Jessica Davis

CDWs current long-term goals—an expansion of its service and solutions business akin to Berbee, an expansion of the companys overall sales team, and improving the customer value proposition by adding more knowledgeable account managers—will stay the same following the companys acquisition by a private investment firm, according to Executive Vice President Harry Harczak. Harczak spoke […]

Catalog and Web solution provider CDW, a giant in the technology reseller space, is reportedly in talks to be acquired by a private equity firm. The move to private equity ownership would spare the company from Wall Streets laser-like spotlight and allow it to focus on increasing its margin—in contrast to the sales and revenue […]

Dells move to sell through Wal-Mart was a “creative choice” and the PC maker needs to be careful about balancing the message that choice sends, according to J.P. Gownder, a principal analyst at Forrester Research. Gownder has been watching the companys moves into the retail space. “They are going for cost-sensitive consumers, and if there […]

Dell will make its first move into the retail channel starting on June 10, putting two of its Dimension desktop computers out to be sold through the worlds largest retailer, Wal-Mart. CEO Michael Dell hinted in April in a widely leaked memo that his company—known for its direct-only sales—would move into new channels, including retail. […]

Motorola is launching a channel partner program, complete with market development support and technical training, for its wireless broadband products in North America. Program partners will get access to solutions from the Motorola MOTOwi4 portfolio of wireless broadband solutions and services for IP networks together with sales, technical and customized marketing support, the Schaumburg, Ill., […]

Network security company Arxceo has launched an Ally Partner Program for VARs, offering Elite, Premier and Alliance levels of partner affiliation. Elite, or top-level, partners are those that offer complete solutions from pre-sales to delivery and technical support, and have dedicated security and security-related business focuses, Arxceo said in a statement. Elite partners also get […]

Lenovo plans to align its channel partner program around four “communities” as defined by end-user segments. The move is part of a continuing evolution of the channel program Lenovo inherited from IBM when the company acquired IBMs PC business in December of 2004. “We used to be part of IBM Partner World, and now we […]

Tom Miller has been keeping a close eye on Dell for years. The senior director of IT for Fox??íHollow Technologies, a cardiovascular health products company in Redwood City, Calif., Miller has been a longtime Dell customer. His company of about 600 employees is standardized on Dell servers and PCs. And Miller has watched as Dell […]

Looking to identify which partners wield the most influence over sales rather than just recording the revenue on their own balance sheets, big vendors are eyeing new ways to measuring the real value of channel partners. From Microsofts recent announcement of its U.S. Influence Revenue Model —a plan to capture data about which of its […]