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Revolutionizing business printing 6:45 AM (13 hours ago)

Discover 7 ways the Epson WorkForce® Enterprise AM Series, powered by PrecisionCore® Heat-Free technology, is transforming business printing.

Barracuda’s managed services vision 9 Apr 6:48 AM (5 days ago)

Geoff Thompson, vice president of managed services strategy and development at Barracuda

Geoff Thompson joined Barracuda as vice president of the company’s managed services strategy and development in 2024, and is setting the course for the security vendor in the rapidly growing field of managed security services.

In this edition of the podcast, Geoff joins us to talk about his new role and the opportunity partners are seeing around managed services.

We discuss:

• what he’s been focusing on in his first few months leading Barracuda’s MSP business;
• the biggest opportunities and challenges for MSPs in the security space;
• where Barracuda is looking to add value for MSPs;
• Barracuda’s bundling strategy and how it works for MSPs;
• how Barracuda is innovating at a technical level; and
• what MSPs are facing in terms of trends in the marketplace.

All this and much more are in this edition of the ChannelBuzz.ca Podcast.

Datto launches ‘State of the MSP Industry 2025 Look Ahead: Trends, Growth and Strategies for Success’ 8 Apr 6:47 AM (6 days ago)

The MSP industry is evolving faster than ever, with new challenges, trends and opportunities emerging every day. To stay competitive, it’s critical to understand where the market is headed and how top-performing MSPs are navigating the road ahead.

The State of the MSP Industry 2025 Look Ahead: Trends, Growth and Strategies for Success provides an in-depth look at how MSPs worldwide are driving growth, tackling challenges and leveraging technology to stay ahead. Drawing on insights from over 1,000 MSPs worldwide, this report shares practical strategies to help you thrive, innovate and succeed in this essential yet often underappreciated industry. Whether you’re a small, agile MSP or a large provider, this report will guide you toward maximizing profitability and ensuring long-term success.

Some of the report’s key findings answer these questions:

• What are the secrets of high-earning MSPs? Learn how top performers earning $10M+ annually are leveraging automation, cloud solutions and expanded managed services.
• How are MSPs tackling cybersecurity challenges? Discover how to address threats like phishing, AI-driven attacks and remote work vulnerabilities while staying competitive.
• What does it take to improve profitability? Explore strategies to charge what you’re worth, streamline operations and build a sustainable, high-margin business.
• How are MSPs balancing hybrid work and security? See how hybrid work models are reshaping IT demands and creating new opportunities for MSPs.
• What role does vendor consolidation play in profitability? Find out why simplifying vendor management is helping MSPs reduce costs and improve integration.
• How is AI reshaping the MSP landscape? Learn how AI-powered tools are driving efficiency, enhancing security and opening new revenue streams.
• Why is cloud adoption critical for success? Dive into how MSPs are leading their clients through cloud migrations to improve scalability and flexibility.

Datto’s mission is to support MSPs with leading solutions, services and information to keep their competitive edge. For the full picture of the above topics and much more, download the report.

The big security trends that shaped 2024 and will shape 2025 2 Apr 10:23 AM (12 days ago)

Santiago Pontiroli, lead security researcher with Acronis’ Threat Research Unit (TRU)

The security threatscape is an always-shifting environment, and 2024 and 2025 have certainly been no exceptions to those rules.

To take a look back at some of the biggest security trends that shaped 2024, and a preview of what to expect the rest of this year, we’re joined on the podcast by Santiago Pontiroli, lead security researcher with Acronis’ Threat Research Unit (TRU) on this edition of the podcast.

We discuss: 

• what the Threat Research Unit does;
• dominant trends in the security space for 2024, and where Acronis sees them going in 2025;
• surprises and new developments in the security space that are likely be of concern this year;
• the role of AI in modern targeted cyberattacks;
• the threat of triple extortion;
• the escalating nature of cyberattacks as part of broader geopolitical tensions;
• how to adapt to a more modern approach to security protection;
• how to protect yourself against the attacks of today, and the attacks of tomorrow; and
• good news in the security world for 2025.

All this and much more are in this edition of the ChannelBuzz.ca Podcast.

Resources from Acronis:

• Trial: https://go.acronis.com/sp-trial
• One-on-one demo:  https://go.acronis.com/demo-request
• Solutions: https://www.acronis.com/en-us/solutions/cloud/
• Promo: https://go.acronis.com/displacement-promo

ESET adds MDR to MSP mix 1 Apr 10:56 AM (13 days ago)

Bob Bonneau, country manager for ESET Canada

ESET has expanded its offerings for managed service providers, making its managed detection and response (MDR) offering available through that channel for the first time.

The company announced the addition to its MSP line card at its recent ESET World conference in Las Vegas. With the expansion, the whole of its business-to-business lineup is available for MSPs. This comes as more solution providers who have been offering infrastructure-focused managed services are adding more managed security services to their offerings.

“It allows our existing MSPs to quickly start to transition into an MSSP,” said Bob Bonneau, country manager for ESET Canada. “It lets them do that without costly investments in in-house infrastructure, in training and even in skill development to deliver it. They can partner with us and transition to offering 24-by-seven support by doing that.”

MDR was a hot topic at ESET World, with the announcement and several mentions from the main stage. In a presentation, Craig Robinson, research vice president for security and trust at IDC, noted that among companies looking to handle detection and response, currently, only 27 percent do it all in-house. Thirteen percent completely outsource to an MSSP or MDR provider, but the dominant model is for customers to mix internal and external resources, with 60 percent reporting that approach. SMB customers, he said, are more likely than enterprises to outsource most or all of their MDR deployment to a service provider. 

“MDR is such a no-brainer when it comes to saving money,” Robinson told attendees. “Just try to put this stuff together on your own. What’s that budget going to be like, especially in the SMB market?”

Robinson said that, on average, it takes 13 highly-trained people to manage a company’s SOC.

He also noticed the increasing importance of having a detection and response strategy in qualifying for cyber insurance and keeping premiums as reasonable as possible. MDR can be very helpful, Robinson said, in a market where cyber insurance is “hard to get and hard to keep.”

Bonneau said ESET Canada enjoyed double-digit growth with MSPs in 2024 and expects that growth to continue this year. The MDR marketplace is currently valued at about $4 billion (US) per year and growing at a lusty 23 percent CAGR over the next four years. He figures that kind of growth is accurate or possibly even conservative for Canada, which is likely to be heavy on outsourced MDR as a nation dominated by SMBs.

“There’s a massive skills shortage, and SMBs can’t afford to retain or keep talent from getting gobbled up, so there’s a kind of outcry for a service like MDR in the Canadian market,” Bonneau said.

Robinson said MDR buyers should look for two things: a solution that gets the job done and provides value. However, he added that customers should pay close attention to their MDR vendor’s approach to AI. Almost all MDR buyers (95 percent in an IDC study) said their MDR providers were doing a good job incorporating generative AI into their solutions.

“If you’re among the other five percent, dump your provider,” Robinson said.

Among MDR users, about half “just trust the system” to handle business automatically, while the remaining half split about evenly into camps, with their people keeping an eye on the MDR solution and those who trust an MSP or MSSP to do so.

HP debuts “Superpower” booster on cross-portfolio sales 20 Mar 4:30 AM (25 days ago)

Mary Beth Walker, vice president of partner experience and enablement at HP

NASHVILLE — HP is putting a significant margin boost behind its “One HP” push to sell a better-together story for its PCs, printers, peripherals and services, promising partner who meet marks for all four categories a revenue boost of up to 40 percent on their HP sales.

Mary Beth Walker, vice president of partner experience and enablement, said the new Superpower Booster will debut on May 1. While other vendors have certainly offered partner compensation boosts for selling across the portfolio, Walker quipped that no other vendor has ever offered its partners superpowers.

The One HP idea of selling across the company’s broad portfolio was a dominant theme at this week’s Amplify Conference, and with Superpower, Walker put some wood behind that particular arrow. She explained that the program would reward partners who meet targets in the company’s four key categories: personal systems, print and imaging, services, and peripherals.

“Reach one target, and you get an accelerator. Make two of them, and get an additional booster on top of the accelerators,” Walker said. “You’ll make more and more as you make more and more of the pillars. Make all your targets, and you could earn up to 40 percent more than you are today.”

Walker said that partners who focus on fewer categories can still receive revenue boosts through the company’s regular growth plays program.

Kobi Elbaz, senior vice president and general manager of revenue operations at HP

Kobi Elbaz, senior vice president and general manager of global revenue operations at HP, said the booster aims to help partners sell better solutions for customers across the portfolio.

Elbaz and Walker also provided updates on various other partner tools and resources under the Amplify umbrella, including the proliferation of AI in both content and partner tools.

Last year, the company debuted its AI Master Class for partner sales reps. Walker said that so far, 16,000 people have taken the course, a major investment in partner sales around AI. That investment is key, Walker said, because AI will fundamentally change how technology is sold.

“Our sales reps and your sales reps got out of bed and knew how to do their jobs for a lot of years, but with AI, it really took us all out of our comfort zone,” Walker said. “We’re helping your reps really get ready to be the experts our customers are relying on.”

