Washington Technology Online Channel News

MicroAge Acquires Two California Resellers

MicroAge Inc., Tempe, Ariz., bought two resellers as part of a strategy to boost capabilities and expand integration services, the company said. MicroAge bought Access Microsystems Inc., Cerritos, Calif., and Cass Marketing, Van Nuys, Calif. The acquisitions will strengthen MicroAge's presence in the Los Angeles area, the company said. The acquisitions were made for stock, but terms of the deals were not released.

HP Taps Synnex as Reseller Partner

Synnex Information Technologies Inc., Fremont, Calif., has been picked by Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif., to be one of its Extended Solutions Partners. Under the new program, companies such as Synnex will assemble, customize and distribute HP PC models from HP components supplied by HP to the partner. HP also is now manufacturing PCs based on channel orders rather than forecasts of demand.

Compaq Signs Technical Computing Distributors

Compaq Computer Corp., Houston, signed a pair of technical computing distributors to help push its workstation and server products further into the technical computing market. Agreements were signed with Avnet Inc., Great Neck, N.Y., and Pioneer-Standard Electronics Inc., Cleveland. Compaq wants to target markets such as computer-aided design and engineering, digital content creation and electronics design automation.

AT&T Capital Launches Internet Financing Service

AT&T Capital Leasing Services Inc., Framingham, Mass., has started ResellerLink to provide financing services to small and mid-sized resellers and value-added resellers via the Internet. ResellerLink is specifically aimed at resellers who lease equipment. It will allow resellers to conduct leasing transactions online. The service will be available 24 hours a day and will use encryption technology.

SAS Adds GSA Schedule to Distribution Model

After 20 years using a direct sales model to reach the federal government, SAS Institute, Cary, N.C., is now selling its software via a General Services Administration schedule. The addition of the schedule follows a decision 18 months ago to use indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts to reach the federal market. The company said that the GSA schedule was added because the schedule has become the preferred procurement vehicle.

Tech Data, Security Dynamics Strike Distribution Deal

Security Dynamics Technologies Inc., an enterprise network and data security solutions company based in Bedford, Mass., has picked Tech Data, Clearwater, Fla., as its primary distributor to resellers, service providers and systems integrators. Security Dynamics said it was looking for a distributor because of increasing demand for secure remote access to networks.

NCR, SAS Institute Form Data Mining Alliance

NCR Inc., Dayton, Ohio, and SAS Institute, Cary, N.C., have teamed to develop and deliver data warehousing and mining solutions. They are creating a global strategic alliance to provide complete, fully integrated solutions for companies of all sizes and across all industries. In addition, NCR will become the first reseller of SAS products and services. NCR and SAS Institute will integrate SAS data management software and data mining, data extraction and transformation tools into NCR's data warehouse solutions.

Kodak Installs Verity Engine

Eastman Kodak Inc., Rochester, N.Y., will use a search engine by Verity Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., as part of its Eastman Software Document Manager for Microsoft Exchange. The search engine will be embedded in the document management solution. Users will be able to access documents in various folders through a single search interface.

Novell Opens Boot Camp for Partners

With new products such as GroupWise 5.2 being released, Novell Inc., Provo, Utah, wants its channel partners to go into training. The company is planning a series of two-day boot camps for 900 channel partners that will be held Oct. 27 through Nov. 11 in Provo.

-Nick Wakeman