Channel faces 'brave new world'

Cloud computing, open source, software-as-a-service and other fast-growing technology solutions offer opportunities for IT companies able to adapt to a “brave new world,” attendees at CompTIA Breakaway in Las Vegas were told this week, reports Your-Story.

“There is a different role (for channel companies) to play in a world where we have so many virtual delivery models,” said Stephen Cho, director, Google Apps Channels. “There's a lot more opportunities available around the distribution of virtual assets delivered over the network.”

Cho's remarks came during the Breakaway keynote address where he was joined on the panel by Roger Egan, vice-president of North American channels, Red Hat, and Kerry McDonough, director of small business sales/channels for Cisco Systems. All three executives said there is a significant role for channel partners in the changing environment.

CCI Distribution has taken the wraps off its new B2B division as it looks to increase its focus on the business market, according to Channel Web.

The distributor's Professional Storage division is aimed at system integrators and resellers, and is opening with 14 new staff members consisting of sales, support, products and quality assurance teams.

Split between its Harrogate headquarters and integration centre in Knaresborough, the division will embrace the distributor's new vertical approach to the market.

Dell confirms that Dell's channel partners will be able to resell the data centre solutions planned by Dell and Brocade, states Channel Insider.

Dell is the most recent technology hardware vendor to partner with Brocade in an effort to compete with Cisco's Unified Computing data centre initiative.

A Dell spokeswoman confirmed the channel partner play that follows the OEM deals with Brocade, Scalent and VMware, announced at the VMworld event in San Francisco.