This year, the company plans to expand the master class program with a higher-level version for partner executives. This version is designed to help partner brass speak the language of customer executives regarding AI decision-making.

The company has also added Amplify AI to its partner hub, a central repository for partners to access tools and resources related to understanding and selling AI solutions to customers. Walker mentioned that the company will continue to add more use cases and training to the portal throughout the coming year.

HP has also added a “persona-based” mobile app for partners. The app helps its channel walk through some of the most frequent use cases for AI PCs today, aiming to help partners “bring these solutions to life in front of your customers,” Walker said.

At the same time, Walker stated that HP is working to integrate AI into the various Amplify partner tools, providing more integration with the aim of freeing up partner resources for higher-value business conversations and customer appointments. In the coming months, the company will launch an AI-based partner assistant on the site, designed to make it easier for partners to find solutions and product information, and Walker mentioned that the company is also developing an AI-based pricing quoting tool to streamline partner quoting activities.

Jen Huffstetler, the company’s chief sustainability officer, provided an update on the Amplify Impact partner program focused on sustainability, which the company introduced as the industry’s first sustainability partner program in 2021.

She said the company has already surpassed its goal of having half of its partner base in the Impact program by the end of this year. The company is tracking a 75 percent boost in RFP win rates for partners in the program, as well as, on average, doubling partner sustainable sales year over year upon joining the program.

Huffstetler stated that while current training and tools will remain accessible through Impact, the company will concentrate on assisting Impact partners in creating improved RFPs regarding sustainability in the near future.

Intel pushes edge AI vision with ecosystem play 20 Mar 3:00 AM (25 days ago)

Dan Rodriguez, corporate vice president of Intel’s edge group

With chips designed to accelerate AI now available across the company’s portfolio of PCs and edge systems, Intel is focusing on building an ecosystem around AI at the edge.

The chipmaker has announced that its OEM and ODM partners will launch a series of edge systems designed for AI applications later this year. It has also introduced new tools to build and validate AI edge applications, as well as software to assist in building and deploying edge-based AI systems and applications at scale.

“We’re in the era of AI at the edge, and it has unique needs,” said Dan Rodriguez, corporate vice president and general manager of the edge computing group at Intel. “It’s all about delivering AI in the existing footprint with existing workflows.”

Edge-based applications pose a unique challenge for AI in that the typical cloud-based AI approach of throwing racks of servers at compute-heavy workloads doesn’t work when those systems have to sit on a manufacturing floor or a show floor, Rodriguez said. Typically, applications have to run well on the same footprint where existing compute and media applications are running.

“There are all kinds of legacy infrastructures in place and operational complexities,” Rodriguez said. “We’re working with our customers and the ecosystem to ensure all of these workloads, including AI, can function together with the right TCO and the right user experience.”

AI-accelerated edge systems are central to the strategy, with Intel engaging its vendor partners to develop edge systems that address various computer vision and generative AI applications desired by customers. Rodriguez stated that Intel is assisting its hardware partners in moving more quickly and confidently with their new systems, while ensuring a range of configurations for power usage, performance, and physical size to meet the diverse requirements of different edge installations. All systems will undergo benchmarking for performance (including horsepower and power consumption) and size, aiding customers in their selection process.

Rodriguez acknowledged that some AI use cases may benefit from a separate GPU but said that for “a healthy majority” of edge use cases, “a CPU with integrated AI acceleration is great.”

Systems benchmarked by the chipmaker will carry an Intel Edge AI Systems brand.

Rodriguez stated that the company will also introduce Edge AI Suites, which are collections of sample code, demos, benchmarking, and tools designed to assure customers that Intel-based systems will perform effectively for edge AI applications. The initial Edge AI Suites will focus on manufacturing, retail, smart cities, and media entertainment. Rodriguez added that these resources will assist developers in creating “the best applications and maximizing our technology.”

Rodriguez said the suites will be expanded over time within the areas of focus. For example, at launch, the retail Edge AI Suite will focus on self-checkout systems but will expand to loss prevention and order accuracy systems in the future. Rodriguez also said additional suites may be added in other verticals that Intel focuses on for its edge business, including healthcare and government.

At the same time, the company will debut the Open Edge Platform, an open-source initiative that assists with the deployment and management of AI-based edge applications on its systems. Rodriguez stated that the platform, which is set to launch early in the second quarter of this year, will include security, provisioning, patch management, and other management tools based on the company’s vPro management technology. The platform will enable partners to build and deploy workloads on edge devices remotely and will feature solution development libraries.

“All of this helps the ecosystem move faster,” Rodriguez said. 

HP’s Lores focuses on One HP, future of work, post-globalization 19 Mar 12:33 PM (26 days ago)

Enrique Lores, president and CEO of HP

NASHVILLE—At its annual Amplify Partner Conference this week, HP CEO Enrique Lores told partners his company was not a PC or printer vendor but focused on the future of work.

It’s part of the company’s push to focus on “One HP,” a strategy that stresses a better-together message about its hardware and software and emphasizes user experiences more than the technology components themselves. To break the focus on specific hardware, the company is focusing heavily on providing a better experience for IT management and customer employees, despite those two parties often having different priorities and expectations.

“Companies want to drive growth and productivity; employees want more flexibility,” Lores said. “We need to focus on where we can add more value. Using technology, we can build a bridge between those two needs. We can help make companies more productive and, at the same time, help employees feel better about the work they do.”

Lores and his leadership team across PCs, print, collaboration and services described a “future of work” scenario where AI on all the company’s devices allows more effortless connectivity amongst devices, where there are interface similarities across the company’s various products, and where IT uses the company’s soon-to-launch Workforce Experience Platform (WXP) to manage devices and user experiences.

Lores laid out three steps in his plan to lead the future of work. First, he said the company embedded AI at the edge on all its devices and took full advantage of those capabilities to boost productivity. In the second step, Lores said HP will further improve user experience by using those AI capabilities to make connectivity more seamless, including networking, peripherals, communications and collaboration. And finally, the company will “empower CIOs with the right management and security tools,” again focusing on its WXP offering.

He said partners would find a “great opportunity” to assist their customers in discovering and fine-tuning the AI models necessary to meet their business’s particular needs, a domain where he predicted that most companies would seek assistance.

Underlying that experience-focused approach is the company’s broader “One HP” strategy that encourages partners to sell more across the whole HP portfolio and rewards customers who offer more of their technology spend to the vendor.

“Winning category by category is not enough. We need to win with a full portfolio,” Lores told partners. “Our goal is going to be for companies that maximize their portfolio with HP to get the most value out of HP.”

This approach will mean that HP will have more commonality amongst its consumer and commercial devices and will look for those who go broad with the HP portfolio. 

Finally, Lores expanded on the company’s post-pandemic supply chain lessons and how they were adapted for a world where free trade among major players is no longer a given. Last year at Amplify, the company told partners its previous strategy of building factories in one location, namely China, and selling worldwide was no longer practical. This year, he expanded that vision to include manufacturing locally and increasingly designing and selling with an eye on the specific needs of each region. 

“Events in the last year, and the last few months especially, really confirm that strategy,” Lores said. “As the world continues to change, we’re in a strong position to drive that opportunity.”

In his presentation to partners, chief enterprise operations officer Ernest Nicolas detailed new manufacturing capabilities HP has brought online in the last two years in Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand, expanded manufacturing in the U.S. and India, and has announced plans to build in Saudi Arabia. 

“We have completely changed the footprint of the organization, and we are significantly diversified,” Nicolas said, adding that by the end of the year, 90 percent of what HP sells in the U.S. market will be built outside of China, calling the company “tariff-ready.”

ESET Canada announces 2024 Partner of the Year Awards 18 Mar 6:45 AM (27 days ago)

Markham – March 12, 2025 – ESET Canada is proud to announce the winners of its 2024 Canadian Partner of the Year Awards, recognizing the outstanding achievements and contributions of our reseller ecosystem, which contributed to our above-market SMB growth and success in the past year.

2024 Highlights:

• Services Growth: ESET Canada saw a remarkable 70% increase in services over the previous year, driven by the adoption of ESET Managed Detection and Response (MDR), providing 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and incident response.
• MSP Business: Our MSP business thrived with double-digit growth as we onboarded new partners, and as more partners looked to standardize on our most robust cloud offerings, thanks to the opening of our Canadian data centre.
• Customer loyalty: ESET Canada achieved it’s target benchmark for renewals, which highlights our strong customer loyalty and satisfaction among the more than 10,000 Canadian businesses we protect.

“Our partners in 2024 truly embraced our Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services,” said Cameron Leetham, Director of Channel Partnerships. “They recognized MDR as a powerful way to deliver exceptional value, leveraging top-tier threat intelligence to secure SMBs across Canada. These businesses, often short-staffed, benefited greatly from our partners’ dedication. The partners we honor today have seen significant growth from happy customers who experienced firsthand the effectiveness of ESET’s services in preventing and stopping breaches.”

