What’s Up This Week: April 11-15

The SMB channel’s week ahead includes major events from three of the industry’s top distributors, smaller events from StorageCraft, Continuum, and SMB Nation, and a tax day false alarm.

Monday, April 11th

• The 2016 Ingram Micro Cloud Summit gets underway in Phoenix. It concludes on Wednesday.

Reader ROI: If you’re among the more than 1,300 partners expected to attend, get ready for updates on the distributor’s newest cloud offerings (some of which will be very new indeed—hint, hint) from Ingram Micro’s Renee Bergeron and Nimesh Dave. Also keynoting at this year’s show are one-time moon stroller Buzz Aldrin (pictured, in earlier days) and Thomas Dolby of She Blinded Me with Science fame, who more recently has been consulting with Silicon Valley startups and advising venture capital firms. ChannelPro will be on the scene with complete coverage.

• The 2016 Varnex Spring Conference, which officially opened over the weekend, gets started in earnest. Hosted in Dallas, it continues through Wednesday.

Reader ROI: The first of two semi-annual events for members of SYNNEX’s Varnex partner community, this year’s Spring Conference will offer attendees a chance to learn about established and emerging market opportunities from senior SYNNEX executives—including CEO and chairman Kevin Murai—as well as top vendors. ChannelPro will be covering this event live too.

Tuesday, April 12th 

• The Tech Data TechSelect Spring 2016 Partner Conference kicks off in Tucson, Ariz. It runs through Friday.

Reader ROI: The third of this week’s four disti events, this one will offer up insights on finance, sales, and people management from Tech Data executives as well as product and market updates from leading vendors. In addition, leadership expert/funnyman Jeff Havens (pictured) will discuss creating a culture of fear, demoralizing employees, and other things managers shouldn’t do in a presentation entitled “Unleash Your Inner Tyrant!” As further proof that we get around here at ChannelPro, we'll have in-person updates from this event too. 

• Security vendor Webroot shares news of something that could well save MSPs time and money.

Reader ROI: And that tantalizing hint is all we can give you for now. Come back tomorrow for more information.

• Machine data analytics service provider Sumo Logic makes a major announcement of likely interest to MSPs.

Reader ROI: Once more, we must leave you hanging on the specifics for now, but will have details for you right here on Tuesday.

• SMB Nation holds an Office 365 and Windows 10 Road Show event in Washington D.C. Another show takes place in Charlotte, NC., on Thursday.

Reader ROI: Topics addressed during the one-day conferences will include deploying Windows 10, delivering line of business applications via Microsoft Azure, and using Azure Active Directory with Office 365. Sponsors AppRiver, Cirius, SkyKick, and Webroot will also speak.

• HTC unveils its latest flagship smartphone.

Reader ROI: Promotional materials on HTC’s website suggest that battery life, camera clarity, and sound quality will all be selling points for the new device, which is expected to be named the HTC 10. Its predecessor, the HTC One M9 (pictured), won praise from reviewers but made little headway with consumers. HTC badly needs its new handset to be a hit.

• Microsoft stops offering extended support for SQL Server 2005.

Reader ROI: You might not think anyone out there is still running this ancient (in IT years) edition of Microsoft’s database platform, but odds are good at least a few of you still have customers using it. And after today they’re on their own as far as security updates are concerned, because Microsoft won’t be issuing patches anymore unless you pay them handsomely for a “custom support” contract.

Wednesday, April 13th 

• The SYNNEX Red, White & You partner conference opens in Dallas. It concludes on Friday.

Reader ROI: Held the same week and in the same city as SYNNEX’s Varnex Spring Conference, Red, White & You is for partners that do business in the federal/state/local government, education, and healthcare verticals. This year’s agenda features a keynote by Edward Davis (pictured), the former commissioner of the Boston Police Department responsible for the frenzied, massive, and ultimately successful manhunt for the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombings.

• StorageCraft’s 2016 Blastoff Tour of disaster recovery roadshows rolls into Dallas. It arrives in Denver tomorrow.

Reader ROI: These free half-day events cover StorageCraft’s solutions, partner program, and product roadmap, and feature an hour of technical training as well. There are 19 stops in all on the tour, which runs through May.

Thursday, April 14th

• Continuum holds a 2016 RMM & BDR Technical Roadshow in Columbia, Md.

Reader ROI: The free one-day conference focuses on RMM-related topics before lunch and data protection afterwards. Attendees can come for the whole show or either half.

Friday, April 15th

• It’s tax day!

Reader ROI: Well, not really. Tax day actually falls on April 18th this year, because government employees in Washington D.C. have April 15th off in honor of Emancipation Day. In fact, taxes will be due on the 18th again next year and the 17th the year after that. Still doesn’t feel like enough time to complete your return? Just thank your lucky stars you’re not living back in 1914, when the first tax day took place on March 1st. Not that there weren’t comparative advantages to being a taxpayer in those days. Federal income tax rates started at 1 percent for income over $3,000 and topped out at just 6 percent for top earners.