Brian Sherman Posts

A virtual CIO needs to understand technology plus all of its data protection and management options—and whether they know it or not, many solution providers fit that bill. Learn what preparation and skills it takes to be the ultimate virtual CIO for your clients.

There’s no room for complacency when it comes to commoditization, but most channel companies aren’t built to win a pricing war. The best alternative is to know your company’s priorities, add services and expertise where you can, and stay focused on your goals. Fair-weather plans will leave you scrambling for an identity, and you don’t want to end up like Radio Shack.

Wearable technologies — while interesting and sometimes intriguing — might not seem like the right fit for your business, but because of competition and the continued commoditization of this type of technology, there’s no better time to explore viable and profitable solutions in this space.

Business transformation is essential to success, so if your next business transformation isn’t already underway, it’s time to get started. Bring the team together, do some market and industry research and get the plan together ASAP. Your company’s future depends on it. Read more.

Managed services and proactive selling have helped solution providers address pricing issues in the past, but the commoditization of cloud solutions and hardware is fueling new pricing talks. While most channel professionals know that competing head-to-head with big companies offering “freemium” options is a losing proposition, there are ways to help your clients understand the long-term implications of these services — and whether they carry real value or not.

Why should you care about CES, with its focus on consumer electronics destined for brick-and-mortar retail and online sales? Because ignoring consumer electronics today means you’re ignoring the wants and needs of your business customers as well.

Most people have little concern with new location devices and cameras used to track data, but what happens when private companies not only access the data, but sell it to others? Channel companies offering surveillance and public safety need to be open and honest about what their systems can and can’t do, and start considering a variety of ethical issues.

Cyberattacks are a good way to spook your customers, but sensationalizing security concerns will only reap short-term benefits. Successful solution providers will instead offer real world examples of existing threats without overhyping a customer’s potential exposure, and use tools like CompTIA’s IT Security Assessment Wizard to create a comprehensive outline of a customer’s true needs.

How customers utilize your products or services is crucial to your success, and user experience was a prevailing topic with several speakers and in many round table discussions at the recent ITSS Community meeting in Philadelphia. Experts offered firsthand accounts of how some rather large organizations are adopting and implementing the latest technologies, and each presenter addressed a number of the concerns and problems their management and tech teams experienced along the way.

With so many new IT services companies “born in the cloud,” will IT distributors be able to provide enough value to recruit those providers to their partner programs? Yes, in fact, and some providers and vendors believe their position has never been stronger. While many industry experts suggested in the past that the cloud and managed would be the death knell for distributors, most VADs are reporting record sales and partnership numbers.