2024 Partner of the Year Awards: ESET Canada is thrilled to present the winners of this year’s Partner of the Year Awards:

• SMB Partner of the Year: GB Micro
• Enterprise Partner of the Year: Insight Canada
• Services Partner of the Year: SOS Computer Experts
• MSP Partner of the Year: GAM Tech
• Rising Star Partner of the Year: IO SECURE

Congratulations to all the winners. Your hard work and dedication drive our mutual success. We look forward to uncovering more growth opportunities at ESET World 2025 in Las Vegas. Secure your spot virtually, today!

Intel looks to boost vPro usage with new registration model 10 Mar 10:30 AM (last month)

Jen Larson, general manager for commercial client segments at Intel

vPro, Intel’s built-into-the-hardware security and manageability system for its commercial-grade processors, has been around for almost two decades, including its roots as Intel Active Management technology. 

Despite that long runway and the technology’s embedding in so much of the company’s processor lineup, the company has seen slow pickup. Jen Larson, general manager for commercial client segments at Intel, reports vPro activation in the low single digits.

However, the company believes that is about to change dramatically, as it’s introducing a new model for registering, activating, and managing vPro devices. In the past, this would have required each customer to set up a dedicated hardware server to manage their vPro fleet. Now, the company is offering vPro management via a free SaaS service at vprofleet.intel.com.

Currently in Private Preview ahead of general availability, the new system will reduce the costs of registering and managing vPro on corporate devices by eliminating the need for on-prem hardware and making it much easier to onboard machines. Larson said that the previous process required 24 steps, but the new hosted solution does the same thing in six steps. Because of the server, setting up vPro in an enterprise could take weeks.

“Anybody can go and sign up if you have a vPro device, and you can manage one by one device or hundreds of thousands of devices,” Larson said. “We expect the number of activations to really skyrocket in a very short period of time. We want to make this accessible.”

The new vPro Fleet Services site will reach general avaiability “in coming weeks,” Larson said.

The technology is generally well-embraced within the MSP community. Still, Larson said that as more machines have their vPro capabilities being brought online and managed, more opportunities will open up for resellers and solution providers to build services and solutions on top of the baseline of vPro capabilities.

“We think it’s a win-win for all of us,” she said.

The new model allows Intel to put some marketing muscle and statistics behind what vPro can do for clients. The company is releasing a slew of research on how vPro performs in the wild. One data point that gives Intel great pride is that when the CrowdStrike outage happened last year, one airline customer that embraced vPro on its systems recovered with less than one percent of its overall flights cancelled. Other airlines weren’t quite so lucky.

“They were able to remediate in hours rather than days [with vPro],” Larson said. “Others were in the news because they had a bit more difficult time without vPro.”

For companies that want to use other management tools, Intel also announced that vPro will soon be integrated with Microsoft Intune and that it will add new cloud-native integrations for CrowdStrike and HP Workforce Solutions.

Rounding out vPro announcements from last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company announced it will partner with some of its top OEMs to offer select PCs under the Intel Assured Supply Chain Commercial Products program. Under that program, debuting later this year or early next year, Intel will guarantee a “predetermined silicon manufacturing flow” and provide digital supply chain verification for those devices, essentially ensuring that a PC’s production only ever touches a choice “path” of nations on its way to market.

“We have a corridor that’s already defined starting the second half of this year, including the U.S., Ireland, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan,” Larson said. “Our customers will be able to digitally attest to that manufacturing flow if they request it and purchase it.”

The company has announced that Dell, HP, and Lenovo have signed on to offer PCs based on the manufacturing flow. More OEMs are expected to sign on to offer machines based on the company’s new Core Ultra 200 series processors. Larson said the program was designed to meet the documentation needs of government and other highly regulated industries.

Maximize MSP marketing: How to tailor content to the right audience 4 Mar 6:45 AM (last month)

Gaidar Magdanurov, President of Acronis

The typical MSP owner wears multiple hats, and one of those includes marketing. Many MSPs might also have a small marketing budget. There may not be enough budget to get any reasonable returns from email, social media and online search marketing, and so, MSP owners have to look for more cost-effective strategies.

Having worked with many MSPs worldwide for over a decade, I can attest that the most successful MSP marketing strategies boil down to three principal characteristics: focus, performance and consistency. This means you must show your expertise to your target audience, set measurable goals and continuously execute marketing activities.

Creating useful content is just one way to market to your audience. Done right, it is one of the most effective and low-cost marketing initiatives with a long-term impact.

Targeting the right market

Market research is a key element of targeting the right market. Luckily, you have a treasure trove of data to work with: your existing client list. By evaluating your client list, you can identify trends showing what types of prospects you attract and have the highest chances to sign up as customers.

Company size 

You likely work with businesses of varying sizes. Where is your sweet spot? Find the optimal client business size, including the number of workloads and breadth of IT infrastructure, in which your services deliver the most value without overwhelming your technicians.

Profitable industries 

Analyze clients by industry to identify which bring in the most profits. For example, if your health care clients serve as a consistent source of revenue, then you can tailor your marketing efforts to target health care prospects. On the other hand, you can also pivot your marketing strategy away from industries that consistently soak up more time, money and resources.

Client history

You likely have several problem clients in your portfolio. In your evaluation, look for trends to help you understand what differentiates these clients from the good. For example, you might find that clients in specific industries are the most difficult to work with, create the most tickets, consume the most time or require the most resources to manage. With this insight, you can avoid targeting that industry and instead target those with whom you have positive and profitable relationships.

Services that yield the strongest margins 

The services that generate the most revenue are not necessarily the most profitable. Given that some services require more upfront costs and technical expertise to manage than others, you need to consider each of the operational expenses and map those to the right audiences. For example, it doesn’t make sense to market a costly service to a small business that cannot pay for it. Evaluating your client list will help you understand which services map best to certain types of clients.

Once you identify your most profitable clients, you can start developing a cost-effective, long-term marketing strategy for your business.

Creating high-value content 

The phrase “content is king” stems from a 1996 essay published by Bill Gates. The article famously explores the impact of the internet with a surge in content consumption and revolutionary money-making opportunities now available to businesses of all sizes. Over the years, the idiom has held true. 

Technological advancements have lowered the barrier to entry for marketers and business owners to create intent-driven and relevant content. And this is why low-cost methods like search engines, email, social media and event marketing remain tactical.

For example, generative AI tools like ChatGPT are a time saver for content creation. The key is writing thoughtful and concise prompts focusing on your target audience: your most profitable clients. But remember, although AI-generated content is a great start, you should rework and edit the content to provide insights for your readers, as well as reflect your business’s voice and personality. 

When creating prompts, remember to speak your clients’ language, provide relatable examples and maintain an empathetic, helpful tone. The more specific your prompt is, the better the outcome will be. Ambiguity is an Achilles’ heel for gen AI tools, so ensure your prompt gives clear instructions. 

Ultimately, you need qualified, long-term clients to resonate with and convert after consuming your content. Traditional funnel-based marketing strategies support every stage of the buyer’s journey with assets. Yet, your client’s decision-making process is far more complex than a simple sequence of content engagement events. The goal is to build trust, and do it in the long run.

Whether you are creating a blog, LinkedIn post, email or event signage, the content needs to be trustworthy. Building authority as a leader with your expertise will captivate your target clients, and they will turn to you repeatedly, resulting in healthy margins.

Measure your success and fine-tune

The time spent learning marketing analytics tools will pay dividends in the future. Nowadays, there are many free courses to help you understand no- to low-cost marketing tools to help you measure website traffic, email open rates, user experience, conversions and other key performance indicators. Once you can benchmark these metrics, you can begin to set attainable goals.

Another benefit of understanding these metrics is that you can identify strategies that are not working. Let’s say you created a webpage targeting your most profitable industry, and months later, the traffic is booming, but conversions are at a standstill. To figure out where you can improve, look at bounce rates, examine heatmaps, revisit messaging, ask fellow MSPs and survey your clients directly. Take a data-driven approach while exploring resourceful ways to get feedback to enhance your strategy.

Make the most of marketing spend

Studying your clients is critical to developing trust and long-lasting partnerships that will keep them from churning or jumping to competitors. You need to analyze their IT challenges, compliance needs and requirements, and how you can deliver more value to them.

Identifying key client segments, industries and services that yield the highest margins enables you to tailor marketing efforts to target these areas effectively. Continuously measuring and refining these strategies based on performance metrics ensures that you remain adaptable and responsive to market changes. Ultimately, combining strategic client insight and agile, cost-effective marketing practices enables you to build lasting relationships and sustain profitability in a competitive landscape.

Aryaka Networks revamps SD-WAN approach to create a robust SASE system 3 Mar 6:30 AM (last month)

SD-WAN vendor Aryaka Networks has significantly changed their business model, from their traditional SD-WAN approach to a unified SASE system.

Nick Alagna,  Aryaka’s global channel chief,

Aryaka Networks, which has been a significant player for multiple years in the SD-WAN market, has significantly changed their business model. The company has changed from their traditional SD-WAN approach to a unified SASE system, where they are able to take a more aggressive to the market.

“We have changed our focus from SaaS as service to SASE, and we have added quite a bit to that approach as a result,” said Nick Alagna,  Aryaka’s new global channel chief, who  joins Aryaka with over 20 years of experience driving significant growth for leading technology companies and startups. “We have evolved from SD-WAN and built it out so that it is wide and robust.”Aryaka’s updated Unified SASE Service was in their Winter ’25 release.

