Have you read all the news and articles we published on thecannatareport.com in October? It’s been a busy month for travel as we’ve traveled to the Sharp dealer meeting, the Continuum Navigate conference, the ACDI meeting, Printing United, and Konica Minolta’s dealer conference in Carlsbad, CA. Meanwhile, our President & CEO CJ Cannata is in Japan this week visiting Epson. Because of this heavy travel schedule, we’re still working on some of our event coverage. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a significant amount of news in the month of October. There were new product introductions, awards, acquisitions, including a major surprising one, compelling survey findings, personnel movement, and dealer updates thanks to our new column, “Dealer Check-in.”
In case you missed them, let’s recap what we consider the most interesting stories of the month of October as covered by The Cannata Report beginning with the acquisitions. For the rest of the news of the month, visit www.thecannatareport.com.
Consolidation Job: ConnectWise Acquires Rival Continuum – Consolidation has come to the MSP world with the acquisition of Continuum by rival MSP platform provider ConnectWise. The acquisition was announced at ConnectWise’s annual conference in Orlando on October 30. Read more.
ImageNET Consulting Acquires Managed IT Company I.T. Guys – ImageNet Consulting has acquired Oklahoma City-based Managed IT company, I.T. Guys. I.T. Guys was originally established in 2005, serving Oklahoma’s business community and providing data protection, cloud computing, and IT support for all business hardware & software. Read more.
RPG Squarefoot Solutions Acquires G&H Service Company – Mike Dudek and Rich Wisniewski of Zygoquest Group “seeking to unite” served as the advisor to RPG Squarefoot Solutions and its owners Laura and Mark Kadonoff on the purchase of assets from G & H Service Company. Read more.
Office1 Partners with Chaparral Business Machines – Office1 has announced that they have partnered with Chaparral Business Machines, Inc. to expand their offerings in the state of California. Read more.
OWNIT: 10 Highlights from Sharp’s 2019 Dealer Meeting – The setting for Sharp’s 2019 dealer meeting was The Wynn in Las Vegas, Oct. 1-3. The theme was OWNiT, which meant owning all the technology in the office as opposed to owning IT, which is how some attendees, myself included, initially interpreted it. Considering much of the new technology introduced by Sharp was a good fit for a Managed IT operation, it wasn’t a bad thing to have a theme with an unintentional double meaning. With some 545 dealers representing 160 dealerships and another 400+ representing Sharp, exhibitors, press and analysts in attendance, the joint was jumping from the first general session to the second as well as in the seminars on the first day. Read more.
6 Surprises from the Continuum Navigate Conference – The Continuum Navigate conference at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, Oct. 14-16 was an informative event for anyone interested in learning more about the IT services world. This was the second of two Navigate conferences in the U.S. The previous was held two weeks before in Pittsburgh. Read more.
Konica Minolta Announces Workplace of the Future Strategic Initiatives – At its Dealer Summit in Carlsbad, California, Konica Minolta Business Solutions, U.S.A. announced its newest strategic initiatives to support the workplace of the future. The event theme, “Igniting Connectivity,” represents advancements within Konica Minolta’s IT Services Division, All Covered that will bring the latest technology to its channels. The company essentially combines its IT services, office solutions portfolio and consulting services to create its connected workplace platform, a digital-focused workplace of the future. Read more.
Frankly Speaking: The Doug Albregts Factor – As we previously reported on www.thecannatareport.com, former Sharp President & CEO Doug Albregts joined Marco as its new president, effective October 1, 2019. The timing of this announcement coincidentally coincided with Sharp’s dealer meeting, Oct. 1-4 in Las Vegas. During the meeting, Sharp highlighted its Smart Office initiatives with some interesting collaboration capabilities. New were a Windows Collaboration Display and Synappx applications, which further facilitate collaboration in the office and meeting rooms. Allow us to share four salient points about the potential impact of these products for Sharp and its dealers while also factoring in the implications of Albregts hiring. Read more.
5 Things We Learned in Our 34th Annual Dealer Survey – If you haven’t seen The Cannata Report’s 34th Annual Dealer Survey in our October issue yet, you may have missed out on the following five findings. Read more.
Continuum Data Reveals SMBs Lack Cybersecurity Prevention Tools – Continuum has announced new data revealing how managed service providers (MSPs) and their small-and-medium-sized business (SMB) customers lack the tools and resources needed to defend against rising cyberattacks and threats. The report, entitled “Under Attack: The State of MSP Cybersecurity in 2019,” found significant shortcomings in how MSPs offer cybersecurity, emphasizing the need for both MSPs and their SMB customers to reevaluate their cybersecurity strategies and identify effective solutions to bridge the widening IT skills gap. Read more.
Name Changer: Canon Announces Corporate Name Change for Océ Brand – Canon Inc. and Oce’ Holding B.V. have announced the official corporate name change of Canon Group company Oce’ to Canon Production Printing. After joining the Canon Group in 2010, Oce’ has continued to develop and manufacture its printing products under the Oce’ brand. By renaming Oce’ to Canon Production Printing and integrating the Oce’ products under the Canon brand, Canon will create brand unity across all areas of its printing business. The change of the company name comes into effect as of 1 January 2020. Read more.
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