2
March/April 2014
www.techdata.ca
www.techdata.ca
March/April 2014
3
7 13
15
Comments, suggestions? Tell us what you think! jillian.cahill@techdata.ca
Executive Address Gearing up for a busy season
TechSelect Power Update TechSelecters gathered for an exclusive day of information and networking
VMware Partner Exchange Conference
Prepping partners for the software-defined enterprise
18
AIS Spotlight
22
Connected North
We sit down with Thomas Scotland
TechSelect and Cisco making a difference in Northern Canada
25
TechSelect Member Profile
27
Kaspersky Rocks On
32
We catch up with BZ Inc. of Quebec
North American Partner Conference
HP and Tech Data Driving Your Business
An unforgettable experience
32
Tech Data Reflections 25 years and counting Editor Jillian Cahill Art Direction and Design Julie MacAulay Contributing Writers and Editors Mary Bonnici, Irene Buchan, Jillian Cahill, Robert Dutt Project Manager Ralitsa Naydenova Tech Times is published and distributed six times per year to channel resellers across Canada. Š2014 Tech Data Canada Corporation. Prices, promotions, offers & terms and conditions of sale subject to change without notice. Errors and omissions excepted. All manufacturers’ names are registered trademarks of their respective corporations. This publication comes to you free from Tech Data Canada Corporation. We received your mailing address from your Tech Data customer account information. To make changes or to unsubscribe, please contact your Tech Data sales team at 800.668.5588 or notify us at emailcanada@techdata.ca. www.techtimesmagazine.ca
www.techdata.ca
March/April 2014
5
6
January/February 2013
www.techdata.ca
ExecutiveAddress
The year at a glance Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ ~Robin Williams It’s finally Spring, the warmer weather is finally here, and I know that the great events we’re about to kick off this month across the country are sure to brighten everyone’s spirits! We’ll be landing in several cities all year long and we are bringing a great group of our valued vendor partners with us. In the month of April, we’ll kick off our Annual Business Builder Tour (BBT) in Ottawa. We’ve just closed another very successful NMSO season with our friends in our nation’s capital and we can all use this time to celebrate that success and hear about new technologies and innovative products from our premier vendor partners. The BBT will continue on to Quebec City on May 13, followed by Montreal on May 15. For our friends in the GTA and out west, we’ll be sure to see you in the fall when the tour lands in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. We’ll also be making the first stop in our Winner’s Circle Series in April when we will be hosting our reseller partners in Hamilton. In June, we’ll treat our partners to a lobster dinner at our Annual LobsterFest event and our final stop for our Winner’s Circle Series will take place in London in October. At each of these events we’ll be joined once again by a group of our premier vendor partners who want to connect with you to discuss opportunities and strategies for mutual success. May and June will also be exciting and filled with busy travel schedules. Not only is it the month of Tech Data Canada’s 25th Anniversary, it’s also when we’ll host our TechSelect members in Kelowna, BC, followed shortly thereafter by another fabulous experience with great partners in Santa Fe, New Mexico for our annual IBM Reseller Adventure. We wouldn’t miss the opportunity to take part in the Calgary Stampede, so once again we’ll be there to host solution
www.techdata.ca
providers from that region with our friends from Cisco. You’ll be hearing a lot about all of our events throughout the year, along with the launch of some great promotions from some of our premier vendor partners that offer you the chance to win a spot at some of our conferences designed to help you grow your business. We hope you’ll come out to see us as we visit a city nearest you throughout the year. We’ll be celebrating our 25th anniversary throughout the year at each our events and we’d love you all to be a part of that. We look forward to making new connections this year and building upon the great relationships we already have with so many of you. See you soon!
Greg Myers Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing greg.myers@techdata.ca
March/April 2014
7
HotSpots A Complete Family of Networking Switches Today’s networks require an unprecedented level of scalability. And as network needs evolve, access to a range of options becomes vital. Fortunately, Allied Telesis offers a complete family of networking switches. Whether you’re looking for unmanaged and WebSmart switches, or a full suite of advanced layer-2 and layer-3 options, Allied Telesis has what you need – making it easy for your customers to build the most optimal networks.
Call your Tech Data sales representative today at 1-800-668-5588.
Axiom 100% Compatible Lifetime Warranty Transceivers Stretch your customer’s IT budget using Axiom transceivers in datacenter and enterprise applications. Axiom delivers significant savings with equal quality and a superior lifetime product replacement guarantee compared to the OEM’s that include Cisco, HP, Juniper, Brocade and more. Help your customer gain a competitive advantage – Reduce IT costs while satisfying service level agreements (SLAs) and ever-increasing performance requirements. Call your Tech Data sales representative today at 1-800-668-5588.
