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• Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN)

  Oracle PartnerNetwork, also known as OPN, is a channel partner program that provides resources and benefits for value-added resellers, independent software vendors and other businesses that want to collaborate with Oracle. Continue Reading

• Cloud migration services offer a foothold for channel business

  Your customers' cloud migrations can be fraught with challenges. This guide offers insight into developing business practices to help clients through complex migration processes. Continue Reading

• Dell and EMC merger poses a challenging transformation

  The Dell and EMC merger presents a multitude of opportunities for market domination -- if the integrated companies can modernize a highly complex portfolio. Continue Reading

• Paths for starting a big data service business

  The big data market has grown into a potentially lucrative opportunity for the channel. This guide offers insight into core technologies and tips for providing services. Continue Reading

• Gamification techniques for your financial services clients

  Here are three tips for channel companies looking to help financial services and insurance clients adopt gamification as part of their overarching digital business strategies. Continue Reading

• Definitions to Get Started

  • request for proposal (RFP)
  • TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number)
  • Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)
  • go-to-market strategy (GTM strategy)

  • service-level agreement (SLA)
  • hardware-as-a-service (in managed services)
  • managed service provider (MSP)
  • distribution channel

  View All Definitions

• vertical market

  A vertical market is a particular industry or group of enterprises in which similar products or services are developed and marketed using similar methods (and to whom goods and services can be sold).Continue Reading

• Artificial intelligence market: Weighing the IT channel's role

  Is artificial intelligence the next big channel opportunity? The hype around AI is definitely increasing, but experts aren't yet sure where partners will fit into the market.Continue Reading

• authorized service provider (ASP)

  An authorized service provider (ASP) is an organization that a product manufacturer has deemed qualified to service products covered under the manufacturer's warranty.Continue Reading

• How to get started in cloud service company transitions

  The cloud computing business offers the potential for revenue growth, but channel partners will need to gear up to address a difficult business model transition.Continue Reading

• Cybersecurity strategies: Best-of-breed or integrated security suites?

  The cybersecurity discussion about best-of-breed point products vs. integrated security architectures is one of many enduring tech debates; this handbook aims to frame the dialogue.Continue Reading

• Cisco DNA: How should partners deploy it?

  Channel partner companies should introduce Cisco DNA to customers on a step-by-step basis, according to the company.Continue Reading

• Recruitment techniques for IT channel companies

  Channel firms must rethink their recruitment techniques to win in today's competitive job market. Get tips for updating your channel recruitment strategy and retaining talent.Continue Reading

• Software-defined storage solutions: A channel primer

  Channel companies have an opportunity to help their customers deploy emerging software-defined storage technology, a pursuit that may also boost a partner's consulting revenue.Continue Reading

• How to protect your clients from ransomware infections

  Client education, advanced endpoint protection and image-based backups are some of the steps channel partners can encourage customers to take to thwart ransomware.Continue Reading

• MSP marketing: Learn the fishing and farming methods

  Many technical-savvy MSPs will readily admit that marketing is not their company's strong suit. At the MSPWorld 2017 conference, held this week in New Orleans, marketing expert Angela Leavitt aimed ...Continue Reading

• share of wallet (SOW) or wallet share

  Share of wallet (SOW) is a marketing metric used to calculate the percentage of a customer's spending for a type of product or service that goes to a particular company.Continue Reading

• IoT managed services: How channel partners can get started in 2017

  Channel partners can capture a slice of the growing IoT managed services market if they can overcome the steep learning curve.Continue Reading

• Cloud vendor management services see demand from SMBs

  Cloud vendor management poses a difficult set of challenges for SMB customers, opening up opportunities for channel partners to act as liaisons.Continue Reading

• How to sell your services in the public sector market

  The government sector is a large vertical for channel partners, but companies targeting this market need to know what they are doing, writes Tony Stirk, president of Iron Horse.Continue Reading

