25 Scenes From XChange Solution Provider

Everything Channel

XChange Solution Provider 2008, a four-day conference for solution providers and vendors held March 5-8 in Los Angeles, brought together the biggest names in the channel and even featured a number of star sightings. The event marked the formal unveiling of the new Everything Channel name for XChange's parent company. If it's about the channel then you'll find it at Everything Channel.

(CMP Channel, the parent of CRN, VAR Business and ChannelWeb, has been broken apart into its own separate independent business and renamed Everything Channel.)

Mr. President



Everything Channel CEO Robert Faletra told several hundred solution providers in his annual On The Record address at XChange that they need to expand their offerings and build new practices in order to position themselves for hypergrowth.

Stop Whining!



Larry Winget, host of TV's Big Spender, who helps people get their financial house in order in his own version of Finance 911, told solution providers they need to stop whining and take responsibility for their actions.

Jungle Fever



Security vendor Fortinet took the Jungle theme to the extreme with a demo room that was right out the Amazon. If you want to protect yourself from lions, tigers, bears, and of course viruses, malware and every other kind of security threat then Fortinet is the company for you.

Jesse And Me



D&H Distributing Co-President Dan Schwab took a break from the XChange festivities and met civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who was staying at the XChange host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. Schwab announced at the show that D&H was extending an additional $10 million in credit to its solution provider partners in the wake of the economic downturn.

What Downturn?



Robert Nitrio, CEO of Ranvest Associates, an Orangevale, Calif. solution provider that focuses primarily on businesses with less than 50 employees, said he sees the current talk of an economic downturn as a opportunity to deploy remote connectivity/remote access solutions that lower the cost of business for his customers interacting with all of their clients. Nitrio says he's not buying the media hype regarding the economy.

Feeling Economic Pain



Tony Wong, account manager for Nova Networks, Calgary, Alberta, says his company has been hit hard by the economic downturn. "We focus on oil and gas companies and in our area they have cut their IT spending by 60 percent," he said. "A lot of our oil and gas customers are taking their business from Canada and moving it globally because of the dollar parity."

Get On The Bus



Colleen Kapase, VMware director of worldwide channel programs, urged solution providers to get on the virtualization bus and ride it to huge software and services margins. On a $30,098 VMware software deal, a solution provider can make as much as 29 percent margin or $7,320, said Kapase.

Hail Caesar



Kristin Quinn (left) and Brett Copeland as a Roman princess and Centurion invited XChange attendees to a Panasonic party where they received royal treatment. So does this mean a Panasonic Toughbook could survive a gladiatorial contest in the Roman Coliseum? We say yes.

One Big Channel Investment



Fresh off a highly successful Americas Partner Conference, HP Vice President and General Manager of the Solution Partners Organization Adrian Jones told XChange attendees that the technology giant paid over $350 million in PartnerOne channel program rebates in 2007 and plans to top that in 2008. That's one big channel payout.

Highly Reliable Backup



Highly Reliable Systems was showing off its new three terabyte RaidPacs backup. And yes right beside that removable backup is the famous Highly Reliable sales pitch, TapeSucks.com, on free buttons (and t-shirts) for XChange attendees. The Highly Reliable Systems sales pitch is Forget tape or disk to disk to tape and simply move to a highly reliable Raid 5 Removable backup system.

Dissing Tape Backup



Darren McBride, the CEO of Highly Reliable Systems backup, used the vendor's TapeSucks.com sales pitch, to woo customers to his booth at the XChange conference. McBride also heads up one of the most successful solution providers in Nevada, Sierra Computers of Reno, Nevada.

ConnectWise In The House



ConnectWise Vice President Christy Sacco was giving XChange attendees a hands on look at how the Web-based professional services automation software maker is helping VARs be more successful. ConnectWise says its software is now being used by more than 20,000 IT professionals.

IBM's Big Midmarket Bet



Rich Michos, vice president of worldwide business partner strategy for IBM, told XChange attendees that Big Blue is making a $100 million marketing investment in the midmarket this year, and channel partners stand to gain much of the benefit. "With some assistance from IBM.com, we're going to satisfy our midmarket objective almost uniquely through business partners," he said. "That's a profound shift."

Pulling The Juniper Switch



Juniper Vice President of U.S. Channels, Blaine Raddon, was working the booth at the XChange conference urging solution providers to make the switch from Cisco to Juniper, which recently unveiled its first line of enterprise Ethernet switches.

Samsung's Digital Signage Made Easy

Tim Ulmen, (left) principal at Midwest IT Solutions Group, a Witchita, Kansas-based solution provider that recently graduated from Samsung's Digital Signage made easy seminar with Ingram Micro, takes time out to get a closer look at the Samsung digital signage from Samsung Vice President of Marketing Chris Franey and Samsung Channel Marketing Manager Richard Hutton. Ulmen says he's ready to make a Samsung digital signage sales offensive.

Southern (or LA) Hospitality?

CRN Hall of Fame Inductee Frank Mogavero (left to right), the chairman of Data Systems Worldwide (DSW), a Woodland Hills, Calif. solution provider takes time out to pose for a picture in front of the LA Restaurant Savannah with his son Mike, a vice president at DSW, Frank's wife Bea, and Everything Channel Industry Editor Craig Zarley.

The Switch Is On



Channel legend Frank Vitagliano, the senior vice president of worldwide channels for Juniper Networks, told partners it's time for them to make the switch to Juniper. The vendor's new EX-series Ethernet Switch portfolio begins shipping this month.

The Winning Team

The winning solution provider team from Everything Channel Marketing and Branding Your Company Workshop. Robby Hill (fourth from the right), the president and CEO of HillSouth, Florence, South Carolina, was the spokesperson for the team. Hill urged partners to hold a joint tradeshow bringing together customers and vendors. "One of our team members gets 150 - 300 prospects at one show," he said. "It's so big that your able to bring together many different vendors who bring their best stuff." The best thing about this branding is it's paid for with vendor market development funds (MDFs), said Hill.

CA Channel Power



CA Senior Vice President and General Manager Worldwide Channels Bill Lipsin and General Manager Midmarket and Storage Business Unit General Manager Adam Famularo are gearing up to release new channel program incentives aligned with internal compensation changes to drive big sales growth in CA's channel for its new fiscal year which begins April 1.

Making Hay With AMD



Mark Brown, CEO of Total Networking Solutions, Pennsville, N.J., said that he's finding success in the marketplace after making the switch from Intel to AMD. He says his managed services business is soaring and he had one of his best years in 2007 with sales soaring to $10.1 million, compared with $8.2 million in 2006.

Dell's Long Channel Journey



Greg Davis, Dell vice president and general manager of the Americas Channel Group, told XChange attendees that Dell is making progress in what he calls the company's long channel journey. One sign of that progress is that Dell recently put up a partner button on its Dell.com website. Do you want to take the Dell journey?

Show Me The Money



Comedian Jay Mohr, who played super sports agent Bob Sugar in the film "Jerry Maguire" and Jennifer Aniston's romantic lead in "Picture Perfect," had XChange attendees falling off their seats with laughter and rolling in the aisles. Remember, always leave them wanting Mohr.

Cisco's Star Moment



Team Cisco poses with Jay Mohr. (Left to Right) Cisco Senior Vice President of Worldwide Channels Keith Goodwin, Cisco Senior Director of Worldwide Channels Alex Thurber, Jay Mohr, and Cisco PR Manager Gareth Pettigrew.

Dawn And Jay



Everything Channel Event Organizer Dawn Walton, who spearheaded the XChange Conference awards presentation, gets a helping hand with the Channel Champion awards boxes and a laugh from comedian Jay Mohr.