PS Tablet Charging cart This cart’s universal interface charges up to 30 tablet, Chromebook, MacBook or Ultrabook computers. PowerShuttle® Technology optimizes total charge time while safely preventing electrical circuit overload by efficiently grouping the number of devices that are charged at one time. It works in any environment, including education, healthcare and enterprise applications. TD SKU: 4605BE Call your Tech Data sales representative today at 1-800-668-5588.
SMART. SIMPLE. SAFE. The Imation RDX Backup Starter Pack is the perfect storage solution for your growing business. RELIABLE Rugged 2.5” SATA hard disk drive built to protect against electrostatic discharge and to withstand a meter drop. SCALABLE Cartridge capacities range from 320GB to 1.5TB. Simply add more removable media as your data needs expand. FAST Capable of back up speeds up to 100MB/s and near instantaneous file access, Imation RDX media is a smart replacement to DDS/DAT, VXA and DLT performance tape. TD SKU: 4621CG Call your Tech Data sales representative today at 1-800-668-5588.
www.techdata.ca
March/April 2014
9
HotSpots Discover the Power Within 2 in 1 The go-anywhere, do-anything device. Touch or type. Be mobile and still have the processing capability to multi-task and more. Tablet Compatibility you can carry. Enhance the mobility of your business without sacrificing performance. Get the flexibility users want with the productivity your business needs. Call your Tech Data sales representative today at 1-800-668-5588.
Ultra-narrow LCDs for your Video Walls Transform your video walls with the immaculate high definition of the 46” 8590CJ, 55” 8591CJ and 8597CJ. Direct LED backlighting reduces power consumption and improves edge-to-edge brightness uniformity. This display is ideal for digital signage, boardrooms, entrance lobbies, and broadcast applications. Key features include: Ultra-narrow bezel as low as 3.5 mm for seamless video walls, Professionalgrade LCD panel, 1920x1080 full HD and LED direct backlighting source Claim SPIFs on all your sales on NEC Partner Net at www.necdisplay.com/partners! Call your Tech Data sales representative today at 1-800-668-5588.
New Hot Dominion KX III - KVM over IP Switch! A flexible and scalable solution - Highest port density in the industry — models available with 8, 16, 32, and 64 ports & 1, 2, 4, or 8 remote KVM-over-IP channels Complete and total access and control Military Grade Security & Reliability Optimized for High Performance Applications Go Mobile - BIOS-Level access and control of PC’s and servers via Apple iPhones and iPads TD SKU: 2956CG Call your Tech Data sales representative today at 1-800-668-5588.
Introducing the New Toshiba AutoCAD & SolidWorks Certified Laptop The Toshiba Tecra W50 Mobile Workstation is designed for high-performance users who demand powerful processing, superior speed and precise visuals. Ideal for engineering and design tasks, it’s one of the slimmest, lightest in its class. Features: One-Click Docking, 4th Gen Intel® Core i7 vPro Processor (Haswell), NVIDIA Quadro K2100M GPU, 15.6” FHD LCD 1920x1080 Display, Up to 32GB of DDR3L 1600 Memory and 500GB HDD, LED Backlit, Spill-Resistant Keyboard with Accu point, Full-Sized Ports and 4K HDMI Output. Call your Tech Data sales representative today at 1-800-668-5588.
10
March/April 2014
www.techdata.ca
Tech Data Wins Accelerator Award at Cisco’s 2014 Americas Distribution Forum
At a recent Cisco Americas Distribution Forum, Tech Data was the proud recipient of a Cisco Americas Distribution award for excellence in 2 Tier Partner acceleration, growth, innovation and marketing. This award recognized our industry leadership in this category through our One Step Ahead Program. This 10 month program focuses on driving 2 Tier growth in Canada through select Cisco partners and Tech Data utilizing business plan reviews, demand generation, sales execution and sales alignment with Cisco account managers. “Cisco is proud to work with so many well-respected and industryleading distribution partners, and it
is an honor to recognize Tech Data Canada as a Cisco 2014 Americas Distribution Forum award winner,” said Andrew Sage vice president, Americas Distribution at Cisco. “The award presented to Tech Data Canada recognizes its excellence and quality execution in 2013 for this category.” “We are delighted to receive Cisco’s Accelerator Award in recognition of our One Step Ahead business development program,” said Greg Myers, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Tech Data Canada. “This award is validation that our program reflects excellence in execution in the industry. The program continues to focus on increased
www.techdata.ca
partner support, investment, and entanglement with the Tech Data team to assist in enabling partners to develop and grow their Cisco business. Each year, we strive to do that and more as we further enhance the program.” Cisco 2014 Americas Distribution Forum awards reflect a distributor’s excellence in business execution around a number of technology architecture categories, including cloud computing, collaboration, data center & virtualization, enterprise networking, security, as well as innovation, enablement and accelerating the business.