• IBM cognitive computing: Tips for starting a channel practice

  At IBM's latest partner conference, platinum-level IBM Business Partners Perficient and Mark III shared the routes they took to build cognitive computing practices.Continue Reading

• Channel company quiz: Recap partner program and alliance news

  This month's channel quiz features mergers and alliances (and their partner fallout) along with emerging technologies, cloud computing and regulatory activity.Continue Reading

• Amazon Chime: Channel execs see potential, room for improvement

  Channel partners said Amazon's new Chime unified communications offering has the potential to disrupt the market, but may need additional features to boost its competitive stance.Continue Reading

• Web data extraction: Custom, commercial offerings ease the task

  The task of pulling structured data from the highly unstructured web is getting easier thanks to machine learning and the emergence of custom and commercial extraction tools.Continue Reading

• Marketing strategy development: Partners ply social, traditional ways

  Channel partners say they will use social media platforms and traditional marketing methods, such as trade shows and speaking engagements, as they roll out strategies in 2017.Continue Reading

• Oracle cloud partner program aims to boost vendor's cloud sales

  Oracle's year-old cloud partner program has certified some 2,000 resellers as the company looks to bolster its cloud business and catch up with rivals.Continue Reading

• Video game industry: A hyper-converged infrastructure market

  InData, a virtual and physical IT infrastructure partner, has discovered a hyper-converged infrastructure market in the video game industry.Continue Reading

• HIPAA business associates can expect more penalties ahead

  HIPAA business associates can expect more compliance penalties in 2017. MSPs should take steps to ensure they are meeting the requirements.Continue Reading

• Partners: Citrix hyper-converged tech opens VDI to midrange clients

  The Citrix Ready HCI Workspace Appliance Program, coupled with the company's Citrix Cloud, will open VDI opportunities among midmarket customers, Citrix channel partners said.Continue Reading

• Channel: Cost, speed among benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure

  Channel partners active in hyper-converged infrastructure see an expanding set of use cases, although mission-critical applications may lag behind other HCI candidates.Continue Reading

• IT solution

  An information technology (IT) solution is a set of related software programs and/or services that are sold as a single package.Continue Reading

• NLP technology inspires customer interaction projects in key verticals

  Natural language processing is opening opportunities in customer service, but channel companies must understand the technology's architecture and build alliances to succeed.Continue Reading

• Quiz: Recap vendors' 2016 channel partnering moves, restructuring

  Vendor realignment, consolidation and restructuring made news in 2016. This quiz covers the highlights of the larger IT providers and their impact on the channel.Continue Reading

• IoT business opportunity in 2017: Are channel partners ready?

  As channel partners mull over business moves for the upcoming year, many executives may consider IoT as a potential play -- and for good reason. "There is so much demand for IoT within SMBs [small ...Continue Reading

• cloud services

  Cloud services is an umbrella term that may refer to a variety of resources provided over the internet, or to professional services that support the deployment of such cloud-based resources.Continue Reading

• Machine learning projects fuel new lines of channel business

  Machine learning projects are creating a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' for partners. Get ready with the right range of skills and experience to take part.Continue Reading

• Blockchain technology, applications spark channel opportunities

  As more enterprises consider blockchain technology, IT services firms and consultancies have an opportunity to discuss adoption strategy and deployment options with their clients.Continue Reading

• RPA technology is ready to change how companies manage operations

  RPA tools are poised to spread their influence in the enterprise as cognitive automation finds its way into back-office, front-office and rule-driven IT operations.Continue Reading

• Channel events listings for 2017

  When making 2017 travel plans, refer to this list of channel events -- including conferences hosted by IT vendors, distributors, industry organizations and vendors that cater exclusively to VARs and MSPs.Continue Reading

• Managed mobility services market: Complexity fuels channel growth

  The complex nature of enterprise mobility opens service opportunities for channel companies, but also makes for a challenging and competitive environment.Continue Reading

