Sonicwall

The CompTIA Channelcon annual conference was last week in Orlando. This annual four-day educational and networking event draws around 2,000 channel professionals with a large constituency of Managed Service Providers who serve the SMB end-user markets without their own IT personnel. In May of 2011 & 2012 CompTIA published an "Annual Unified Communications Market Trends" report available to members. For 2013 they are renaming the study in response to the evolving definition and blurred boundaries around UC.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Great Lakes Computer is a solution provider which has now reinvented its Dell business into a new company called Optio Data. Great Lakes Computer established itself 27 years ago, and is now in competition with the new Optio Data.

The vice president of sales at Optio Data, Jeff Stevens, said that the move increases confidence in Dell's direct team, enabling it to work better and more closely with the company. Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Oracle platforms are also sold by Great Lakes Computer.