March/April 2014
11
Thank you!
“Kudos to the TechSelect team for coming up with a one day program that provides a snapshot of each product sponsor’s solution or offering. Great value!” Brian Cruickshank, President, Novacc Technology Inc. The icy road conditions could not stop our greater Toronto and surrounding area members from attending TechSelect’s first ever Power Update. Members from as far as London, Ontario made the trek to Tech Data’s Mississauga office for a jam-packed day of information sessions and community networking. Greg Myers, Tech Data’s Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing kicked off the day by reporting on industry trends using data from our partners at NPD. TechSelect’s outstanding line up of 16 sponsoring vendors each delivered valuable information on products, exclusive promotions and their plans for the year ahead. “This ‘rapid paced’ event gave me an opportunity to reconnect with Tech Data and the vendors”, says Kipling Morton, president at SYDNIC Computer Systems Inc. “It helped me analyze industry trends, the marketplace in general, as well as set the stage for how I’m going to move forward with my business in 2014.” All participants found the day of value and appreciated the community discussion time and cocktail reception which allowed for candid conversations on best practices. “The Power Update session was a very cost-effective and valuable use of our team’s time! We were able to hear focussed messages from the vendors throughout the presentation-packed day, yet still had time to mingle with other TechSelect members and spend some one-on-one time with vendor reps.” John Millar, President, Digital Boundary Group Hot on the heels of this successful Power Update, the TechSelect team is already planning the next one. TechSelecters, keep an eye out for details as we make our way out west in the upcoming months.
www.techdata.ca
We’d like to thank all of our reseller partners across Canada who voted for us in the Reseller Choice Awards. We are honoured and excited to be selected for the seventh straight year as the Distributor of the Year. The Reseller Choice Awards is the largest channel survey in the IT industry with several hundred resellers voting annually across Canada. This year was no exception. Thanks to your votes, we were also honoured with awards in five other categories: • Best Terms and Conditions • Best Product Support • Best Customer Service • Best Availability and Delivery • Best Industry Event for our Business Builder Tour The Business Builder Tour is about to kick off once again in Ottawa in April and the team has made several exciting enhancements to the showcase. As in previous years, you’ll have access to products and programs from over 30 manufacturers. If you haven’t registered for a city near you yet, please visit www.tdbusinessbuilder.ca. Once again, thank you to all of you who voted for Tech Data Canada. We are focused on another great year where we will continue to demonstrate our excellence in each of these categories with all of our reseller partners to help all of our businesses thrive! March/April 2014
13
Prepping Partners for the Software-Defined Enterprise At its Partner Exchange conference in San Fancisco, VMware takes the “software-defined� trend in IT to the next level By Robert Dutt
www.techdata.ca
March/April 2014
15
VMware president and COO Carl Eschenbach: “For the first time ever, we’re going to be able to deliver IT at the speed of business.”
Vmware’s Partner Exchange conference this year had a theme of “master the new reality,” and the company’s kickoff keynotes in San Francisco left little doubt that new reality could be boiled down into two words: Software defined. The industry is no stranger to softwaredefined networking, and softwaredefined storage has come into vogue in the last year or two. VMware has spent the last two years talking about its perception of the ongoing evolution of enterprise infrastructure as a whole as the software-defined data centre, and spent much of its time Tuesday educating partners about what it calls the software-defined enterprise. The concept was so central to the presentation that VMware channel chief Dave O’Callaghan coined the coming era “the software-defined decade.” Aside from providing a lot of ammunition for a potential Partner Exchange 2014 drinking game, VMware’s message to partners was clear. O’Callaghan and VMware president and COO Carl Eschenbach made it clear that the company’s partners have done amazing work in the compute virtualization realm, highlighting record revenues of $5.2 billion last year, 85 per cent of which were realized through the channel. But the company clearly needs its channel to evolve, to join it as it pushes beyond compute virtualization into network 16
March/April 2014
and storage virtualization, as well as desktop virtualization, the company’s next frontiers. Eschenbach made the case that these changes are necessary because of the current environment, where many enterprises have squeezed all the value they can out of compute virtualization. The company puts the value of such efforts at $10 billion annually over unvirtualized environments. But to keep growing the business, and keep compressing the amount customers spend on infrastructure, solution providers need to virtualize across the data centre, and that’s where VMware’s upcoming NSX (networking virtualization) and VSAN (storage virtualization) products come in. “We’re gong to deliver the softwaredefined enterprise, and for the first time ever, we’re going to be able to deliver IT at the speed of business,” Eschenbach told partners. “We disrupted the market in a very positive way and created a positive economy around virtualization. But we need to continue to evolve, and move horizontally across the unvirtualized parts of the enterprise.” VMware’s partners, he said, are in a unique position to do that, as the channel has sold some 70 per cent of all servers in data centres, 85 per cent of data centre networks, and 65 per cent of data centre storage. “You have implemented your customers’