• SD-WAN: Providers could see strong growth, but face hurdles

  The SD-WAN market beckons with high-growth potential, but channel partners must confront incomplete feature sets, training requirements and market consolidation.Continue Reading

• Tips to align cloud computing strategies with clients' business goals

  Many organizations remain puzzled about how cloud computing should integrate with their overall business objectives, creating an opportunity for cloud providers to step in and help.Continue Reading

• Requirements for HIPAA compliance: The key channel partner challenges

  Customers with HIPAA obligations raise pressing issues for the channel partner. Austin Justice, vice president at Justice IT Consulting, describes the top challenges.Continue Reading

• The financial vertical: Big investments yield big prospects for MSPs

  Financial vertical specialization is a potentially rewarding pursuit for managed services providers willing to make the investment.Continue Reading

• The latest on IT channel partner strategies and programs

  This month's channel news quiz covers developments in channel partner strategies and programs, cloud computing, technologies affecting the channel and service provider business strategy.Continue Reading

• MSP ticketing system: Autotask's new UI draws round of applause

  Autotask's new ticketing system user interface ranked among the top developments at the company's annual partner conference. Channel companies tell why.Continue Reading

• IT documentation as vital as backups for MSPs

  IT documentation, explored recently in contributor Esther Shein's feature, has proven to be a vital yet sometimes neglected aspect of running a managed services business. For Jonathan Broyles, ...Continue Reading

• Channel partnerships: How to form alliances with peers

  Strategic alliances with your channel peers could be the key to expanding your business. However, it takes more than a handshake to create a successful partnership.Continue Reading

• Ask the expert: How to navigate a law firm's IT committee

  Pitching your services to a law firm's IT committee can be challenging, but there are ways to get your message across, according to Andrew Harrover of Matrix Computer Consulting.Continue Reading

• Salesforce telehealth system lets channel add real-time video, audio

  Salesforce's telehealth tool, built on top of its Health Cloud platform, offers partners the ability to add real-time video and audio to their healthcare vertical offerings.Continue Reading

• Take this quiz to catch up on IT partnership news

  This month's channel news quiz takes a look at a range of topics, including cybersecurity, cloud computing, distribution, partner conferences and the copier market.Continue Reading

• MSP documentation: Why it's essential to scaling your business

  In the past, IT service managers might have gotten away with storing important info in their brains; today, having solid MSP documentation is essential to growing your business.Continue Reading

• What does the role of CDO mean for channel companies?

  Chief digital officers may hold the keys to many of your customers' decisions, and, just as importantly, to your own company's evolution.Continue Reading

• IT security assessment services: The M&A angle

  IT security assessment services may find a new niche in merger and acquisitions as buyers look into the cybersecurity postures of M&A targets.Continue Reading

• IT security strategy: Help clients build these three pillars

  User education, access management and data backup are the three pillars of a sound security strategy that partners should build and reinforce for their customers.Continue Reading

• Cloud verticalization: How to tailor offerings to an industry

  Experts share insight into cloud verticalization, a process for adapting cloud offerings to an industry's unique IT requirements and business problems.Continue Reading

• Monetizing data: In search of the virtuous circle

  Channel partners can help customers monetize their data. Read on for insight into the distinct data monetization paradigms that can help them get started.Continue Reading

• State procurement model reform a boon for channel partners

  As state CIOs modernize their approach to IT procurement, channel partners may discover unprecedented bidding opportunities.Continue Reading

• Cloud services: Market opportunity bypasses many channel companies

  While the cloud reaches critical mass among customers of all sizes, many partners don't offer cloud services or have yet to make cloud services a major revenue contributor.Continue Reading

• Niche apps: Channel companies benefit from specialty software

  Niche applications aren't just for consumers: Channel partners are leveraging specialized software to tackle a range of challenges in fields from AI to EDI.Continue Reading

