R&D throughout the industry has led to significant steps in innovation this year. VARBusiness Tech Innovator Awards recognize the most innovative of these offerings from several different sectors.
Vendors submitted hundreds of entries for the 2008 VARBusiness Tech Innovator Awards, but only a handful emerged as purveyors of unique, groundbreaking products. Here's a look at the winners.
HP's first touch-screen notebook for consumers has plenty of options for work and play.
XChange '08 Brings Together Vendors, Partners
3:57 PM EDT Fri. Aug. 15, 2008
In the face of a slowing economy, vendors are faced with VARs asking for products that are not only the best in terms of quality, but that also provide revenue and profit potential. Solution providers' customers in turn often have tighter IT budgets and are looking for ways to do more with less. VARs are finding that providing IT solutions that address projects with discernable return on investment are most popular with potential customers; therefore, the channel is demanding that vendors offer products that meet those needs. As discretionary spending is on hold, solutions that have demonstrable return on investment are increasingly popular.
The XChange conference will offer perspective and insight into the vendor-partner relationship. Among the educational sessions:
Solution providers are naturally interested in which vendors are rated most highly among their peers, and the VARBusiness 2008 Annual Report Card Awards Gala showcases vendors that rank highly in a variety of areas, such as ease of doing business, revenue potential, post-sales support and quality and innovation, among others. The Annual Report Card Awards will honor top-performing vendors, based on Everything Channel's exclusive survey of solution providers.
The program honors the top vendors in 18 categories, including: Client & Server Processors, Client Security Software, Data & Information Management, Display Technologies, Middleware, Midrange Servers, Network Security, Network Security Software, Network Storage, Networking Infrastructure, Notebooks & Mobile Computers, SMB Networking Hardware, Storage Management Software, Systems & Network Management Software, Voice-over-IP Technology, Volume Mainstream Business, Wireless Infrastructure and Workgroup Color Printers. Within each company, a vendor has been selected as ARC Company of the Year, based on VAR feedback. In addition, Everything Channel's Executive of the Year will be named.
The selection and results of the vendors profiled in the ARC is the result of an exhaustive research project, in which hundreds of VARs were surveyed. See the October issue of VARBusiness for more ARC coverage.
SanDisk Enterprise Extra! E-NewsletterSanDisk Enterprise Solutions Group is offering a free partner enewsletter for security-minded resellers and VARs.
