5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

The Week Ended March 14, 2014

This week's roundup of companies that came to win include the appointment of a new channel exec at Aruba Networks, a savvy acquisition by leading solution provider Computex, channel program expansions at CA Technologies and AirTight Networks, and new video and collaboration products from Cisco.

Computex Technology Boosts Recurring Revenue With Acquisition

Solution Provider Computex Technology, a CRN Solution Provider 500 and CRN Tech Elite 250 powerhouse, has acquired Houston-based ENETsolutions in a move that adds a range of recurring revenue-based services to Computex's offerings.

ENETsolutions provides a wide range of 24/7 services from the company's multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art network operations and data center, including hosted Cisco VoIP and collaboration services, hosted Microsoft Exchange, and other network and security services. ENETsolutions, also on the CRN Tech Elite 250 list and a member of CRN's MSP Pioneer 250, is a Cisco Gold Master MSP and holds highly coveted Cisco Master Service Provider and Unified Communications Master certifications.

CA Offers New Partner Focus, Support

CA Technologies hasn't had the reputation of being the most channel-friendly company, some partners would say. But this week the company took steps to change that, designating some 15,000 companies (most in the range of $100 million to $2 billion in annual revenue) to be exclusive sales territories for the channel.

While CA will continue selling directly to its top 1,500 named accounts, partners also will have the opportunity to collaborate with CA's sales force in those accounts. The vendor also will work more closely with the top 60 partners in each of five product areas (security, service desk, DevOps application delivery, Nimsoft IT systems and cloud monitoring, and Clarity product and portfolio management). The changes are being made under the direction of Adam Famularo, who was named senior vice president of partner sales in November.

Aruba Networks Hires Former Avaya Channel Chief

Another vendor that's been stepping up its channel game recently is Aruba Networks. This week the company took the next step when it announced the hiring of former Avaya U.S. channel chief Karl Soderlund as its first vice president of worldwide sales.

Solution providers say Aruba has been investing more in its channel operations in the last year, including hiring more channel reps and improving partner communications. Hiring the respected Soderlund is a plus for Aruba. He's expected to grow the company's channel footprint by doubling, or even tripling, the number of U.S. partners with medal status, as well as break down the silos between the vendor's Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific channel operations.

AirTight Networks Aims To Create New Class Of Social MSPs

Wi-Fi Specialist AirTight Networks this week launched a partner program called EZ Street, designed to help solution providers grow their managed services footprint around social media and big data analytics.

AirTight execs promise that the new program is just the start of a major channel offensive that will result in the company doing at least 80 percent of its business through the channel. EZ Street, built around AirTight's Social Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Analytics services, is targeted toward solution providers in the wireless and networking arenas that want to establish or grow a managed services business.

Cisco Expands Video And Collaboration Product Line

Cisco this week unveiled what it called the most significant refresh of its line of video and collaboration products in three years. The move, Cisco execs said, gives organizations of all sizes and budgets access to high-quality video and collaboration technologies.

The products included a new release of the vendor's Business Edition collaboration platform, new TelePresence MX endpoint products and new video software. Channel partners praised the new products saying they see video as a major growth area in coming years.