ChannelBuzz.ca
ChannelBuzz.ca
Cutting through the noise for Canadian VARs and MSPs
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Episodes
How financing can help channel partners navigate higher IT costs 03.09.2026 18:47
Jim Moschos, national sales director of technology finance at Mitsubishi HC Capital Canada Canadian businesses buying servers and IT infrastructure are facing a difficult combination of higher hardware costs, currency pressure and continuing uncertainty in the technology supply chain. The result is serious sticker shock for many SMB customers, with some putting off infrastructure projects or looki...
Plugable CEO Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy on bringing Amazon-tested peripherals to the IT channel and introducing modular AI hardware 02.09.2026 26:20
Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy, CEO of Plugable The IT channel is no stranger to consumer brands attempting to make the leap into the B2B world, but few have navigated it as deliberately as Plugable . Originally known as a digital-native brand that built its reputation on Amazon , the connectivity and peripherals vendor is now turning its full attention to the channel. On this episode of In The Channel,...
The Buzz: TD Synnex deepens PartnerFirst, Barracuda collapses partner tracks, and AWS pushes outcome-based AI billing 02.09.2026 5:06
Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: TD Synnex : TD Synnex says it has expanded its PartnerFirst platform with Microsoft and Cisco deal data, adding new connectors for Salesforce and QuickBooks Online that allow deal information to flow directly into partner CRM and accounting systems. The AI assistant is now available in Slack and Webex alongside Microsoft Teams, and a...
Frank Balonis on why Canadian partners need to start CPCSC prep now, and what CMMC taught us 01.09.2026 25:03
Frank Balonis, chief information security officer at Kiteworks The Canadian Program for Cyber Security Certification ( CPCSC ) officially launched Level 1 in mid-April, and for Canadian partners serving the defense supply chain , the clock is already ticking. In this episode of In The Channel, Kiteworks chief information security officer Frank Balonis joins us to break down what the framework cov...
The Buzz: KnowBe4 names Kurt Mills channel chief, CBTS launches Forge Agents, and Sublime Security integrates with CrowdStrike 01.09.2026 4:49
Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers : KnowBe4 names Kurt Mills channel chief: KnowBe4 has appointed Kurt Mills as channel chief, according to an announcement scheduled for release this morning. The company says Mills will lead the evolution of its global partner programs, operations, and channel routes to market. Mills brings more than 25 years of cybersecurity channel e...
Is technology expense management the MSP practice you haven’t considered? 27.08.2026 21:22
Jason Wieser, senior vice president of mid-market and channel sales at Calero If technology expense management isn’t on your radar as a practice area, Jason Wieser thinks that’s about to change. Wieser, senior vice president of mid-market and channel sales at Calero and a 2026 CRN Channel Chief , joins In The Channel to talk about why MSPs and VARs are leaving real recurring revenue on...
Red Hat’s Kennedy on why the swim lanes are gone – and what the partner program looks like now 26.08.2026 32:26
Red Hat's Kevin Kennedy says the era of clearly defined partner swim lanes is over - and the company's partner program has had to fundamentally rethink how it rewards partners to match the way business actually gets done.
The Buzz: ePlus buys Daymark, Cohesity expands Aspire partner program, and Exclaimer builds an MSP lane 26.08.2026 4:42
ePlus acquires Daymark Solutions for its Microsoft cloud push, Cohesity adds specializations and rebates to its Aspire partner program, and Exclaimer debuts MSP Connect with PSA integrations. Plus, IBM deploys thousands of AI agents and CrowdStrike warns on frontier AI threats. Here's your Wednesday, August 26 channel briefing.
Cisco brings sovereign infrastructure to Canada with air-gapped portfolio 25.08.2026 19:00
Cisco has launched its Sovereign Critical Infrastructure portfolio in Canada, giving government, financial institutions, and healthcare providers a new option for air-gapped, on-premises deployment. Cisco Canada president Raj Juneja says the offering is open to the full partner ecosystem, with certifications consistent with existing portfolio requirements.
The Buzz: Cisco Canada launches sovereign critical infrastructure, ScanSource buys MicroAge for $220.5 million, and ESET Canada names cybersecurity scholarship winners 25.08.2026 5:03
Cisco Canada launches its Sovereign Critical Infrastructure portfolio with Bell as lead partner, ScanSource acquires MicroAge for $220.5 million to augment partner services, and ESET Canada names three Women in Cybersecurity Scholarship winners. Plus CrowdStrike expands Project QuiltWorks to SMBs, Palo Alto Networks and NTT Data sign a $1 billion pact, and Auvik promotes Daniel Ochoa to CRO.
ESET’s Tony Anscombe on why breached SMBs feel more confident, and where MSPs fit in the insurance collision 20.08.2026 40:01
ESET Chief Security Evangelist Tony Anscombe joins In The Channel to unpack the 2026 SMB Cyber Readiness Index. We discuss the confidence paradox, the collision between cyber insurance and MSPs, why AI headlines distract from phishing fundamentals, and why monthly micro-training is the antidote to checkbox compliance.