• Partner-to-partner: Teaming with peers to grow a channel business

  Partner-to-partner collaboration can help channel companies deliver more complex offerings and address customers' pressing business problems, according to Tiffani Bova.Continue Reading

• Software robots: Enterprises ask for RPA technology on new services contracts

  Robotic process automation is making its way into new outsourcing contracts and playing a role in reinvigorating existing deals, according to industry executives.Continue Reading

• HIPAA compliance services a double-edged sword

  Before MSPs take on HIPAA compliance work, experts advise they understand the regulatory framework they're subject under, obtain certifications and mitigate the risks.Continue Reading

• Remote monitoring and management tools: Some assembly required

  Managed service providers use custom integration to unify monitoring tools in a bid to simplify what otherwise could become out-of-control automation.Continue Reading

• Building a partnership: How to link up with other service providers

  Partnering with your fellow IT service providers can help expand the services you offer clients without incurring the cost of hiring and retaining talent.Continue Reading

• Partner portals aim to strengthen vendor-channel relationships

  Technology vendors are launching or reworking channel program portals, offering partners the ability to register deals, receive training and obtain marketing materials online.Continue Reading

• Microsoft WPC 2016: A quizzical recap of the channel partner event

  This month's channel news quiz focuses on the recent Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, which highlighted cloud opportunities for the company's channel partners.Continue Reading

• Workspace as a service offers channel partners DaaS alternative

  Channel executives contend workspace as a service offers the ability to support BYOD environments and provides a less jarring shift to the cloud than desktop as a service.Continue Reading

• IT RFP: How to influence the bid as a channel partner

  Channel partners may find the formal RFP process challenging, but they can influence the bid in advance -- and boost their chances for success -- through digital marketing.Continue Reading

• MSP security portfolios: How to offer security awareness training

  Expand your MSP security portfolio by offering security awareness training, an important layer to clients' overall security initiatives.Continue Reading

• IT services providers: Quiz yourself on tech and channel trends

  This month's channel news quiz runs the gamut from mergers and acquisitions to managed security services. Take the test to catch up on current events.Continue Reading

• IT hardware sales endure as channel partner business

  Industry executives say hardware remains a key part of a channel partner's business mix, even with the rise of monthly recurring revenue from service sales.Continue Reading

• Software defined networking projects: Channel can expect more work

  SDN projects are hindered by complexity and a lack of client skills, but those factors could also help channel partners land consulting gigs with customers seeking expertise.Continue Reading

• Channel: Lack of cloud governance framework complicates adoption story

  MSPs and IT service providers say some customers lack a coherent strategy, while others face EBITDA challenges as they grapple with cloud adoption.Continue Reading

• Managed IT security services firms resell cloud-based offerings

  Managed service providers are reselling security as a service offerings from third-party providers to expand their service portfolios in the IT security arena.Continue Reading

• IT security service provider taps Kaseya to deliver cloud offerings

  Internet & Telephone, a managed service provider, is offering its customers cloud-based IT security services through Kaseya's IT management platform tech.Continue Reading

• Cloud-based security helps channel partners cut client costs

  Channel partners are helping their customers adopt security in the cloud, which executives say provides cost-effective protection compared with on-premises technology.Continue Reading

• K-12 market: Channel takes on networking, storage, security projects

  Students are heading for vacation, but K-12 sector projects in networking, storage and security are getting underway for channel partners with an education focus.Continue Reading

• Startup tech companies seek savvy channel partners

  Early-stage companies participating in the 2016 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium's Innovation Showcase are pursuing relations with channel partners that can incorporate their products into broader offerings.Continue Reading

• Channel partner programs: Quiz yourself on new developments

  This installment of the channel news quiz covers developments in partner programs, recent conferences, data center technology and robotic process automation.Continue Reading

• Software robots transforming IT services industry

  IT service providers, particularly large, global outsourcing firms, are helping customers deploy robotic process automation and also using the technology internally.Continue Reading

• RPA software: Service firms automate customers, themselves

  IT service providers pursue differing robotic process automation projects, while navigating the technology's cognitive developments and labor considerations.Continue Reading

• IT security market: The cost of building a cybersecurity practice

  Expanding into IT security services can be a costly endeavor for channel firms, requiring investment in new processes, talent and partnerships.Continue Reading

• Disaster recovery certification: Must have or nice to have?

