weak and superficial to contribute much to everyday business, at least right now. So, stop worrying about Twitter and Facebook.
NetSuite 'SuiteStart' Reflects Channel Power (0) March 9, 2011 Solution providers may think they're in danger of being rendered obsolete by the cloud, but NetSuite is clearly thinking differently. The Web-based ERP vendor is adding rich incentives to attract partners, showing the need for the channel to maintain cloud momentum.
IBM: 2011 is the Year of Business Intelligence (0) January 24, 2011 Former GE chief Jack Welch’s business axiom is well known but rarely practiced among small and midsized companies: “It can’t be managed if it can’t be managed.” But there’s growing evidence that midmarket companies are looking to business analytics and applications as critical tools for improving and growing their businesses.
New IBM Programs Enable Total IT Solutions (0) November 22, 2010 IBM is joining the chorus of vendors urging their partners to specialize in technology and vertical domains with the recent launch of its “IBM Software Value Plus Security Authorization” program. But Big Blue is putting a twist on its specialization initiatives by creating different tiers of specialization for different contributors to the value chain.
OnForce Addresses Project Management Gap (2) November 18, 2010 Bandwidth has two definitions among vendors and solution providers: One refers to the traffic capacity of networks and Internet connections; the second is their capacity to address and fulfill IT projects for customers. OnForce is taking on the services bandwidth issue with two new programs designed to provide solution providers with access to project management and professional talent.
Is Darwinism Narrowing the Tech Channel? (0) November 16, 2010 Forrester Research analyst Tim Harmon recently wrote in his blog that 12 to 15 percent of the channel will “wash out” as a result of the murky and unchartered migration to cloud computing services. That means 18,750 solution provider and reseller businesses will go under in North America alone. Is this a bad thing, or is a little Darwinism in the channel a potential benefit?
Autotask Provides Users with Introspective Ratings (1) November 10, 2010 We often hear about user and community rating systems as a measure of customer satisfaction. Stars, diamonds, smiley faces all serve as marks of excellence – or shame, depending on the experience – for users to gauge potential engagements with a service provider. But shouldn’t these same rating systems matter to managers and salespeople inside a service provider? Autotask seems to think so, judging by the new feature added to its professional services automation platform.
5 Tips for Dealing with Difficult Purchasing Managers (1) November 1, 2010 You work on a deal for weeks. You cajole the CIO or IT manager into seeing your products and services as the best in the market. You make repeated presentations to IT and executive teams to sell them on how your proposal will meet their business’s need. And when the finish line is finally in sight — the shinning purchase order with all the digits following the dollar sign – you run into a wall commonly known as the purchasing manager, the scourge of the channel.
A Good Time to Consider Raising Prices? (1) October 28, 2010 Times are tough. Sales are sluggish. The economy is limping along and nobody seems willing to commit a lot of capital to any long-term project. What’s a solution provider to do?
IBM Loves the Midmarket; This Is Not a Repeat (0) October 25, 2010 This headline on CRN caught my eye, last week: “IBM To Make Mid-market Channel Push.” Man, that sounds familiar. Where have I seen it before? Oh yeah, right here in my RSS reader. Every year. For the past seven years. At least.
Consumerization’s Changing Meaning and Impact (0) October 5, 2010 While I was reading the newspaper in my Los Angeles hotel room yesterday morning, I spied an interesting little tidbit: Target is now selling the Apple iPad and hopes the new addition to its electronics section will be enough to draw more foot traffic into its stores. It’
Fear and Loving in Telecom Channel (0) September 28, 2010 Somewhere on the other side of the hill that flanks the IT channel reside our cousins – those strange people in the tribe known as the “telecom channel.” Oh, they are an exotic people, indeed, with all kinds of crazy notions of bandwidth, circuits and telephony services. But there are strange trends brewing in their camp – the rising adoption of cloud computing, collaboration and data networking services. And these trends are eroding the divide between the two channels.
Creative Disruption: An Absolute Necessity (1) September 15, 2010 No doubt the Verizon launch of an SMB cloud service is causing consternation among solution providers and hosted services rivals. Not only is another major competitor entering the marketplace, but it’s also changing the dynamics of the cloud computing model.
The Secret Tommy Wald Uncovered (2) August 24, 2010 Disruption is often a tremendous catalyst for change. Unfortunately, most businesses don’t recognize they’re being hit with a disruptive wave until it’s already passed. Tommy Wald isn’t one of those people.
Risk Acceptance vs. Risk Aversion in the Channel (3) August 16, 2010 One topic that drives me mad is when solution providers say they cannot grow. Many even feign they will never be more than several million dollars in revenue. The reasons vary from the cost of growth to the difficulty in growing a business to a general malaise about an inability to penetrate new markets. One solution provider I met that had more than $60 million in annual revenue said his company would never become a $1 billion business because that kind of revenue was reserved for product companies like his vendor partners.