Lenovo this week at the CES 2020 conference launched ThinkSmart Manager, which affords solution providers an opportunity to manage a fleet of ThinkSmart devices using a cloud-based management platform provided by Lenovo. At the same time, Lenovo launched ThinkSmart View, a mobile computing device based on a Qualcomm APQ8053 system-on-chip (SoC) platform optimized for Microsoft Teams collaboration software.
ThinkSmart Manager provides a single console to determine the status of select ThinkSmart devices that can be employed to generate reports on issues and usage trends. ThinkSmart Manager also leverages Lenovo Secure Authentication software to enable solution providers to remotely change BIOS and supervisor passwords in addition to locking down USB ports.
At a time when many organizations are in the process of migrating from Windows 7 to Windows 10, Lenovo is moving to expand the range of Windows platforms, including traditional and foldable notebooks and all-on-one desktops launched at CES, that it makes available to channel partners. Thes platforms will be required to drive a much wider set of use cases involving everything from 5G wireless networks to augmented and virtual reality applications using PCs optimized for those applications, says Rob Cato, vice president for North America channel at Lenovo.
The goal is to make it possible for Lenovo channel partners to manage a broad portfolio of devices within the context of a Smart Office without having to build their own management platform, adds Cato.
Cato also pledged that channel partners will find plenty of inventory available in the channel to meet those demands. Lenovo this year will also revamp its partner portal to provide a wider range of partners with a much broader range of multimedia content and launch a variety of channel initiatives spanning both its device and data center portfolios, added Cato.
“It’ll be a persona-based platform,” says Cato.
Finally, Cato says Lenovo will also be making a concerted effort to encourage more partners to join the top tier of its channel program.
Of course, while Windows 10 represents a significant opportunity for channel partners in the coming year, Lenovo is not ignoring the rise of alternative platforms either. Lenovo as CES also launched additional Chromebooks to serve customers that have adopted Google cloud applications.
While there is still money to be made reselling hardware, in most cases hardware has become a means to a larger more profitable solutions end. Regardless of solution selected, however, all solutions generally require some type of new hardware to one way or another be acquired.
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