When Lenovo Accelerate 2016 kicks off today in Orlando, Fla., ChannelE2E will arrive with at least five pressing questions for the PC, server and mobile giant -- which aspires to be a hyperconverged data center giant as well. Here's a sampling of what we'll ask.
1. Lenovo Hyperconverged Data Centers: How are Lenovo's relationships with Juniper and Nutanix, in particular, performing in the IT channel? Plus, will distributors play a role in pre-integrating these hyperconverged solutions for partners?
2. Vertical Market Priorities: How is Lenovo helping partners go to market in the public sector and healthcare verticals? We'll gain answers from Executive Director Rob Cato.
3. Lenovo Server Sales: The latest research suggests public cloud services are not killing on-premises server sales. But I'm a little skeptical. I'm curious to learn where Lenovo is seeing server momentum with partners, and where on-premises options are giving way to cloud computing.
4. Lenovo Mobile PC Strategy: Take a look at the Lenovo ThinkPad 13 and you'll discover it's available with either Windows 10 or Chrome OS. Where is each operating system gaining momentum, and where are customers potentially pushing back.
5. Lenovo Venture Capital: Lenovo is organizing a $500 million investment fund to help incubate startups. Will the channel leadership team have any say in where those dollars are invested?
6. Hybrid Cloud Recurring Revenues: Lenovo was one of the first companies to develop MSP-centric on-premises servers. But I don't know if that effort every gained traction. We'll be checking to see if or how partners can wrap recurring revenues around on-premises Lenovo gear, and/or cloud-delivered services from the company.
7. Overall Partner Priorities: Where should partners invest most of their efforts in terms of technologies? We'll pose that question to VP and GM Chris Frey, and North America Channel Chief Sammy Kinlaw.
