Is everyone going to jump in the Lifeboat for distribution?

This week I was working on a story about Corel’s comeback in the market. I was interviewing the company’s de facto channel chief Kevin Thornton and I asked him about the company’s relationship with Lifeboat Distribution.

To me, it seemed to be an odd choice for a graphic arts software vendor to partner with a value-added distributor that focused on virtualization.

Thornton told me that what he liked about Lifeboat was how it handles vendor relations.

He added that the results are there with Lifeboat but the company tries to get close with vendors on the sales and marketing end of things. Thornton also liked Lifeboat’s feedback on Corel and described it as encouraging.

Thornton went on to say that there is more need for specialty distribution partners such as Lifeboat. “They are a boutique but they are very good at what they do,” he said.

Recently, Lifeboat continued its momentum in the marketplace by adding Vision Solutions’ Double-Take line of high availability, disaster recovery and systems management software solutions to its reseller network in Canada and the U.S. Lifeboat will distribute Vision Solutions’ products for the Windows and Linux platforms, including Double-Take Availability, Double-Take RecoverNow and Double-Take Flex.

Marty Turek, vice president of North American sales for Vision Solutions, said Lifeboat’s reputation for proactive, technically-informed reseller service, we are confident that they will help us energize our solution provider community and take our information availability solutions to a whole new set of customers.

Another partnership was with VirtualWorks Group, a content virtualization vendor. It too announced it had signed a distribution agreement with Lifeboat.

Under the agreement, Lifeboat will distribute VirtualWorks’ content virtualization software in North America. Lifeboat is the first channel member to join VirtualWorks’ PartnerWorks alliance program. The PartnerWorks alliance, which will be rolled out in phases, will equip a global network of channel partners, technology partners and software developers with best-practice information, resources and tools to expand and promote the market for content virtualization solutions that optimize the value of information for organizations.

Edward Iacobucci, chairman and CEO of VirtualWorks, said Lifeboat has a history and reputation for identifying cutting-edge solutions that solve customer problems and investing in them early on. The company is an excellent channel partner because Lifeboat boasts the broadest portfolio of virtualization and cloud computing solutions available in the industry, providing it with immediate access to thousands of North American resellers. We are confident that Lifeboat’s resellers will see the value that we bring to them with pre-integrated, packaged software that is fast to deploy and provides them with both near-term and recurring revenues.

Tech Data Canada (Nasdaq: TECD)has partnered with Cisco Canada to deliver a sales program designed to encourage the TechSelect reseller community to submit their most compelling success stories detailing how Cisco technology was utilized to support small business in Canada.

Cisco and Tech Data ran the program exclusively for the TechSelect community. The winner of the contest, and recipient of a $5,000 credit on account with Tech Data, was Think Communications Inc. based out of Victoria, B.C. The criterion for selecting the winning entry was based upon the ability to provide value to a customer by enhancing their engagement experience, streamlining business processes, reducing expenses and increasing revenue. Further merit was given for “out of the box” thinking to overcome obstacles while establishing a best practice matrix that could be shared amongst the TechSelect community.

Think Communications met all the requirements as they carefully developed a Unified Communications strategy based on the specific requirements of their customer, Procura. Using the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition 5000, Think Communications was able to address a number of challenges for the client such as reducing the management of three separate phone systems (one for Victoria, Chicago and Salt Lake City) down to one unified solution. Greg Myers, vice president of Tech Data Canada said the TechSelect community never ceases to amaze in regards to providing value to the end-customer. With all the submissions received for this promotion, it made for a truly competitive contest. However, in the end, Think Communications’ approach was exemplary in every manner.

Avnet and TI

Avnet (NYSE: AVT) and Texas Instruments will be demonstrating wireless connectivity with the assistance of TI’s eZ430-Chronos wireless watch development kit.

This latest series of SpeedWay Design Workshops are being held in nearly 40 cities throughout North America. If you want to pay a visit click here.

Ingram hires in investor relations

Ingram Micro (NYSE: IM) appointed Damon S. Wright as the company’s senior director of investor relations.

Wright will oversee the company’s communications and outreach programs for shareholders, analysts and the general investment community. He reports to Ria Marie Carlson, senior vice president of communications and brand management.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Paolo Del Nibletto
Paolo Del Nibletto
Former editor of Computer Dealer News, covering Canada's IT channel community.

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