data centres today, and we, collectively, are going to take advantage of that infrastructure and extend it as we build the software-defined data centre,” Eschenbach told attendees. The company pegs its total addressable market for the software-defined data centre at $50 billion this year, but says that with partner services on top, that figure doubles. O’Callaghan urged partners to “build a practice around the software-defined enterprise,” but it’s clear this is a moving target for partners. VMware has yet to fully define its products for storage and networking virtualization, although they are clearly on the way, and it still needs to figure out partner enablement around them. To support that need, the company announced a new Elite classification of partner, a selective group of “a handful” of top partners, both by geographic region and technological focus, who will be privy to VMware’s technology roadmap ahead of the public and other partners. Colleen Kapase, senior director of global partner readiness, said this group will be used to help shape its partner enablement plans around the upcoming NSX and VSAN products. “We owe it to our partners to figure it out before we bring it to the thousands of partners out there and cross the chasm,” she said in a post-keynote press conference. www.techdata.ca
The company also announced changes to its deal registration program to make it more lucrative, bumping up discounts for Enterprise (10 per cent) and Premier (12 per cent) partners, and giving Professional partners a small deal registration lift (two per cent) for the first time. It’s part of an effort to first get partners to bring their customers to VMware, and then get more partners selling across its three main business categories – software-defined data centre, hybrid cloud, and end user computing. O’Callaghan also said it would look to work more closely with distributors, going from seeing disties as a supply chain to “an integrated supply chain” to help with its cross-selling efforts and getting its partners onboarded and enabled across its new areas of focus. VMware Canada focuses on partner enablement With new channel chief Donna Wittmann on board and getting settled into her new role, VMware Canada is looking to focus on channel enablement with the introduction of new resources to support its partners. Those resources will be particularly focused on some of the company’s new focus areas – cloud, network virtualization, and end user computing in particular. The goal, Wittmann says, is to help partners find their way into the company’s newest opportunities, but also to make sure the channel is at the core of the Canadian organization as a whole. “Not only is the model [VMware Canada president] Eric [Gales] is building partner-centric, but we’re putting in place a really integrated go-to-market model, with every piece of the organization talking about our go-to partners, and how to engage our partners,” Wittmann said. Gales said that a key part of Wittmann’s role in the early days is making sure the channel is central to the company’s overall organizational model. With more than 90 per cent of the company’s business going through partners, getting close with those partners is key, especially in times of big changes. And with the arrival of NSX network virtualization, the launch of its VSAN
“Not only is the model [VMware Canada president] Eric [Gales] is building partnercentric, but we’re putting in place a really integrated goto-market model, with every piece of the organization talking about our go-to partners, and how to engage our partners,” Wittmann said.
storage virtualization upcoming, and the rollout of vCloud Hybrid Services, there’s a lot to make sure partners are aware of. “We have beta partners and customers on VSAN that can’t wait to get the final product in their hands. There are tremendous opportunities. We need to get more customers exposed to these technologies. It’s the same with NSX.” With NSX new in the market and VSAN debuting between PEX and press time for Tech Times, Wittmann said many of the new technical resources to the company are spending time with key partners for those new areas, setting up demo labs, and working with the company’s distributors to make sure partners can get what they need to know about the new offerings. But perhaps the biggest opportunity for the channel right now in Wittmann’s reckoning is the company’s growing array of management software offerings, tools which she calls “the logical next step in the software-defined data centre.” That opportunity is particularly big because it cuts across
www.techdata.ca
technology area and partner focus, and is part of a shift that all VMware partners should be able to make. Beyond that, exactly which parts of the new VMware lineup will resonate best vary greatly from partner to partner. But Wittmann said that with the new resources either already in place or coming online, the company is ready to help get its partners ready for whatever their own journeys may be. “Partners can expect very close alignment, not just with their PBMS, but with our entire organization,” Wittmann said. “We’re looking for people to truly team and partner wit us, and we’re going to be sending out an enormous amount of care, feeding, and love for those who are willing to invest with us.” The move to build out the Canadian channel organization comes both as Gales continues to build VMware Canada up from its former status as a sales and marketing satellite of headquarters into a truly Canadian organization, and as VMware worldwide rolls out the first steps of global channel chief Dave O’Callaghan’s plan to create a “value channel” for the company. There were changes to incentive programs introduced at the company’s recent Partner Exchange event that are clearly designed to drive partners both in new directions, and into deeper investment in VMware. Wittmann said there’s more to come. “This is phase one, and we’ll keep driving even further down the chain,” she said.
