Samsung Canada doubles down on enterprise solutions

Samsung Canada has appointed Mary Peterson vice president of IT and enterprise solutions, as part of the company’s re-concerted effort to gain market share in the Canadian B2B and enterprise space.

Peterson is a 20-year veteran of Microsoft Canada, and a former board member for the Canadian Channel Chiefs Council, an organization whose membership consists of IT vendors, solution providers and distributors representing the interests of technology channel professionals in Canada.

In 2012, Peterson was made national director of channels for multinational enterprise software vendor SAP, where she worked on expanding SAP’s big data, business intelligence and predictive analytics offerings towards their overall goal of driving a greater share of global revenue through their channel ecosystem.

Peterson’s appointment as vice president of IT & enterprise solutions coincides with the Canadian launch of a flagship tablet, the Galaxy TabPro S, a premium hybrid tablet-laptop running Windows 10 Pro, weighing 1.53 pounds and priced at C$1,299, with a 12-inch Super AMOLED display, an Intel Core m3 processor, 4GB RAM, and a 128GB  SSD.

The Galaxy TabPro S, a tablet-laptop hybrid aimed at both power consumer and enterprise users, is the result of years of collaboration between Samsung, Intel and Microsoft, and addresses a market that Samsung estimates globally to be approximately 1.4 billion mobile workers.

International Data Corporation, remarking on the growth of hybrid laptops with detachable keyboards like the Galaxy TabPro S, has forecast, “Everyone in the industry recognizes that traditional personal computers like desktops and notebooks will potentially be replaced by detachables in the coming years,” adding that, “Microsoft-based devices will begin taking share from the other platforms, most notably Android,” and furthermore projecting that, “Windows should command over 50% of the detachable market over iOS and Android, and is slated to capture almost 75% by 2020.”

IDC Canada also estimates that approximately 75% of the Canadian labour force, more than 14 million people, will soon be considered mobile workers, making the need to develop mobile enterprise tools more pressing.

As part of Samsung Canada’s push into the Canadian enterprise market, Peterson has already implemented a pilot program with two Canadian distributors, offering SIM-locked Galaxy G7 handsets for approximately 10 to 15 channel partners.

Part of Peterson’s mandate at Samsung Canada will also be to focus on high-growth verticals such as large-format digital signage and data centres.