Alagna indicated that the Aryaka Networks managed SD-WAN is unique from other vendors’ SD-WANs because its infrastructure is made of Layer 2 network connections. Aryaka’s Unified SASE as a Service converges and delivers four critical design elements: Aryaka OnePass Architecture enables distributed policy enforcement through a distributed data plane, unified control plane and single management pane.Aryaka Zero Trust WAN traverses Aryaka’s global private network backbone, which operates in more than 100 countries.The new Aryaka SmartSecure has a next-generation firewall (NGFW) with secure web gateway (SWG), anti-malware and intrusion prevention system (IPS).Flexible Delivery empowers businesses to choose their preferred approach to delivery (Aryaka or third-party) and implementation (managed, co-managed or self-managed).

“What we doing  here is part of a major launch of process and packaging,” Alagna said. “The big shifts are on the  security side – all SD-WAN plus others like SWG, CASB and DLP. We are able to secure all traffic – all on our own stack, which is extremely reliable. The SmartManage aspect of Aryaka’s SD-WAN provides the foundational abilities that support the SmartServices platform. From a physical standpoint, this  consists of the network’s points of presence (PoPs), physical connections, and Aryaka network access points (ANAPs).

In November 2019, Aryaka announced a considerable revision to its SD-WAN marketing strategy, saying the SD-WAN is now heavily integrated with the cloud and has a multi-cloud architecture. Also included in the announcement was the expansion of its SD-WAN for regional deployments rather than just global ones.

“My own background is deep in cybersecurity, and that’s why I’m so bullish on Aryaka’s growth,” Alagna indicated. “We are also leveraging AI to get better at detecting threats.” Alagna will lead the charge in building and scaling Aryaka’s global channel ecosystem, empowering partners to deliver customer value with Aryaka’s Unified SASE solutions. His expertise spans global go-to-market strategies and partner ecosystem development for cutting-edge solutions in cybersecurity and cloud technologies.

Alagna laid out the company’s strategy going forward.

“We are looking to do more in North America, and then build out a global scale,” he said. “We want to double down and help make it successful.”

He indicated they seek customers who are looking for a platform play and a full unified platform.

“We are definitely looking to create more strategic partners  – not partner relationships that are a mile wide and very deep,” Alagna said.

This includes integration with Aryaka field teams, which include dedicated channel sales directors, enterprise and commercial sellers, solutions engineers, business development reps and customer success managers working closely with partners in each territory.

“We are also announcing investments in new partnerships, leadership and programs in Asia Pacific region and beyond,” Alagna continued. “Aryaka has entered into a new partnership with network systems integrator Nippon Information and Communication to bring the benefits of fully integrated networking and security to organizations across Japan. Aryaka has also announced a partnership with ASV Platforms, a premium strategic partner for Aryaka across Australia and New Zealand. ASV Platforms designs and delivers cutting-edge cloud-first software and cybersecurity solutions in the Australian and New Zealand markets to help their global customers ensure high performing secure networks. Together, the two will deliver Aryaka’s Unified SASE as a Service offerings to both enterprises and governments in the region.

“At our core, we are looking to build longstanding relationships in a better together strategy,” Alagna stated. “We are channel first, and that will remain our approach to the market.”As a partner-led company, Aryaka understands that an ‘all or nothing’ approach to SASE is impractical for channel partners to recommend to business clients that already have invested in security solutions. With Aryaka, partners now have the technology and service platform to help companies evolve their network security at their own pace regardless of their starting point.”

The Aryaka Channel overdelivered on its plan by nearly 20 percent, and channel pipeline creation at the end of FY ’24 was higher than ever in company history.

Acronis appoints Nichols as first Canadian country manager 3 Mar 5:32 AM (last month)

Stephen Nichols, country manager for Canada at Acronis

Acronis has appointed company veteran Stephen Nichols as its first-ever country manager for Canada. He says this move shows an increased focus on the Canadian market for the MSP-focused security and backup vendor.

Previously a technical director of solutions engineering for Acronis, Nichols will move into a more sales and marketing role and take charge of all of the company’s efforts in Canada. Nichols said the company has been growing well in Canada in recent years but sees the opportunity to do more, as it has elevated Canada to the status of “focus country” within the company.

“We’re a very different market from the US, and I’ve been banging that drum for a while now,” Nichols said. “People within Acronis are paying attention to that. There’s lots of upside and lots of potential, and we’re putting some more investment into Canada to make our growth more strategic.”

Like many executives in new leadership roles, Nichols said his early-day goals involve listening and learning, building and strengthening Acronis’ relationships in the channel and with distributors, and getting a better sense of the Canadian channel’s wants and needs.

“This is a very tight-knit community, and I want to align with its leaders and understand their challenges,” he said.

At the same time, he’s building up the team in-country, looking to add five or six people to the Canadian roster in the next few months, with more to come if the new investments result in the desired growth. Nichols said it’s a priority to have account management resources in Canada, both for dual-language coverage and cultural reasons.

“Companies in Canada don’t like being told they’re small. A small business is a typical business here, and they are the engine that drives the economy,” Nichols said.

He’s also considering expanding the Canadian portion of Acronis’ company-wide “team up” program, which involves collaborating with an MSP and a sports organization to provide technology to raise Acronis’ profile. The company already has partnerships with the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers and local MSPs and reported interest in the Canadian MSP community in making “bigger deals and becoming more strategic.”

Another primary goal for Nichols is raising MSPs’ awareness of the various offerings Acronis brings to the market today. He said he still runs into MSPs who think of the company as a backup vendor but are unaware of its security and RMM offerings.

“We have three great pillars in backup and data recovery, security, and RMM,” Nichols said. “I think from a security point of view, we have a really complete solution for MSPs and IT professionals.”

He said the company is starting to see deals where security is the first win, instead of a land-and-expand deal powered initially by a backup solution. Acronis’s RMM solution is newer. It’s had pieces of an offering for some time but recently combined them into a single platform. However, RMM is an area where many MSPs have strong relationships.

“In the Canadian market, one of our biggest objectives is going to be to educate the market about the solution and the value we bring there,” Nichols said.

The other big thing Nichols wants to understand is the unknown unknowns. He thinks it’s important to talk to channel partners and find out what keeps them up at night and what Acronis can do to help them mitigate those challenges.

“I’m looking out for the next big thing, whether that’s the changing geopolitical environment, AI and how it’s impacting businesses and risk, or changes in regulation around security and data,” Nichols said.

Intel bumps up vRAN capacity, adds AI capabilities to Xeon 6 SOC 3 Mar 4:39 AM (last month)

Cristina Rodriguez, vice president and general manager for Intel’s communications solutions group

BARCELONA — Intel kicked off its presence at this year’s Mobile World Congress here by announcing the system-on-chip (SOC) version of its latest-generation Xeon 6 processors, offering mobile network operators a number of benefits over previous generations.

The Xeon 6 SOC adds greater vRAN capacity. It introduces onboard Ethernet controllers, media acceleration, and AI acceleration capabilities to the chipmaker’s high-end edge computing option, all part of a drive to make the case for a CPU-only model at the edge of operators’ networks.

The company touts Xeon 6 SOC as having more than twice the vRAN (virtualized radio access networks, the networking technology carriers use to connect mobile devices to their network) compared to previous generations. It gets an additional boost from the ability to optimize vRAN through AI. Add in a 70 percent improvement in performance per watt, and the chipmaker feels it’s making a compelling case for carriers regarding the total cost of ownership.

“It was very important to reduce the TCO by having the ability to scale all the way to 72 cores in a single rack,” said Cristina Rodriguez, vice president and general manager for Intel’s communications solutions group. “Before, where they needed two servers, now, they only need one. That’s a significant cost saving for them.”

At its booth here at MWC, the company is offering a series of demos that show off the new SOC and its benefits for media and AI applications. Xeon 6 SOC offers up to 14x the media transcoding capabilities of previous offerings, and the addition of AI acceleration sets up the new Xeons for various edge applications. A demo here shows a workplace AI-based inference system for monitoring compliance with workplace safety requirements, specifically whether staff wear required safety vests. The application runs entirely at the edge.

“From my point of view, when you’re at the edge, at the RAN, the type of things you want to do, you can do with the CPU, and keep the complexity and the cost down,” Rodriguez said.

The “keep it on the CPU” message is a key one for Intel, as it seeks to fortify against the mainstream AI strategy of throwing GPUs at AI-heavy applications. Rodriguez called the Xeon 6 SOC a “game-changer” for developing confidence among carriers in the company’s CPU-heavy approach to the edge.

Debunking the myths: Not all inkjet printers are created equally 3 Mar 4:35 AM (last month)

Think all inkjet printers are the same? Think again! We’re busting myths and revealing 5 must-know facts about Epson inkjet technology.

Hitachi Vantara, Cisco and Red Hat announce new co-engineered solution 28 Feb 5:15 AM (last month)

Hitachi Vantara has announced a new co-engineered solution with Cisco with Red Hat OpenShift, a co-engineered joint solution leading hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes, which combines Cisco’s compute and networking systems with Hitachi Vantara’s Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) arrays using Red Hat OpenShift container management tools.