New Canadian channel chief, Donna Wittmann is looking to help partners find opportunities in VMware’s new product areas.
March/April 2014
17
AIS Spotlight In this edition of Tech Times, we catch up with Tech Data’s Thomas Scotland, Technical Support Specialist, Telephony to understand his desire to solve complex puzzles that create solutions for our reseller partners. How long have you been with Tech Data? I have been with Tech Data for five months.
“The support I have received and the opportunity to collaborate with a team has been great since day one.”
What is your technical background? What technical certifications do you hold? My technical background is focused on Avaya and Cisco and building out solutions to meet customer needs. I currently hold the following certifications: APDS - Avaya Professional Design Specialist - Contact Center APDS - Avaya Professional Design Specialist – Avaya Networking APDS - Avaya Professional Design Specialist – Scopia Radvision Cisco - Borderless Networks and Enterprise Network Architecture Cisco - Security Specialist Cisco – Advanced wireless LAN Specialist What do you like most about Tech Data? The thing I like most about Tech Data is the people. The support I have received and the opportunity to collaborate with a team has been great since day one. The Tech Data team is always looking for ways to support our customers in the most effective way possible. Describe a typical day for you: I focus the majority of my day on Avaya and ShoreTel opportunities. No two days are alike. There are always different puzzles to solve which is something that I love to do. A typical day would entail working with customers to build solutions. I also create Powerpoint presentations to assist in educating our customers on different products, how to maintain and install licenses, set up hunt groups , install UC Modules, etc.... What do you like the most about your job? I really enjoy the technical aspects of my job. I enjoy finding solutions for my customers. I also really ilke the camaraderie amongst the Tech Data team. There is a family atmosphere that is very evident the moment you walk in the doors. What motivates you in your job? I am highly motivated by the ability to learn something new and resolve customer issues to help them be successful. Anything else you think we should know about you? I am a family man. I’m the proud father of two beautiful girls; Makayla aged 10 and Cassie, aged 15. I love the outdoors, hiking, fishing, four-wheeling, etc....Anything to get out and off the couch!
18
March/April 2014
www.techdata.ca
www.techdata.ca
March/April 2014
19
www.techdata.ca
March/April 2014
21
22
March/April 2014
www.techdata.ca
Cisco and Tech Data are both excited and proud that through our TechSelect Community we have chosen to participate in the Connected North program. Partnered with Cisco, the Tech Data TechSelect Community has adopted The Deh Gah School in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, in support of Connected North, making the commitment to assist these kids by opening up learning opportunities that never would have existed for them otherwise! What is Connected North? Connected North is a groundbreaking program using Cisco’s TelePresence technology to bring innovations in the field of learning to schools across Canada’s north. Using TelePresence units in the classroom, new educational programs are introduced to the classroom experience. For example, experts can join classrooms virtually to help extend curriculum resources and impart new ways of instructing the students on particular units of study, and just as importantly, provide tele-psychiatry to communities in need. All technology and project management expenses for each school in the Connected North program have been donated by Cisco and with the help of fundraising efforts of Tech Data’s TechSelect Community, The Deh Gah School will be resourced to connect to southern communities in Canada.
A HUGE thank-you to Graycon Group for their generous donation of $10,000 which has been matched by Cisco’s donation of $10,000! Willa Black,Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Cisco Canada Mike Blackwell, Vice-President – Chief Operating Officer, Graycon Group Did you know? School dropout rates in the territories are persistently higher than those of the provinces. British Columbia has the lowest dropout rate in Canada at 6.2%. In the Northwest Territories the rate is 30.1%. Nunavut has the highest dropout rate, measured at 75% in 2001.2 The state and condition of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples is a priority issue for the Government and Canadians nationwide. Connected North has been designed to deliver a meaningful and high impact educational outcome through virtual technology that aims to address the critical issue of high dropout rates in schools across the north. Virtual Researcher on Call (VROC) and Cisco Canada, in collaboration with governments, NGOs, foundations, media companies,
www.techdata.ca
Cisco employees, and Cisco customers (Tech Data’s very own TechSelect Community) will work together to create this immersive educational solution to help address the significant needs of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. Already through the commitment made with Tech Data’s TechSelect Community in partnership with Cisco, VROC has built the Deh Gah School in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories. We are proud that with our help of bringing in technology and learning innovations, lives of both the students and teachers will be positively impacted. 1 Statistics Canada, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81004-x/2010004/article/11339-eng.htm#f 2 National Strategy on Inuit Education, https://www.itk.ca/sites/ default/files/National-Strategy-on-Inuit-Education-2011_0.pdf
March/April 2014
23
24
March/April 2014
www.techdata.ca
TechSelect Member Profile
In this issue of Tech Times we learn how TechSelect membership is helping BZ Inc., of Quebec meet their goals.
