ChannelBuzz.ca

VANCOUVER — Cisco’s message to partners at Partner Summit 2026 is about more than the opportunities created by artificial intelligence. It’s about how partners can turn those opportunities into profitable businesses. In this special edition of The Buzz, we’re reporting from Vancouver with a closer look at the announcements and strategy emerging from the opening day of Cisco&#8217...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: Oracle commits $1 billion to partner growth Oracle has announced a $1 billion commitment to its partner ecosystem over four years, including technical training, skills development, migration resources, demonstration environments and go-to-market support . The investment is intended to help partners build capabilities and deliver more...

Shanel Salomon, president of Optima Csonulting For years, Optima Consulting built a successful business implementing OpenText technology for enterprise customers without maintaining a formal partnership with the vendor. Now, under new leadership and with a renewed emphasis on its partner ecosystem, OpenText has brought Optima back into the fold. In this episode of In The Channel , recorded at Open...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: Huntress expands Ingram Micro distribution relationship into Canada Huntress is extending its existing distribution relationship with Ingram Micro into Canada, creating another route for Canadian managed service providers and solution providers to access the cybersecurity vendor’s portfolio. The expansion also includes Latin Ame...

Shannon Bell , executive vice president and chief product and technology officer at OpenText Even the companies building the technology are discovering that the road to autonomous AI isn’t quite as straightforward as expected. At OpenText World 2026 , Shannon Bell, executive vice president and chief product and technology officer at OpenText, acknowledged that the company had expected to mov...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: Zoom outlines new MSP specialization and partner incentives At its Zoomtopia Partner Connect event, Zoom announced updates to its Zoom Up Partner Program, including a new Managed Service Provider specialization expected in December. The specialization is intended to recognize partners delivering managed services, with anticipated bene...

Todd Cione, chief sales officer at OpenText OpenText is rethinking how it reaches and serves mid-market customers, putting partners at the centre of a significant transformation in its commercial strategy . Speaking with In The Channel at OpenText World 2026 in Orlando, Todd Cione, executive vice president and chief sales officer at OpenText, described a “radical pivot” away from a dir...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: OpenText stakes out its role as the trusted data foundation for enterprise AI: OpenText CEO Ayman Antoun used his keynote at OpenText World 2026 in Orlando on Tuesday to outline a strategy centred on providing the secure, governed enterprise information needed to make artificial intelligence useful in production environments. Rather t...

Dave Baggett , senior vice president and general manager of Kaseya’s Security Suite business Cybersecurity has a complexity problem. And for managed service providers already struggling with limited resources and growing customer expectations, that complexity may be making it harder to deliver the protection businesses need. That’s one of the themes emerging from Kaseya’s new 202...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: ConnectWise works to restore cloud services after Microsoft 365 security incident: ConnectWise continues investigating unauthorized access involving application identities associated with Cloud Backup , formerly known as SkyKick , after attackers used compromised credentials associated with the service to authenticate to customer Micr...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: GTIA launches Managed Intelligence Alliance to establish standards for managed AI services: The Global Technology Industry Association has formally launched its Managed Intelligence Alliance , an initiative designed to help IT service providers deliver artificial intelligence to small and medium-sized businesses securely, responsibly...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: Acronis appoints former WatchGuard CEO Prakash Panjwani: Acronis has named Prakash Panjwani chief executive officer , effective immediately. He succeeds Jan-Jaap “JJ” Jager, who will remain a shareholder in the company. Panjwani previously served as CEO of WatchGuard Technologies and SafeNet. During roughly a decade at WatchGuard, he...

Joe Smolarski , CEO of WatchGuard Artificial intelligence is creating a new challenge for managed service providers: helping customers secure and govern AI tools that employees may already be using without their organizations’ knowledge. According to WatchGuard’s 2026 Cybersecurity Hygiene Report , 64 per cent of employees are using AI tools their employers haven’t approved for w...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: Slide names Austin McChord interim CEO as Michael Fass departs: MSP-focused business continuity and disaster recovery vendor Slide has appointed co-founder Austin McChord interim chief executive officer, effective immediately, following the departure of co-founder Michael Fass. McChord is best known to the channel as the founder of Da...

Jon Kozimor, vice president of Americas channels at Checkmarx Artificial intelligence isn’t just changing how developers write software. By making it possible to produce code more quickly — and allowing people without traditional development backgrounds to create applications, automations and agents — it’s also changing the application security challenge. Recent research from Checkmarx...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: IonQ agrees to acquire Elisity for up to $1.3 billion: Quantum computing company IonQ has entered a definitive agreement to acquire zero-trust security specialist Elisity in an all-stock transaction valued at up to US$1.3 billion, including as much as $150 million in performance-based earnouts. Elisity specializes in identity-based mi...

Gord Phillips, regional vice president of Western Canada sales at Fortinet Fortinet’s new $30 million cybersecurity innovation hub in Calgary is a substantial investment in Western Canada, but the company wants it to be much more than another regional office. In this edition of In The Channel, Gord Phillips, Fortinet’s Western Canada chief, explains why the company chose Calgary and ho...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: CyberFOX acquires Optimize365 to expand Microsoft 365 security: CyberFOX has acquired Optimize365 , adding continuous Microsoft 365 tenant monitoring and security hardening to its growing portfolio. Optimize365 helps organizations identify configuration problems, monitor changes and strengthen Microsoft 365 environments. For MSPs mana...

John Williamson, CRO at Flare Cyber threat intelligence may traditionally be associated with large enterprises and dedicated security teams, but Montreal-based Flare sees an opportunity for MSPs and other channel partners to bring those capabilities to a much broader customer base. The cybersecurity vendor recently launched a new partner program as it looks to expand its channel business and give...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: TD SYNNEX agrees to acquire BlueStar: TD SYNNEX has entered a definitive agreement to acquire specialty distributor BlueStar , adding expertise in automatic identification and data capture, operational technology, mobility, RFID, point-of-sale, digital signage, networking, robotics and security. BlueStar has an established Canadian op...

Kurt Mills, senior vice president of Global Channel Sales at KnowBe4 Kurt Mills is just a few weeks into his new role as global channel chief at KnowBe4 , but he’s already identified some significant changes he believes can help the company reach its next stage of growth. Mills, who most recently led global channels at Trellix, tells In The Channel that KnowBe4 has built a very large partner...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: Frontline Managed Services buys KL Software: Frontline Managed Services has acquired KL Software Technologies and KLoBot , adding Microsoft 365, Azure, Copilot, application engineering and legal technology expertise. The acquisition also becomes the foundation for Frontline Intelligent Applications, a new business combining advisory a...

Brian Downey, senior vice president, product management and marketing at Barracuda AI governance may not be at the top of every SMB customer’s agenda yet. Barracuda ‘s Brian Downey argues that’s exactly why MSPs should be talking to them about it now. Barracuda recently expanded its AI security capabilities with tools designed to discover Shadow AI, monitor the use of AI applicat...

Today’s headline news for Canadian IT solution providers: Broadcom explains Insight’s VMware removal: CRN reports that Broadcom attributes Insight’s North American deauthorization to unmet program requirements. Insight emphasizes its continuing cloud expertise. The new explanation follows September’s removal; partner and customer continuity remain the practical issues. Schn...

Arun Shresthra, co-founder and CEO of BeoyndID In The Channel caught up with Arun Shrestha, co-founder and chief executive officer of BeyondID , at Okta’s Oktane 2026 conference in Las Vegas. Shrestha has been part of the Okta story since 2012, when Okta’s co-founders recruited him to build the company’s customer success and professional services organization, and he founded Beyo...