Buffering the madness: Dynabook Canada on building a channel in the age of RAMageddon 19.08.2026 40:19
Dynabook Canada president and CEO Carmine Cinerari joins In The Channel to discuss the company's new nationwide distribution partnership with TD SYNNEX Canada, and what it looks like to execute a channel-first strategy when memory prices are rewriting the economics of endpoint hardware.
Coro CEO Joe Sykora on the case against Frankenstein security stacks 18.08.2026 37:20
Coro chief executive Joe Sykora talks platform consolidation, automated alert remediation, and the agentic AI question reshaping how MSPs should think about their security stacks.
Logging in, not breaking in: Blackpoint Cyber’s Wil Santiago on the 2026 threat landscape 13.08.2026 30:07
Wil Santiago, chief security and trust officer at Blackpoint Cyber, joins In The Channel to unpack the company's 2026 Annual Threat Report - and what thousands of real SOC incidents reveal about how attackers are using trusted credentials and IT tools to get inside MSP environments undetected.
The Buzz: Blumira launches universal AI security command center, Vistera brings AI professional services to Canadian SMBs, and CrowdStrike warns on ransomware targeting MSPs 13.08.2026 4:25
Blumira unveils a universal AI command center for security tools, Vistera launches a Canadian-built professional services platform for SMBs, and CrowdStrike warns that Punk Spider ransomware attacks on MSPs are up 134 percent. Plus ConnectSecure expands M365 security, GTIA warns on AI adoption gaps, and Verizon channel chief Mark Tina departs for Humana.
From order takers to order makers: Sanjib Sahoo on Ingram Micro’s AI revenue intelligence momentum 12.08.2026 29:50
Sanjib Sahoo joins the podcast to discuss Ingram Micro's record Q2 results and how the Xvantage platform is moving the channel from 'instinct to intelligence' with the new XI Hub and MCP Server.
The Buzz: Expel extends MDR to AI attack surface, Huntress warns on autonomous adversaries, and Myriad360 crosses $1 billion 12.08.2026 4:06
Expel launches the first MDR for the full AI attack surface, Huntress CEO Kyle Hanslovan says autonomous AI attacks are already here, and Myriad360 acquires F3 Technology Partners to cross $1 billion in revenue. Plus Nutanix and Halo announce MCP integrations for MSPs, and CRN names its Annual Report Card winners. Here's your Wednesday, August 12 channel briefing.
Exabeam rebuilds its MSSP commercial model to fix the economics of managed SIEM 11.08.2026 38:57
Exabeam says it used to treat MSSPs like regular resellers, with deal-by-deal discounts that made margin predictability nearly impossible. Global channel chief Craig Patterson and senior director of service provider alliances Peter Stratis join In The Channel to explain what changed - and what it means for Canadian service providers building managed SIEM practices.
The Buzz: Schneider Electric brings multi-chemistry UPS to the edge, Ingram Micro connects AI to partner workflows, and D&H expands Dell storage distribution 11.08.2026 5:22
Schneider Electric debuts a multi-chemistry UPS platform for distributed environments, Ingram Micro says hundreds of partners are using its Xvantage Integration Hub and MCP Server, and D&H Distributing picks up Dell's full enterprise storage portfolio in the U.S. and Canada.
Chris Fabes brings three-sided channel view to TD SYNNEX Canada 06.08.2026 31:06
The new president of TD SYNNEX Canada talks about his transition from SHI, respecting Mitch Martin's 35-year legacy, and why Canadian channel players should be "proud and loud."
Michelle Biase on what HP Canada learned from a year of seeding AI PCs to partners 22.07.2026 33:43
Michelle Biase has been president and managing director of HP Canada for eighteen months. In that time, the company has grown its Canadian sales team by fifty percent, shifted to a unified One HP go-to-market model, and watched AI PC sales accelerate to nearly two-thirds of PC volume. In this episode, she sits down with In the Channel to talk about what partners actually did with early AI PC seedi...
Mark Sutor on Trust X Alliance in the AI age: The original distributor as platform 21.07.2026 28:59
Access Group president Mark Sutor joins In The Channel to discuss the Trust X Alliance Global Leadership Summit, the TXA AI agent, and how Canadian partners fit into a rapidly expanding global peer community.
The Buzz: TD SYNNEX names Chris Fabes in Canada, Huntress flags Azure CLI password spray attacks, and MSSP retention moves beyond salary 21.07.2026 3:58
TD SYNNEX appoints Chris Fabes as President of Canada, Huntress warns of massive Azure CLI password spray attacks targeting non-human identities, and MSSPs face an employee retention problem driven by invisible manual work.
Exclusive Networks’ Carrie Hopkins on building specialist distribution in Canada and what Ignition means for partners 16.07.2026 19:01
Exclusive Networks' Carrie Hopkins joins In The Channel to talk about building a hyper-focused cybersecurity distribution model in Canada, the launch of the Ignition channel incubator, and why some of what Exclusive is doing might remind certain channel veterans of something they've seen before.
The Buzz: OpenAI launches partner network, Carbon60 makes the MSP 501, and RecordPoint goes channel-first 16.07.2026 4:09
OpenAI's inaugural Partner Network is officially live with $150 million in backing, Carbon60 represents Canada on the 2026 MSP 501, and RecordPoint has launched a channel-first global partner program.
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