Q: Tell us a little about your organization: Since 2001, BZ inc. is dedicated to small and medium businesses for all their needs in IT hardware, software, programming , consulting, outsourcing, cloud and IP telephony. BZ has the confidence of small and medium enterprises in the region of Quebec for all their computing needs. We provide integrated service solutions and we outsource technical resources, equipment, programming, voice and cloud solutions. At BZ we help small and medium businesses have a comprehensive vision that results in secure business continuity which we deliver through a team of specialists dedicated to their performance. Q: What are your thoughts on the industry in general? IT is a mature market at a turning point. In order for BZ to make its mark with our customers, we needs to reinvent the way we do business. For 20 years the IT department of our customers took a large overhead on the directions of the business and business processes. The cloud really brings simplicity and accessibility like never before. Business will be more difficult for companies that focused too much on the hardware without thinking about return on investment for its clients. The transition to a cloud based environment will allow customers the benefits they have experienced with the traditional IT model without being attached to a given set of hardware. This transition will increase the ROI for our customers and allow a level of complexity to make BZ their trusted advisors in this new world. Q: What challenges are you facing and how do you overcome them? BZ is really listening to its clients and has offered a unique Cloud Solution for them since 2011 and they quickly embrace
our new way to do business. The real challenge is to offer a better service day after day, to our clients through this new business model. Our challenge is to take advantage of gaps in the business process, and be able to offer customers a real benefit and solution to those gaps. The new business challenges that we hear from our customers every day is something we are constantly working to solve. By working with our customers on these new IT solutions, the entanglement with our customers will go up and it will drive net new opportunities. Q: What would you like to see from vendor partners? A real listen to the SMB market. They want to be good partners, so they should adapt their practices for SMB. Their orientations are too focused on the large service providers. The SMB market is the driving force behind Canadian business today. With companies like BZ all over the country driving net new opportunities, the vendors will need to adjust their business model to provide a better support structure for those partners that are creating business for them. Q: What are your organization’s goals for the next five years? To create, prepare and offer to our clients a full cloud solution. With monthly billing and IT as a service becoming more of a
www.techdata.ca
focus for the SMB market, BZ plans to be an expert in this area offering a full end to end cloud solution to all of our customers. With this business model we will also keep focusing on SMB and find a way to improve the business processes with each of our customers. Q: How has the TechSelect program helped you? Or helped you meet your organization’s goals? We joined the program recently so we are still exploring the various benefits to TechSelect. I can say that our goal in joining TechSelect is to find SMB oriented partners similar to our profile across the country and to connect with them to exchange best practices and business opportunities. Q: What is your outlook for 2014? BZ sees 2014 as a growth year within the IT industry. With new emerging business models and with customers being cautious with their budget since 2009, we are beginning to see increasing growth in IT spending. Customers are coming more often to us with business challenges and requesting help from our experts with solutions. This uptick in business in our market is representative of what we here from other partners across the country.
March/April 2014
25
The security vendor continues to broaden its footprint with new services program, expanded security for virtualization
PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Kaspersky Lab seldom has troubles convincing its Canadian solution providers to come out for its annual North American Partner Conference. For starters, the Russia-based security vendor seems to value time away from long, cold winters as much as its Canadian partners do, and it tends to hold its Conference in the dead of winter in some sunny locale. Given the winter much of North America has slogged through, it’s no surprise that Kaspersky’s www.techdata.ca
decision to “Rock On” at the upscale Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic earned strong approval from channel partners. While the venue and the sun were no doubt big attractions for the event, there was also a lot of news from Kaspersky at the Conference, as the traditionally antimalware-focused vendor continued its transformation into a broader security player. Tech Times braved the sun and sand to bring you all the news from the event.
March/April 2014
27
Reaching out to Service Providers Over the last year, Kaspersky has significantly increased its product lineup, moving towards positioning itself as a data protection vendor rather than a simple antivirus vendor. The introduction of Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business last year significantly expanded its footprint in a number of new security fields. Now, as it moves even further towards solutions sales rather than simply selling seats, it’s looking to increase its partners access to selling, and in some cases delivering, professional services. At its Partner Conference here, the vendor introduced partners to its new Certified Service Provider program, under which solution providers will be able to deliver the same range of professional services its own services bench has been delivering for customers. The program launches comes after the vendor put focus on services being offered, said Chris Doggett, senior vice president of sales for Kaspersky Lab North America. That effort proved there’s demand out there. Even with its “small handful” of internal services staff, Doggett said that by the third month of its push, it was already doing more services engagements than it had in the whole previous year. “The product portfolio has grown substantially, to the point where there are a lot of things partners can do with the products,” Doggett said. “The technology is intuitive to use, but this isn’t about how easy the technology is, it’s about making the right choices. Our goal is to have customers fully use the range of capabilities of our products, and to have as rich and valuable an experience as possible.” Kaspersky offers a variety of these services, including assessments, to Kaspersky Lab CSP Accredited Partners, who must go through the vendor’s training and examination program, which includes doing actual customer deployments in tandem with Kaspersky professional services staff as a final “road test” prior to certification. These partners will be able to deliver for their own customers, and will also deliver services as subcontractors of Kaspersky, handling delivery for solution providers who choose not to be 28
March/April 2014
“The product portfolio has grown substantially, to the point where there are a lot of things partners can do with the products,” Doggett said.