  Channel partners have a number of options for disaster recovery training and certification, but some execs see greater value in certifying in specific DR technologies.Continue Reading

• Role of distribution changes with accent on services

  Distributors are offering channel partners an expanding range of services, including network assessment, managed services, hosted offerings and IT asset disposition.Continue Reading

• Vology's transition toward an integrator business model

  Vology has used a combination of acquisitions and organic growth as it transitions from a product-oriented approach to an IT services provider business model.Continue Reading

• IT industry certifications boost morale, grow partner revenue

  IT services companies that follow an industry certification plan can create a positive work environment and offer clients a greater number of valuable services, writes Amy Kardel.Continue Reading

• Channel business model: Transition time for IT partners

  Partners may pursue a number of business model transitions over the course of their business lives, including resell to services, services to managed services and MSP to cloud.Continue Reading

• 'Compliance as a service': How to stay out of hot water

  Before leaping into IT compliance services, MSPs must make sure they're following best practices. Some mistakes could potentially cost them their businesses.Continue Reading

• Cloud marketplaces: Can channel partners make money?

  Channel partners can take advantage of many cloud marketplace options as part of their go-to-market strategies. Here's what you need to know to get started.Continue Reading

• Current on cloud and managed services? Take the quiz

  There's always a lot happening in the cloud and managed services sector. Take this new quiz to see if you're up to speed on the latest regulatory, vendor relations and market development trends.Continue Reading

• Channel marketing plan a must for partners

  A well-honed marketing plan provides insight into who your customers are, what they need and how you can help them with what you know and what you sell, Jennifer Anaya writes.Continue Reading

• Channel partner marketing: Offloading the work to specialists

  Channel partners, who have long bemoaned the challenges of marketing themselves, turn to outside specialists for help optimizing their website design and content.Continue Reading

• Five MSP marketing tactics to boost growth

  Scott Lindars, a former Citrix senior alliance marketing manager and now director of technology markets at Merit Mile, an interactive agency in Boca Raton, Fla., outlined MSP marketing tactics at ...Continue Reading

• application rationalization (AR)

  Application rationalization is the process of identifying which business applications should be kept, replaced, retired or consolidated across an organization to improve business operations.Continue Reading

• Moving clients to a hybrid cloud model

  Businesses increasingly see the value of moving to a hybrid cloud model, with more flexibility, scalability and data deployment options being just a few of the potential benefits. However, hybrid cloud environments can pose technical, organizational...Continue Reading

• BPM platforms unlock channel partner opportunities

  Channel partners say business process management offers greater opportunity today in light of lower BPM platform costs and increased awareness of what the tools can accomplish.Continue Reading

• Retail health clinics set to emerge as channel partner market

  Healthcare-oriented channel partners should keep tabs on the emerging retail health clinic space, which could harbor systems integration and consulting opportunities.Continue Reading

• IT migration case study: Partner helps downsize data center

  HighVail, an IT consulting and professional services firm, helped Empire Life downsize its data center, migrate business applications and create a new disaster recovery site.Continue Reading

• Marketing on the cheap: Pointers for channel partners

  Channel partners can minimize their marketing expenditures by focusing on their existing customers, according to author Joseph Jaffe.Continue Reading

• Hammering out an MSP sales and marketing plan

  Chances are you didn't get into managed services because of a passion for sales and marketing. Unfortunately, if your goal is to scale up your managed service provider, or MSP, business, you're going to need much more than customer referrals to ...Continue Reading