Marcel Escorcio, VP Sales America’s International at Hitachi Vantara

Hitachi Vantara has announced a new co-engineered solution with Cisco designed for Red Hat OpenShift, a leading hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes. The Cisco and Hitachi Adaptive Solutions for Converged Infrastructure joint solution combines Cisco’s compute and networking systems with Hitachi Vantara’s Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) arrays using Red Hat OpenShift container management tools.

Cisco and Vantara have had previous relationships around the digital world and the start of digital transformation,” said Marcel Escorcio, VP Sales America’s International at Hitachi Vantara. “The digital world and the start of digital transformation have added to the number of applications for managing complexity and risk in aligning. Together they hold about 92% of the marketplace and we are in alignment with them. It’s the cherry on top of the cake.”

VSP1 provides platforms to manage these different workloads. Cisco provides best-in-class compute and networking, Hitachi Vantara delivers high-performance, resilient data management infrastructure platform, and Red Hat OpenShift ensures scalable, secure container orchestration. This partnership builds on existing relationships between the three companies but represents a new level of collaboration with a jointly validated, integrated solution specifically designed for hybrid cloud and containerized workloads. Hitachi Vantara and Cisco have a long-standing partnership in delivering converged infrastructure solutions, while the integration with Red Hat OpenShift brings a new cloud-native, containerized focus.

“DevOps and edge computing are pillars of growth, and key areas driving adoption,” Escorsio stated. “Reliability and scalability are important pillars of growth. Enterprises are increasingly adopting containerized applications to modernize IT infrastructure, yet they face operational complexity, scalability, security concerns, and sustainability challenges. A major hurdle is that traditional IT teams are not fully trained on Kubernetes and containerized infrastructure, creating a skills gap that slows adoption.

Escorsio noted that most customers get the need for these changes.

“They understand details, including how to connect the dots,” he said. “It’s not as simple as moving workloads. New customers do get the container side of things, however.”

The partnership combines Cisco’s compute and networking systems with Hitachi Vantara’s VSPs arrays using Red Hat OpenShift container management tools.

“It’s more of a net-new in itself,” Escorsio said. “We have always had a relationship with them. This makes it easier for both customers and the partner ecosystem.”

The integrated infrastructure solution helps enterprises gain a competitive edge by increasing agility and resilience while reducing energy consumption with AI-powered data orchestration.

“The application container market is expected to witness substantial growth, due to the rapid rise in AI-led digital transformation endeavors,” Escorsio indicated.

He also indicated that the impact will be significant for both companies.

“The significance of this is that it is creating a simplified GoToMarket that customers don’t have to build on their own,” Escorsio stated. “Data, scalabity and AI – all of these will be in everything. This will require simple stacks, and either we will assist customers to manage them or we will manage it for them. “Everyone wants more market share and this will help them all deepen their footprint and be a win-win for everyone. These are market and customer relevant solutions.

“The channel is heavily involved in this, Escorsio said, particularly where big customers with large operational deployments are involved. “We have put Hitachi Red  Hat and Cisco together as part of this channel approach.” Channel partners benefit from higher-margin opportunities by providing services around integration, AI-driven workload optimization, and ongoing management. It will also drive modernization for their customers.

The Hitachi and Cisco converged solution for Red Hat OpenShift offers several key benefits, including Accelerated Application Deployment, which provides pre-validated and certified infrastructure to help reduce time to production, enabling businesses to deploy applications faster and more efficiently. Its  unified platform for cloud operations also offers a more seamless experience across on-premises and cloud environments, reducing risk and enabling smoother workload mobility and rebalancing. Data resilience is facilitated by Hitachi Vantara VSP arrays that deliver continuous uptime with real-time monitoring.

“This marks a strategic shift toward Kubernetes and AI-driven automation, enabling customers to accelerate their hybrid cloud modernization efforts with a turnkey, enterprise-grade platform,” Escorsio concluded

Bitwarden expands MSP program to meet increases in demand 27 Feb 5:00 AM (last month)

Password and passkey management vendor Bitdefender has reacted to the high growth of their MSP business by expanding their partner program.

IPassword and passkey management vendor Bitdefender has reacted to the high growth of their MSP business by expanding their partner program. “I was hired in June 2021 to onboard MSPs within the program,” said Jon Mauer, Channel Sales Director at Bitwarden. “Recent growth rates have us at approximately 62,%” compared to an industry average of 12-14%. So we are definitely outpacing the industry average.” Before that, Mauer indicated that before their recent growth spurt, they had been a relatively small company.

Mauer explained in some detail why Bitwarden has been outpacing the industry.

“In the almost four years I have been here, I have seen a consistent commitment on the MSP side to providing the best service,” he said. “That includes flexible integrations with our technology stack, as well as a range of self-hosted options and cloud solutions.”

Bitwarden’s business model is based upon open source transparency, which is built on a zero-knowledge encryption model.

This model ensures that only users can access stored credentials, reinforcing privacy and security across MSP-managed environments.

‘With zero knowledge, all of that is encrypted before being in our vault,” Mauer said. “This is definitely an industry best practice. You can validate the code yourself and make sure we follow though. That’s different from our major competitors, in that we enable MSPs to independently verify security resilience, integrate seamlessly with existing workflows, and meet compliance mandates with confidence. Bitwarden ensures that only users can access stored credentials, reinforcing privacy and security across MSP-managed environments. Our mission is one where no one gets hacked. It  enables us to lead the pack because of our transparency  practices.”

Mauer said that Bitwarden’s business strategy covered the breadth of the market.

“We run the gamut from the one person shop to the longest tail of the market across all spectrums, he indicated.

“We have had more of a licensing model,” in which we “follow standard SaaS practices,” he noted.  “We sell to MSPs who sell to their customers. A company like Red Hat has been a good one for us to follow.  We launched our MSP program in August 2021. “Before that, our MSP program was basically a reseller program. Our MSP channel now makes up 4-5% of our business. It now has  robust feature sets tits  reseller and VAR based program.” The Bitwarden MSP partners have increased their total managed seats by 97% YoY and onboarded 62% more organizations, in a large and an increasingly growing part of Bitwarden.”

Bitwarden continues to introduce MSP-focused product updates and tools that improve security management, streamline operations, and enhance customer experiences. Bitwarden integrates with leading security, identity, and compliance platforms to enable MSPs to streamline authentication, monitor risks, and enforce security policies. These include identity providers (IdPs): Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Ping, OneLogin, and JumpCloud, They also include SIEM [Security Information and Event Management]  platforms Microsoft Sentinel and Splunk Cloud for real-time security monitoring, automated threat detection, and actionable risk insights. enabling MSPs to proactively enforce security policies across client organizations. For compliance automation, they work with Vanta, Rippling, and Rapid7 for policy enforcement and regulatory compliance, and streamlined security audits.

“These expanded MSP integrations are another tool in our toolbox,” Mauer stated.

MSPs can now provision, monitor, and manage multiple client organizations from a single dashboard with granular role-based controls and oversight, ensuring seamless client onboarding and security administration.

“This is an industry standard which goes beyond the dashboard,” he said. “We also provide flexible billing so we can meet them where they live. We give them access to the Bitwarden team and access to our  MDF.

Mauer also highlighted Bitwarden’s Partner of the Quarter program, which recognizes MSPs that drive business growth through client onboarding, training, and secure password management, reinforcing best practices and partner success within the MSP community.

“This way that we celebrate partners is a big deal,” Mauer commented. “This is because of the way we provide recognition. We provide simplified subscription and seat management, including strengthened security controls for end users, allowing MSPs to participate – or not – in credential management. We offer them the ability to do set up and licensing, with the customer deciding on the choice in a  fully managed consultant view.”

Mauer indicated that Bitwarden is the only player to  SCIM player to offer SCIM provisioning,” Mauer said. “Not every customer needs top tier. We also provide free NFR licenses after meeting customer seat thresholds.

“Before there was a 50 seat limit,” but it has been removed,” Mauer stated

Bitwarden has also strengthened its MSP team with a dedicated presence in Europe, ensuring localized expertise and support for partners across the region. This strategic growth allows Bitwarden to provide tailored guidance and deeper engagements to help partners succeed in their markets.

Four essential components of modern email security 26 Feb 11:34 AM (last month)

Olesia Klevchuk, product marketing director, Barracuda

Email remains the primary gateway for cybersecurity attacks. Cybercriminals constantly evolve, using sophisticated technology to launch phishing attacks, business email compromise (BEC), and other schemes designed to deceive employees and bypass traditional security measures.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that BEC scams in 2023 led to adjusted losses exceeding $2.9 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2022. These scams resulted in $4.57 billion in losses in 2023, marking a 38% increase from the previous year.

Traditional email security solutions focus on blocking threats before they reach users through malware scanners, spam filters, and other tools. However, attackers are now using social engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), and domain spoofing to circumvent these defenses. As threats get through, companies often must manage incidents manually, slowing response times and causing significant operational and financial damage.

A robust email security strategy must include prevention, detection, automated incident response, and authentication capabilities. Here, we outline the four essential elements of a modern, responsive email security solution that sets a new standard against contemporary threats.