accredited by simply resell the professional services offerings, which are now SKUed up for distribution. In those cases, Doggett said, the subcontracting solution provider will appear to the customer as if Kaspersky resources, and will be bound by contract that includes a one-year no-compete clause that prevents them from working with customer outside of the services engagement, unless the subcontracting partner can prove a previous relationship with the customer. Ultimately, whether it’s reselling Kaspersky-branded services, or developing the capability to deliver the services themselves, Doggett said all Kaspersky partners should be in the professional services game. “If partners are already delivering professional services, and want to deliver on their books, that’s great with us,” he said. ‘We have no preference as to how the services are delivered. We just want services delivered with as many sales as possible.” Doggett said there’s enough capacity in the channel currently to meet the short-term demand for those services, but that the company is going to need additional partners in the long run,
as selling its offerings with services wrapped around becomes the default way of doing business. “Our goal in the long term is to get professional services and premium support attached to every sale,” he said. “We’re in a subscription business, and if customers get value out of our products, they’re going to be long-term customers.” Expanded virtual security Also at its Partner Conference, Kaspersky announced plans to add support for Citrix and Microsoft hypervisors to its Kaspersky Security for Virtualization (KSV) product with the launch of the new KSV Light Agent edition this spring. The new edition comes some two years after the initial launch of KSV, timed with VMware’s Partner Exchange conference in 2012. The product has since been re-architected in a 2.0 version to use VMware’s newer NetSec API, but the company says partners told them they needed to offer virtualization-specific security for more than just VMware. “VMware is a data centre and enterprise company, and we had a bit of a mismatch with our current channel partners,” Peter Beardmore, senior director of global product marketing told solution providers at the company’s North American Partner Conference here. “They aren’t in a lot of VMware environments, and they want Citrix and Microsoft support too.” The problem for Kaspersky was that its agentless model, which uses VMware APIs to manage security on all VMs on a machine from a single instance of the hypervisor, will not work on the other two virtualization vendor’s offerings. Hence the new late Light Agent model, which will be available in addition to the agentless model, and will be available for all three major virtualization platforms. The new model still manages security across virtual machines centrally from a single instance, but now requires “a bit of code added to each VM,” Beardmore said. The new approach also allows Kaspersky to extend the offering, bringing a broader array of its new tools to the virtualization world. “Essentially, it’s Kaspersky Endpoint
www.techdata.ca
Kaspersky North American president Steve Orenberg (left) and enterprise sales chief Chris Doggett (right) present partner awards at the company’s North American Partner Conference in Punta Cana. “Essentially, it’s Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, for virtualization,” Beardmore said. “Customers want deeper security, not just anti-virus scanning.” With the “best of both worlds” approach, as Beardmore describes it, the company hopes to continue the momentum it has found with the initial agentless KSV option, which the company says results in higher revenues per opportunity for partners, even with fewer nodes covered, than traditional endpoint security. While he noted that a set of partners pushed for additional vendors, he said those who have been selling it,
www.techdata.ca
have been successful in so doing. “It’s a great door opener. There isn’t endpoint security running on most VMs today,” Beardmore said. The light agent option will be enabled in KSV in in the second quarter, with more details being made available in April. Beardmore said it will simply be a new option for deployment under KSV, with no new SKU or pricing required. The company also announced a margin uplift program around KSV, offering partners additional incentives of 5 per cent of deal size, up to $2,500 per deal for the balance of 2014.
March/April 2014
29
30
March/April 2014
www.techdata.ca
branchingout In this edition of Tech Times, we sit down with Jesse Dosanjh, Team Leader within the sales department at Tech Data Canada, to hear more about life in the Vancouver office. Q; How long have you been with Tech Data? I have been with Tech Data since 1990. I started my career with Globelle prior to the acquisition by Tech Data in 1999. The time has just flown by and has been a rewarding experience to witness so much change in the IT industry over the past 24 years. I have had the privilege to form many strong friendships with my peers and customers through the years.
