In Depth

In Depth

Channel Partner Programmes

• Top 10 channel stories of 2023

  It’s time to look back at what topics were making the news across the industry in the past 12 months  Continue Reading

• Five-minute interview: Marcus Harvey, Targus

  Revealing some fascinating details about himself is Marcus Harvey, regional director of B2B at multinational mobile computing accessories company Targus  Continue Reading

• Improving channel relationships: Listen more, talk less

  If a vendor wants to improve their relationship with the channel, it might be as simple as listening more  Continue Reading

• What makes a good partner incentive programme?

  Everyone reacts to incentives, but they need to be thought through – and some programmes are better than others  Continue Reading

• May the fourth be with you as you enter the final quarter with cautious optimism

  The last three months of the year represent the busiest time for the channel as targets are aimed for and the year goes down as a success or failure  Continue Reading

• A history of MicroScope

  As MicroScope celebrates its 40th anniversary, we look back and tell the story of the publication itself, with some industry memories of what it has meant to its readers  Continue Reading

• Is there a need for sustainability-focused channel programmes?

  With growing attention around the ambition to get to net-zero carbon emissions, some vendors are introducing incentives and targets into channel programmes  Continue Reading

• Five-minute interview: Tim Britt, Dropbox

  MicroScope talks to Tim Britt, Dropbox’s director of sales and channel for Central Europe, about what his thoughts on the channel and what gets him up in the morning  Continue Reading

• Why keeping it simple is a channel challenge

  The mantra from vendors is that they want to make life easier and make systems simple for partners – but that is not as easy as it sounds  Continue Reading

• Balancing the risks as an MSP

  There is a growing trend among partners in converting into managed service providers – but are there risks to this approach that the channel needs to be aware of?  Continue Reading

• 2021 review: The main channel themes

  A look back over the past 12 months, focusing on the top 10 themes that have affected the channel  Continue Reading

• Is having many partners always better?

  Microsoft has a sizeable global channel that raises the question of whether that is the model that all vendors should be aspiring to follow  Continue Reading

• Five-minute interview: Jose Pena, Digital.ai

  Jose Pena of Digital.ai shares his insight and experiences surrounding the channel in this latest five-minute interview  Continue Reading

• Five-minute interview: Matt Nicholson, Trustwave

  Matt Nicholson, EMEA channel manager at Trustwave, tells MicroScope about his early start in the channel but reveals he’s not a natural early riser  Continue Reading

• Five-minute interview: Gerry Sheldrick, Exclusive Networks Ireland

  Exclusive Networks Ireland’s country manager, Gerry Sheldrick, tells MicroScope about his career and ambitions, as well as some insight into what makes him tick  Continue Reading

• 2021: What the channel thinks is coming next

  This year has been a strange one, and the pandemic is going to linger into the next, along with Brexit and other unknowns, but the channel is ready for whatever comes  Continue Reading

• 2020: A year of accelerated change in the channel

  A look back over some of the main themes of a year that will be long remembered thanks to the pandemic  Continue Reading

• Five-minute interview: Emanuel Salmona, Claroty

  MicroScope speaks to Emanuel Salmona, vice-president of global partnerships at Claroty, to find out some details on his work and life  Continue Reading

• Five-minute interview: Olen Scott, Aryaka Networks

  In this interview, MicroScope asks Olen Scott, senior vice-president of worldwide channels at Aryaka Networks, about his life, career and inspirations  Continue Reading

• The challenge of solving the partner programme puzzle

  Getting relationships with the channel is critical and many look to make that simple – but achieving it is a complex ambition  Continue Reading

• Is the channel missing the ‘human touch’?

  Research from Kaspersky suggests vendors need to improve their relationships with channel partners, with experts weighing in on how to develop a closer bond through programmes and education  Continue Reading

• What will the ‘new normal’ look like?

  With thoughts starting to turn to a post-coronavirus world, the channel is trying to work out what changes made in the past few months will stick  Continue Reading

• Channel starts considering the legacy of the coronavirus

  As lockdown starts to ease, considerations are turning to what the “new normal” will look like, and how it will impact the channel  Continue Reading

• Coronavirus: It’s time to support partners

  Vendors have started to respond to the challenges that partners are facing with more flexibility and support  Continue Reading

• Five-minute interview: Ian Ashworth, Netwrix

  MicroScope puts its questions to Ian Ashworth, channel director for EMEA and APAC at Netwrix  Continue Reading

• How to improve customer experience

  Billy MacInnes questions experts on what they’re doing to digitally transform the customer experience and asks what advice they have for channel partners  Continue Reading

• Q&A: Angela Whitty, managing director, UK&I partner organisation, Cisco

  Cisco’s UK channel chief shares some views on the year ahead and the progress made in the 2019 financial year  Continue Reading

• SD-WAN: How channel can make net gains

  How prepared are channel partners to take advantage of the rapidly growing SD-WAN market?  Continue Reading

• Cyber security and the channel

  Leading lights in the industry give their assessment of where the cyber security market is headed in the second half of 2019  Continue Reading

• Control or shift – channel’s role in the move to business-led IT

  What impact could the shift to business-led IT have on channel partners’ role with customers and the relationships they have grown and developed within customer organisations?  Continue Reading

• Interview: Graeme Watt, CEO of Softcat

  Softcat boss talk about office openings, organic growth and why he doesn't lie awake at night worrying about the future of the channel  Continue Reading

• Brexit crisis: How are businesses coping?

  Theresa May’s impending departure has only deepened the confusion surrounding Brexit – so what does the business community make of it all?  Continue Reading

• Cisco: Partners play a crucial role

  In an on-going series of Q&A's with channel executives the questions this time were put to Angela Whitty, managing director, partner, Cisco UK & Ireland  Continue Reading

• Channel tensions rising

  Competition and strained vendor relationships highlighted as concerns at Canalys Channel Forum  Continue Reading

• Agony aunt as a service

  Impartner’s chief marketing officer Dave R Taylor has some helpful advice for those trying to increase and improve their partner communities  Continue Reading

• Q&A: Luis Murguia, SAP

  SAP is sitting down with partners and customers in Orlando next week, but before that one of its senior channel executives was prepared to give an update about its reseller base  Continue Reading

• Q&A: Tim Maloney, svp worldwide channels, Lifesize

  The video conferencing specialist has launched a partner programme and has shared the details with MicroScope  Continue Reading

• Cloud and IoT to play key role for distributors

  Forecasts coming out of the Global Technology Distribution Council indicate that there is growth out there for disties if they focus in the right technology areas  Continue Reading

• Interview: Microsoft's channel head urges IP development

  Phil Sorgen, Microsoft's worldwide channel head, is encouraging partners to develop their own IP as they embrace a cloud model  Continue Reading

• An A-Z guide to social media

  The use of social media across the channel has grown at an incredible rate, but is often lacking a strategy that really works  Continue Reading

• Two nations, one channel? The impact of Scottish independence on IT

  In September Scotland goes to the polls in a referendum to decide its future and that of the UK, Alex Scroxton considers what the prospect of independence could mean for the channel  Continue Reading

• The channel of the 1990s

  Simon Quicke revisits the events that made the headlines during MicroScope's coverage of the channel in a decade of mergers, acquisitions and the millennium bug  Continue Reading

• Interview: Sir Peter Rigby finds fortune favours the brave

  As is the case with most successful entrepreneurs, it is possible to look at the winner of this year's MicroScope Awards for Channel Excellence lifetime achievement award, Sir Peter Rigby, and gloss over the hard work and visionary career that has ...  Continue Reading