1. Pre-delivery threat prevention and detection

The first line of defense is blocking malicious emails before they reach employees. Effective email security should combine traditional tools like secure email gateways (SEGs), spam filters, content filtering, and malware detection with advanced technologies such as sandboxing (to isolate suspicious emails) and AI-based phishing defense. These AI tools can identify anomalies in messages that traditional filters might miss. 

2. Post-delivery automated incident response

No matter how effective your protection is, some advanced threats may bypass initial defenses. When they do, organizations need tools to enhance cyber resilience. Advanced threat-hunting tools can uncover malicious messages that have already reached employees, providing insights into anomalies, attack scope, and affected users for a more efficient response.

Automated post-delivery solutions can isolate suspicious emails, notify users, and take additional remediation steps. Advanced systems offer further insights into threats, help track the spread of malicious emails, and note sender behavior patterns.

With automated threat detection and post-delivery remediation, admins can neutralize attacks in seconds without overburdening IT resources. They also gain access to advanced threat analysis reports, helping them understand emerging threats and how to counter them.

3. Email authentication 

Advanced phishing attacks combined with domain spoofing can be hard to detect with traditional email security and human analysis. 

Sender authentication tools, like DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance), provide enhanced security and visibility regarding domain usage. These tools help prevent domain spoofing by protecting email domains from unauthorized use and brand impersonation.

DMARC reporting tools offer several benefits beyond phishing protection:

• Ensure deliverability of outgoing emails and protect a brand’s reputation by reducing the likelihood of domain spoofing
• Provide visibility into who is sending emails on behalf of the organization, whether legitimately or fraudulently
• Prevent bad actors from exploiting legitimate domains while enhancing cybersecurity

DMARC has become a requirement for organizations that send over 5,000 emails through platforms such as Google and Yahoo. AI is also now being used to analyze email content based on regular activity within the company to help improve its algorithms.

Moreover, Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) solutions can further enhance protection against threats such as phishing scams, malware, and data breaches. By implementing ICES, organizations can better safeguard sensitive information and maintain the integrity of their email communications, ultimately fostering a more secure digital environment.

4. Flexible deployment methods

Flexible deployment options allow businesses to integrate email security seamlessly with their existing systems. Modern tools enable deployment with or without altering MX records or through API-based integration with platforms like Gmail and Microsoft Exchange. This flexibility allows organizations to adopt advanced security at their own pace, prioritizing protection while maintaining simplicity. It also enables companies to tailor their deployments based on business complexity, size, budget, and internal IT resources.

Given the evolving nature of email-based cybersecurity threats, traditional gateway-based approaches are no longer sufficient. Businesses need integrated solutions that combine prevention, detection, response, and authentication, deployable across organizations of any size or structure. The four key elements outlined above are critical for ensuring robust cyber hygiene and preventing disruptive, costly security breaches.

Olesia Klevchuk is Product Marketing Director for Barracuda.

Zoom reworks growth opportunities with new post-sales services 25 Feb 5:15 AM (last month)

Zoom has reworked the next generation of the Zoom Partner Program to create significant new business opportunities.

Nick Tidd, Head of Global Channel GTM at Zoom

Zoom has recently reworked their post-sales services to deliver differentiated world-class post-sales services in order to create new business opportunities. The original Zoom program was much more limited than the original one.

“I joined Zoom back in August, at a time when we were quite limited in our offerings,” said Nick Tidd, Head of Global Channel GTM at Zoom. “At that time, we were focused primarily on meetings. Things have changed and now the program is now a lot more robust, and has created much more opportunity for partners to scale and grow. Our initial channel strategy was quite limited at that time. That’s not a surprise, because it’s normal for a maturing company to build out as it moves forward.”

The new program, the Zoom Partner Program, now has three components as it continues its evolution.

The Zoom Up Services Program is one of the three programs, which unlocks partner revenue opportunities, provides specialized enablement and hands on training and unlocks partner revenue opportunities. This model is Reseller or Referral-based  and is part of the pre-existing model that existed before. Any Zoom Up Partner can continue to resell or refer Zoom-branded services.

The second component of the program is Partner Delivered Services, which unlocks partner revenue opportunities, provides specialized enablement and hands on training and unlocks partner revenue opportunities. This comprehensive program revolves around Zoom’s services and is specifically designed to empower partners to deliver differentiated world-class post-sales services spanning solution deployment, support, customer success, and managed services to serve customer needs across the Zoom platform. It provides partners with the ability to deliver differentiated world-class post-sales services spanning solution deployment, support, customer success, and managed services to serve customer needs across the Zoom platform.

The third component is the Certified Services program, in which partners are enabled to deliver their branded services to customers, endorsed by Zoom. This is available to all qualifying partner types contingent on the successful completion of the proper accreditations and training. Partners are also able to deliver differentiated and advanced post-sales services to customers in partnership with Zoom. This is available to Certified Partners who meet partner proficiency standards and capability, resource, scale and performance commitments.

“This is an important evolution of our services portfolio, and represents an important step from a largely direct model to a channel one, with managed services technical services and support,” Tidd stated. “These managed services are critical to serve customer needs across the Zoom platform.”

Tidd said that this much more complex program is specifically designed to empower partners to deliver differentiated world-class post-sales services spanning solution deployment, support, customer success, and managed services to serve customer needs across the Zoom platform. These differentiated post-sales services are specifically designed to be world-class. In Partner Delivered Programs, partners are enabled to deliver differentiated and advanced post-sales services to customers in partnership with Zoom. This is available to Partners who meet partner proficiency standards and capability, resource, scale and performance commitments.

This first phase of the services program is now live globally with early adopters, and its scope will be expanded following a phased roll-out throughout FY26.

This program will empower Zoom’s partners to scale their Zoom Services practice by unlocking new revenue streams, creating differentiation in the market, and allowing partners to deliver exceptional solutions and support to their customers.

The next evolution of the Zoom Up Partner Program with the introduction of the Zoom Up Services Program is specifically designed to empower partners to deliver differentiated world-class post-sales services spanning solution deployment, support, customer success, and managed services to serve customer needs across the Zoom platform. The first phase of the services program is now live globally with early adopters, and its scope will be expanded following a phased roll-out throughout FY26. With specialized enablement and hands on training, Zoom is enabling partners to unlock revenue growth opportunities, drive success at scale, and meet more customer demands.

This Program is critically important for delivering on Zoom’s mission of making it easy for partners to meet the needs of their customers by enabling the onboarding, deployment, and support of UCaas and CCaaS platform solutions on behalf of Zoom, to the highest standard possible.

“We’re delighted to be fully accredited to deliver Meetings, Phone and Contact Center services, on behalf of Zoom and our partners, becoming more partner-centric,” Tidd said.

“This new program marks a pivotal step in Zoom’s evolution of becoming a more partner-centric company,” Tidd added. “This underscores Zoom’s commitment to partners, and I look forward to our continued joint success. We’re delighted to be fully accredited to deliver Meetings, Phone and Contact Center services, on behalf of Zoom and our partners.”

This Program is critically important for delivering our mission of making it easy for partners to meet the needs of their customers by enabling the onboarding, deployment, and support of UCaas and CCaaS platform solutions on behalf of Zoom, to the highest standard possible. We’re delighted to be fully accredited to deliver Meetings, Phone and Contact Center services, on behalf of Zoom and our partners.”

“This new program marks a pivotal step in Zoom’s evolution of becoming a more partner-centric company,” Tidd noted. “This program will empower our partners to scale their Zoom Services practice by unlocking new revenue streams, creating differentiation in the market, and allowing partners to deliver exceptional solutions and support to their customers. This underscores Zoom’s commitment to partners, and I look forward to our continued joint success. We’re delighted to be fully accredited to deliver Meetings, Phone and Contact Center services, on behalf of Zoom and our partners.”

Certinia’s advanced partner program is designed to shape partner alliances and channel sales businesses 22 Feb 5:30 AM (last month)

Certinia runs a Services-as-a-Business platform that powers and connects all aspects of services operations, from services estimation and delivery to customer success management and financial planning and accounting. It does all this management through a single app and provides a modernized partner engagement experience to deepen synergies, foster stronger collaboration, offer simplicity, and provide progressively increase benefits and recognition to partners as they invest in their Certinia capabilities and initiatives.

The Certinia Partner Program deepens alignment and strengthens engagement with their critical partner ecosystem.

“It provides expanded opportunities for business growth,” said Greg O’Sullivan, Vice President, Global Partner Alliances & Channels at Certinia. “It also brings unique solutions to the marketplace that meets the needs of customers across segments, industries, and geographies.”

The enhanced partner program has been changed substantially.

“Before the program was improved, it was substantially enhanced,” O’Sullivan stated. Until 2023, the company was known as FinancialForce.com,  a software company headquartered in San Jose, California,  that provides enterprise resource planning software based on the Salesforce Platform.

“The program will provide partners with a greater level of clarity and understanding of where they fit into Certinia’s strategy,” O’Sullivan said. Partners will have clear guidelines for working together to support joint customers as one cohesive team with us.

“Our program will make it easier to do business with Certinia – particularly from a sales and marketing standpoint,” O’Sullivan noted.

