What were solution providers talking about with CRN last week? For starters, there were a couple of notable acquisitions, and the addition of a dedicated Apple practice by one of the big channel players.

Jeff Sessions (pictured), CEO of solution provider Red River, based in Claremont, N.H., after it announced the acquisition of Sacramento, Calif.-based Natoma Technologies to boost its position in the fast-growing software space and gain a foothold in the Western United States.

"Everything we do now is based on software. Every hardware OEM is starting to look at their software play and trying to reimagine themselves in a software world."