At a time when so many hardware companies are trying to reposition around software and cloud services, Lenovo is bucking the trend. A case in point: Throughout the Lenovo Accelerate 2016 partner conference this week in Orlando, the company proudly proclaimed its hardware focus -- from mobile to PCs to the data center.But can Lenovo really make a good living in the hardware universe? That's where four strategic alliances and channel partners enter the conversation. The company has aligned closely with Nutanix, Juniper Networks, SAP and Red Hat to pursue hyperconverged data center opportunities.Yes, leaders like Emilio Ghilardi, president of Lenovo North America, mentioned software defined data center (SDDC) opportunities. But the bigger discussion involved Lenovo's hardware -- and the opportunity for partners to piece together solutions, and then wrap services around those solutions.But wait: Isn't that Cisco's channel message from around 1999? Actually, Lenovo begs to differ. The company insists that Lenovo's R&D -- and its in-house manufacturing -- continue to deliver the best products on the market. One keynote session celebrated the ThinkPad brand. Another mentioned the X1 tablet -- which is designed for partners to service. Yet another session asserted that Lenovo's servers are the most reliable and most preferred offerings on the market.
Channel chiefs, Channel partner events, Channel partner programs, Data centers, Content, Software defined
Not Another Slide Show: Lenovo Accelerate 2016 Recap

You can skip this ad in 5 seconds