The Certinia program provides considerable detail on the redesign of the program.

“When redoing our program, we went directly to our partners to learn what they valued most and how we can build on it together to drive unmatched business value to new customers and collaborate consistently and at scale,” O’Sullivan said. We also benchmarked our partnering constructs against best-in-class programs in the industry. We saw that we needed improved marketing support, updated partner training and certification offerings, sharing of project delivery guidelines and best practices, and solid go-to-market alignment.

“We’re also enhancing partner communications with more frequent updates on our latest messaging and solutions, providing regular live town halls with Certinia leaders, and expanding opportunities for business growth,” O’Sullivan said.

Certinia is also enhancing partner communications with more frequent updates on our latest messaging and solutions, regular live town halls with Certinia leaders, and expanded opportunities for business growth.

Next, our program will make it easier to do business with Certinia – particularly from a sales and marketing standpoint. introducing a modernized partner engagement experience that will deepen synergies, foster stronger collaboration, offer simplicity, and provide progressively increasing benefits and recognition to partners as they invest in their Certinia capabilities and initiatives.

First, it will provide partners with a greater level of clarity and understanding of where they fit into Certinia’s strategy

“We’re enhancing partner communications with more frequent updates on our latest messaging and solutions, providing regular live town halls with Certinia leaders, and expanded opportunities for business growth,” O’Sullivan said.

Next, their program will make it easier to do business with Certinia – particularly from a sales and marketing standpoint.

In addition, the Certinia Partner Program formalizes partners as a foundation of the company’s strategy.

“We will lean on these relationships and cultivate new ones to reach more services organizations across the globe,” O’Sullivan said.

Certinia Academy will equip partners with extensive resources to learn everything about their  products, from technical capabilities to business value, and earn Certinia Certifications for specific solutions and features.

Several partner forums will take place.

“Our Partner Hub will be a one-stop-shop for all marketing, enablement, and training content in one centralized location,” O’Sullivan stated. In addition, partners will benefit from a strong, ongoing relationship with Certinia’s sales teams and leadership, collaborating throughout the entire customer journey to drive long-term success. In addition, Certinia Academy will equip partners with extensive resources to learn everything about our products, from technical capabilities to business value, and earn Certinia Certifications for specific solutions and features. Moreover, the Partner Center of Excellence will offer partners templates, guidelines, and resources to ensure their project implementations are successful.

HPE unveils channel-only standalone virtualized infrastructure 21 Feb 5:46 AM (last month)

HPE VM Essentials represents a new market opportunity for both HPE and its channel partners to help customers navigate changes in their virtualization strategy

HPE appoints Simon Ewington to lead Worldwide Partner and Channel Ecosystem

Today, HPE is announcing a ‘channel-only’ sales motion for the standalone HPE VM Essentials Software. It contrasts with a direct model which is the more common type of hybrid cloud operating model, and which HPE has more commonly used in the past. This further extends HPE’s channel sales strategy where most of the company’s sales are through the channel.”

“The most exciting part of this is making the channel a standalone one only,” said Simon Ewington, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Channel & Partner Ecosystem at HPE. “This made its initial appearance at VMware ExploreHPE Discover Barcelona in November 2024, and was not announced at VMware Explore at November 2024, where Ewington said that it created considerable excitement. We provide customers with hypervisor choice and a gateway to a hybrid cloud operating model.”This made its initial appearance at VMware Explore at November 2024.

Ewington stressed that the industry is looking for choice, which is what makes this a very compelling offering, It is also approximately five times cheaper than alternatives.

“The market’s cost structure has pricing that is different from anything in the industry,” Ewington stated. “It is a new entry into the market with a very well rounded solution. The standalone HPE VM Essentials allows customers to manage VMs deployed across both existing VMware hypervisors and the HPE VM Essentials hypervisor (KVM based).

He also indicated that the HPE VM solution was also very different from the rest of the industry. He did not say anything about VMware Explore. That’s a separate conference put on by VMware. He was strictly speaking about the HPE VM Essentials solution.

“The main announcement that we made in Las Vegas was a private cloud with Nvidia,” Ewington said, “It was the announcement that I spent most of my time on. At that time, I didn’t talk about our focus on channel strategy or our Go Market GTM. Only here did we make Essentials channel only.”  It was all part of our strategy to expand our partner opportunities with a channel-only sales motion.”

Most of HPE VM Essentials software is direct and hybrid, and most also has a strong reputation for being a trusted vendor, who can provide choice to customers, with the flexibility of alternative virtualization solutions.

HPE VM Essentials also stands out from the market by the superior terms that it offers.

“One year is the more common in our industry, while three years tend to be more standard,” Ewington stated..

The support of HPE ProLiant Compute Gen11 and the newly announced Gen12 servers along with socket-based pricing for HPE VM Essentials, reduces cost increases in virtualization due to CPU core-based pricing and changes in product packaging, reduces total cost of ownership compared to the traditional industry pricing which has resulted in unplanned cost increases in virtualization due to CPU core-based pricing and changes in product packaging.”

Our support in the not too distant future is to be hardware agnostic here in supporting HPE platforms,”  Ewington said.

HPE VM Essentials Software has had a strong channel component in the past, and has for a long time, but now is led by a channel-only route-to-market strategy. Working with partners, we are leveraging existing relationships where customers can take advantage of existing investments, expand options with new hypervisor choices, and continue to reclaim control of their IT budgets.

“HPE has always built our strategy around being customer-first and partner-led so that delivering the best business outcomes for customers and partners means including the right people at the right moment for the best-fit solution,” Ewington stated.

HPE VM Essentials represents a new market opportunity for both HPE and its channel partners to help customers navigate changes in their virtualization strategy.

“We are expanding partner opportunities with a channel-only sales motion,” Ewington stressed. “ We offer a flat 10.5 percent rebate,– but that’s distracting, especially as many partners wrap their own services around them.”

• He also indicated that the HPE VM Essentials solution was also very different from the rest of the industry.”
  • Simon did not say anything about VMware Explore. That’s a conference put on by VMware, not a “solution”. He was strictly speaking about the HPE VM Essentials solution.

HPE unveils channel-only standalone virtualized infrastructure 21 Feb 5:45 AM (last month)

HPE has announced a ‘channel-only’ sales motion for the standalone HPE VM Essentials Software. It contrasts with a direct model which is the more common type of hybrid cloud operating model, and which HPE has more commonly used in the past.

Simon Ewington, Vice President, Worldwide Channel and Partner Ecosystem, HPE

Today, HPE is announcing a ‘channel-only’ sales motion for the standalone HPE VM Essentials Software. It contrasts with a direct model which is the more common type of hybrid cloud operating model, and which HPE has more commonly used in the past.

“The most exciting part of this is making the channel a standalone one only,” said Simon Ewington, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Channel & Partner Ecosystem at HPE. “This made its initial appearance at VMware Explore at November 2024, where Ewington said that it created considerable excitement. We provide customers with hypervisor choice and a gateway to a hybrid cloud operating model.”

Ewington stressed that the industry is looking for choice, which is what makes this a very compelling offering, It is also approximately five times cheaper than alternatives.

“The market’s cost structure has pricing that is different from anything in the industry,” Ewington stated. “It is a new entry into the market with a very well rounded solution. The standalone HPE VM Essentials allows customers to manage VMs deployed across both existing VMware hypervisors and the HPE VM Essentials hypervisor (KVM based).

He also indicated that the VMware Explore solution was also very different from the rest of the industry,

“The main announcement that we made in Las Vegas was a private cloud with Nvidia,” Ewington said, “It was the announcement that I spent most of my time on. At that time, I didn’t talk about our focus on channel strategy or our Go Market GTM. Only here did we make essentials channel only.”  It was all part of our strategy to expand our partner opportunities with a channel-only sales motion.”

Most of HPE VM Essentials software is direct and hybrid, and most also has a strong reputation for being a trusted vendor, who can provide choice to customers, with the flexibility of alternative virtualization solutions.

HPE VM Essentials also stands out from the market by the superior terms that it offers.

“One year is the more common in our industry, while three years tend to be more standard,” Ewington stated..

The support of HPE ProLiant Compute Gen11 and the newly announced Gen12 servers along with socket-based pricing for HPE VM Essentials  tends to lead to unplanned cost increases in virtualization due to CPU core-based pricing and changes in product packaging.

“Our support in the not too distant future is to be hardware agnostic here in supporting HPE platforms,”  Ewington said.

HPE VM Essentials Software has had a strong channel component in the past, and has for a long time, but now is led by a channel-only route-to-market strategy. Working with partners, we are leveraging existing relationships where customers can take advantage of existing investments, expand options with new hypervisor choices, and continue to reclaim control of their IT budgets.

“HPE has always built our strategy around being customer-first and partner-led so that delivering the best business outcomes for customers and partners means including the right people at the right moment for the best-fit solution,” Ewington stated.

HPE VM Essentials represents a new market opportunity for both HPE and its channel partners to help customers navigate changes in their virtualization strategy

“We are expanding partner opportunities with a channel-only sales motion,” Ewington stressed. “ We offer a flat 10.5 percent rebate,– but that’s distracting, especially as many partners wrap their own services around them.”