“Tech Data is constantly evolving to remain competitive in this fast-paced industry. We continue to offer great value-add services to help our customers be competitive. ”
What do you like most about Tech Data? There are many things that I like about Tech Data. I really enjoy working for a company that is a leader and innovator in the channel. Tech Data is constantly evolving to remain competitive in this fast paced industry. They continue to offer great value-add services to help our customers be competitive. I also really appreciate the people I work with. Not just the team located in the Vancouver branch, but also the many folks at our head office in Toronto that I deal with on a regular basis. We’re like a big family. We all help each other out and work hard towards achieving our goals. Describe a typical day for you in our Vancouver office. My day starts pretty early. I’m in the office at 7:00am since my team covers a large territory from Alberta to Manitoba. The first thing I do is scan my inbox and flag anything that may be urgent and begin working on it right away. I’ll also review the sales from the previous day to see how we’re tracking against our targets and work on some other relevant reporting. Some days, we have the opportunity to attend morning trainings to learn about new products and technologies from our vendor partners. What do you like the most about your job? My job is dynamic. Every day is different from the day before. I am able to manage a wide variety of issues and opportunities resulting in customer satisfaction. I also enjoy the opportunity to learn something new. It could be a new vendor partner or a new internal process or tool to help us be more efficient. There are many days I find myself running out of hours to get things done, but this is what keeps it fresh and exciting for me. What challenges you in your job? It can be challenging at times to get back to our customers’ requests in a timely manner, especially during busy periods or when we may be short staffed. Fortunately for us, we have some great customers that we have developed long term relationships with and they understand when these types of delays occur. What has been your most memorable moment since joining Tech Data? Winning the President’s Club award has been a big highlight for me. It is a very rewarding experience to be recognized by your peers. Anything else you think we should know about life at Tech Data in Vancouver? It really is a great branch office to work at. I would encourage everyone to drop by and see for themselves.
www.techdata.ca
March/April 2014
31
Twelve reseller partners joined HP and Tech Data executives in Niagara-on-theLake in January to sample some of the world-famous wines from the region while also learning about key HP PPS initiatives and business opportunities designed to help drive their business in the coming months. The insight into HP’s PPS business as well as access to key HP business unit executives ensured that the time was wellspent by all who joined us. The attendees enjoyed a two-night stay at the exquisite Prince of Wales hotel and toured leading wineries in the area before settling in to enjoy a fabulous five-course wine-paired dinner at the renowned Trius Winery. We trust this year’s attendees found the conference to be valuable, educational, and fun! Stay tuned for upcoming programs and conferences from HP and Tech Data, all designed to help you Drive your Business!
32
March/April 2014
www.techdata.ca
Happy 25th Anniversary Tech Data Canada! The year was 1989. The Cosby Show was the most popular program on TV, George Michael’s Faith won the Grammy for Album of the Year, the mullet was considered high fashion, and Tech Data Corporation acquired Parity Plus, a promising small distributor in Canada. In this edition of Tech Times, we catch up with David Gingerich, Tech Data Canada’s Director of IT, who was hired by Parity Plus shortly before the acquisition and has been with the company since the first day under its new name, Tech Data Canada. He shares his favourite memories as we look back over the years leading up to this milestone achievement. 34
March/April 2014
What is your favourite memory of Parity Plus? Many things have changed since those early days. We had just moved to a new facility and I remember that my office was also used as a storage room, file room, and server room. I’m not sure I’d enjoy that now but at the time I thought it was great! And of course, anyone who has been in this industry for more than a few years can attest to the fact that profit margins were certainly a lot healthier back in the 1980s and 1990s. The name Parity Plus confused a lot of people, so I was especially happy when we became Tech Data Canada. As Parity Plus, we used to get the odd call from people who thought we were called Party Plus, looking to see if we rented tents and chairs for events. What changed when Parity Plus was acquired by Tech Data? Prior to the acquisition, the company had some capitalization constraints which limited our ability to grow. With Tech Data’s investment in our Canadian business, we doubled the number of vendors on our line card, had the resources to carry significantly more inventory, and moved to larger facilities. The company name didn’t actually change for a year or two, but we definitely felt like part of the larger Tech Data family.
The first December after the acquisition, every Tech Data Canada employee flew to corporate headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, for a corporate visit, golf day, and a holiday party that had 800 attendees and a private concert by Three Dog Night. After that there was no doubt we were a part of something much bigger! Do you have any favourite memories from the 1980s? I loved the movie Top Gun, primarily because I wanted Tom Cruise’s Kawasaki Ninja 900. The fact that the movie featured navy jets, Meg Ryan, and a great soundtrack didn’t hurt either. From a technology perspective, I could go on and on about the changes we’ve seen since those good old days but that would only make me feel old! www.techdata.ca
www.techdata.ca
March/April 2014
35