VARTech 2014

VARtech 2014! About 2,000 VARs and Vendors converged last week at Bluestar’s annual VARTech event in New Orleans. Delegates were submerged in the latest and greatest in the POS, RFID, Digital Signage, Mobile and ADC sectors. Dean Reverman, Bluestar's Global Marketing Manager said,  "VARTECH 2014 was the most successful event ever with attendees from across the Americas who absorbed 3 days of education and collaboration".

The event kicked off with a news media panel discussion hosted by Dean Reverman. Publishers representing five news media organizations from South and North America shared their research and insights into the channel and market trends.

“The channel is shifting towards a recurring revenue business model, where users pay a monthly fee instead of one big up-front expenditure. This shift from a CapEX to an OPEX financial model will transform the way in which the VARs will do business. Even hardware is getting into the game with HaaS (Hardware as a Service). Smart VARs who stay ahead of this trend will gain a competitive advantage”, says Julian Lee, Publisher of e-ChannelNEWS.com, ecnTV.ca and VARCoach.com.

“Payment compliance issues will be another big challenge that the VARs will encounter with their clients this coming October as the new rules becomes effective”, comments Abby Lorden of Vertical Systems Reseller.

Jim Roddy of Business Solutions Magazine added, “VARs need to get the right training and support from their Vendors in order to tackle the emerging markets and a diverse set of solutions.”

"Digital pay is once again on the table with Apple’s latest announcement in the marketplace. Where others have failed, maybe Apple will succeed. There is much to do on the educational side to get the VARs up to speed”, commented John Stewart of Digital Transactions.

Jenease Sorondo of Global IT says, “VARs in South America are hungry to learn more about the latest retail technology to bring to their clients. The market is growing fast and they see the potential.”

The panel went on to tackle topics such as:

• What should VARs be doing over the next 18 months to be successful?
• Which are the best practices of solution providers?
• Which mobile platforms will be relevant in the future?
• What will a future solution provider look like?
• What should Vendors do to better support their partners?

The IT, POS, Telecom markets are converging rapidly. As the solution providers from each of these sectors collide, there will be winners and losers. With the consolidation of companies thrown into the mix, the key to survival will be in understanding why and how these sectors overlap so you can bring the total integrated solution to your clients before your competitors do. Remember, your clients do not care about the actual technology – just that it will help them in their business without causing more problems. The more pain points that you remove from them, the more you will become the “go-to” partner for their technology needs.

Take for example a retail store. The wireless network and data security is just as important as the POS tool. Many POS and ERP applications are being hosted in the Cloud so secure and always-on Internet access are mission-critical requirements. Businesses simply cannot afford to be without their systems online in real-time.

Digital signage is also a massive growth area for retail and restaurants. The big challenge is keeping the content fresh and exciting to engage the consumer and trigger the desired behavior. It was great to see several providers offering solutions for anyone to easily build content in real-time.

Leveraging mobile devices at the table to advertise, up-sell items and place an order is a massive trend in restaurants. Offering self-serve options, frees up the staff to do other things that better relate to the customer’s experience and satisfaction. Many input and output mobile devices with related technologies were showcased for a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, food, healthcare, Government and transportation. It was also interesting to see the variety of accessories to protect and make these mobile devices wearable. It is truly a World gone mobile!

While the delegates got a huge dose of education and partnership building exercises over the 3-day event, the highlight had to be the VARTech Mardi-Gras Parade that started from the hotel to Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. It had floats, marching bands, elephants and all sorts of street performers. Immediately after, the Canadian delegates gathered at the popular pub and bar “The Swamp” to enjoy some food and lots of drinks as well as the awesome street views from the balcony… thanks Bluestar and Epson!

Learning how to build a stronger business is great. Having fun with new friends in a carnival atmosphere, while walking in the street with a beer in your hand – priceless.

Watch for the video interviews from VARTech coming soon on www.ecntv.ca