1Password Enterprise Password Manager,  expands the reach of 1Password’s identity security solutions by thousands, greatly growing their managed services capabilities 21 Feb 5:40 AM (last month)

1Password Enterprise Password Manager  expands the reach of 1Password’s identity security solutions by thousands, greatly growing their managed services capabilities.

1Password, which makes one of the most extremely widely used enterprise password managers in the business, has come out with 1Password Enterprise Password Manager – MSP Edition, It is designed to help MSPs to strengthen client security posture and productivity and represents a key tool of modern MSPs.

Toronto-headquartered identity security vendor 1Password, which makes one of the most extremely widely used enterprise password manager in the business, has launched 1Password Enterprise Password Manager – MSP Edition, It is designed to help MSPs to strengthen client security posture and productivity while ensuring operational efficiency and increasing profitability. While 1Password has been in business since 2005, they have spent most of their  history as a consumer password management application. This changed in 2018, when the company started their first password management solution. and it works in harmony with some well-known identity management solutions rather than as a competitor to them. These include Integrations with Identity Providers (IdPs) like Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, and JumpCloud, as well as security information and event management (SIEM) tools like Microsoft Sentinel.

“1Password Enterprise Password Manager – MSP Edition has become an essential tool for modern MSPs,” said Jason Eberhardt, VP of Global MSP Channel at 1Password. “With features that are tailored to MSPs’ unique needs, this comprehensive solution strengthens client security posture, particularly when combined with the rise of work-from-anywhere models and heightened regulatory requirements, solutions like 1Password Enterprise Password Manager – MSP Edition has become an essential tool for modern MSPs.

Security tools 1Password is the only password manager offering dual-key encryption—a combination of an account password and machine-generated Secret Key—to ensure data remains secure, even in the  event of a breach. Additional safeguards like enhanced MFA and Secure Remote Password (SRP) further prevent unauthorized access. In addition, a centralized MSP console provides multi-tenant management, enabling MSPs to effortlessly configure new or link existing 1Password clients, monitor usage, and customize security policies.

Many MSPs are expanding their managed security services capabilities, helping SMBs, who often lack the resources to manage routine security operations like credential management who are among the most vulnerable to today’s advanced attacks. The global managed security services market is projected to grow at an 11.6% CAGR, reaching $68.3 billion by 2028, according to IDC.

“By integrating robust identity security solutions into their portfolios, MSPs are able to both mitigate risks and also enhance their value as strategic cybersecurity partners,” Eberhart said.

1Password Enterprise Password Manager – MSP Edition has multiple security features. These include flexible consumption-based billing, billed in arrears, no license minimums, an aggregated view of client usage, and streamlined invoicing,

1Password Enterprise Password Manager – MSP Edition is now generally available

“Thousands of these are currently in beta,” Eberhardt stated.

Simbian embarks on aggressive new channel strategy with new head of partnerships 19 Feb 6:15 AM (last month)

Norman Currie takes over as leadership of both the Channel and Technical Services organization.

Ambuj Kumar, CEO of Simbian

Simbian, a startup focused on AI-based security, has named a new channel leader who will follow an aggressive new strategy that will work as an aggressive force multiplier and make Simbian the go-to AI agent technology platform for partnerships and alliances across the security landscape.  Norman Currie is Simbian’s new Head of Partnerships, who is in charge of both the Channel and Technical Alliances organizations. He joined the Simbian leadership team earlier this month after over two decades in cybersecurity. The name – actually Simbian AI – is a somewhat suggestive play on security. The areas it covers include threat hunting and government, as well as a suite of aging products, include SOC Agent and GRC.

Ambuj Kumar is both CEO and Simbian’s co-founder.

“We are a new startup that launched pre-RSA, and our leadership includes former Microsoft, Meta and IBM executives,” Currie said. He himself has an extensive background at McAfee.

After launching their channel program last year, Simbian has signed strategic relationships with various partners across the globe. Today they are 100 percent partner driven, with all Simbian products sold through one of their partners which include more than a dozen MSSPs. Their VAR, MDR, MSSP, and Service Provider/System Integration partners work as their force multipliers in bringing the best of AI SOC to their customers. Security is going through a seismic change and there is strong awareness and demand for AI-based security due to the global talent shortage. He led the inception and growth of managed security services at Accuvant (OPTIV), and spearheaded global CX and service organizations at firms like Binary Defense, Hunters, Expel and ZeroFox.

“Simbian is modeling their business around a program that considers each type of focus partner’s unique needs and, most importantly, those needs of the end customer,” Currie said. Their partners will have effective technology in their portfolio that delivers results with a global team committed to them and their customers’ success.” Currie has played pivotal roles in scaling businesses, fostering high-value alliances, and optimizing both partner and customer experiences. He has successfully led multi-million-dollar initiatives, including global leadership for channel enablement and presales for the MSSP/SI/SP/OEM routes to market at McAfee, growing revenue from $15M to over $200M. He also led the inception and growth of managed security services at Accuvant (OPTIV), and spearheaded global CX and service organizations at industry-leading firms like Binary Defense, Hunters, Expel and ZeroFox.

Currie explained the differentiation between Simbian’s AI and the more general use of the concept.

“AI is used generally in tools like CoPilot and is designed to let you build much faster workflows and accomplish things much more quickly,” Currie stated. “I came here because they build autonomous agents that continue to do the work themselves. Very few work with truly autonomous AI without having to build models on their own. We also have technology alliances who deal with companies who want AI by partnering.  Our  goal is to be channel-first and channel-led in most cases.”

Today, Simbian’s  channel is relatively small, but is rapidly growing, and they do have plans to expand it.

“As we go to market, a big part of the first 90 days will be accelerating the route to market,” Currie said. “While we have between 10 to 15 partners today, we are in conversations with a lot more than that.

“In Canada, we have a been in discussions with a couple of potential partners today, although we have nothing in place yet,” he added.

LastPass empowers channel partners with major partner program updates coming this week 19 Feb 5:30 AM (last month)

LastPass is launching a major redo of its partner program, which updates and simplifies processes, provide more robust tools, and deliver clear benefits to partners.

Jessica Couto, VP of Global Channel & Alliances at LastPass

Security firm LastPass, the product of a recent amalgamation with LogMeIn, is announcing significant changes coming to the partner program which provides password and identity management to their customers.  The changes are designed to streamline processes and create new revenue opportunities for partners. They are also intended to enhance their security offerings, strengthen customer relationships, and make it easier for customers to sell LastPass solutions. password and identity management to their customers.

The new partner program represents a major upgrade over the past.

“The previous regime was heavily tiered and reseller focused,” said Jessica Couto, VP of Global Channel & Alliances at LastPass. “Now the focus is more on the MSPs, although the new program is really a blend of both.”

The new program includes MSPs, resellers, distributors, Technology Alliance Partners, and Cloud Marketplaces,” she stated. “We also have added resellers focused on new verticals like health care  while others reach out to the security side.”

“Distis are great because they work with multiple types of partners, so give a better experience overall,” she said.

While the partner base here is not exclusively SMB, SMBs are still a significant portion of it.

“We are tailored to work with every partner type, and are certainly adaptable to SMBs,” Couto said. “We are heavily focused on MSPs who work this market. We also sell some into the higher market, where the partner can integrate us into their technology.”

These changes to the program update and simplify processes, provide more robust tools, and deliver clear benefits.

“A lot of these things have become table stakes, and are things that partners expect going forward,” Couto indicated. “Recurring revenue and renewals are important,  so we increased the margin that we make available to partners. We also enhanced our administrative tool. It gives customers an executive summary of what the partners does for them, which has significant value. In addition, every partner has the right  to five free family licenses.”

The new partner program features optimized partner pillars with clear and enforceable benefits, as well as standardized discounts at deal registration, and seamless integration with the new Partner Portal.

“The goal is to ensure a consistent and transparent experience for partners across all tiers,” Couto said.“In addition to the standardized discounts, a key objective is providing feedback that illustrates to partners that you heard them. We want to make sure that we are  easy to work with. We also want to make sure that partners are able to focus on what they want, and to provide them with more margin and money to do so.”

Couto emphasized that LastPass is here to work with all types of partners, and they are open to collaboration,

“Partners will be happy to see how we go to market,” she said.

The new program also provides an Improved MSP Admin Experience: Enhanced reporting capabilities help streamline invoices, supports prorated billing, and enables MSPs to generate executive summary reports, showcasing product adoption, security scores, and ROI to client stakeholders. Significant changes have also been made to the partner portal, which is new. It is a one-stop hub for training, support, marketing resources, case management, benefit tracking, and attainment.

“We took feedback from the portal to the portal we had before,” Couto said. “We found that we needed to invest, so we invested in a brand new portal, because the old one provided information that was out of date before. Now of course we are also a security company, which meant that we had to look at how do we position ourselves since we were a security company before.”

The launch of this enhanced Partner Program comes at a time when the demand for managed security services is on the rise. According to a January 2025 study conducted by analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), 77% of small businesses plan to increase their use of managed service providers over the next 12-24 months, with 59% specifically seeking third-party providers for cloud security.