Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to sip on for Friday, February 19, 2016.
Actually, there are 15 items for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on…
15. Late Start: Sorry today's blog was posted a little later than usual. Planes, trains and automobiles. A heads up to first-time readers: Our "5 channel partner updates" entry is typically live each business day no later than 8:00 a.m. ET.
14. Dell-EMC Making Progress: The European Union is set to approve Dell's pending buyout of EMC. Dell still needs financing for the $67 billion deal, and the companies face regulatory scrutiny in additional regions. But Chief Integration Officer Rory Read recently told all Dell employees that the deal is moving forward and still set to close between May and October 2016.
13. AWS Backup: N2W Software has launched version 2.0 of Cloud Protection Manager (CPM 2.0) -- a backup and disaster recovery solution for Amazon Web Services. True confession: I don't know what makes it unique vs. numerous of other AWS backup options that have proliferated the market.
12. Familiar Story, New Chapter: Itopia has launched an "end-to-end cloud services automation platform" equipped to deliver Workspace-as-a-Service (WaaS) on any cloud infrastructure. The platform, called Cielo Suite, is available through U.S. channel partners. Take a closer look and Itopia resembles IndependenceIT. Hmmm...
11. PSA Expansion: Krow Software, a project & professional services automation company built atop Salesforce, says it is seeing "explosive growth and customer success" since launching only six months ago. Actual growth figures are hard to come by, but Krow points to a dozen or so recent customer wins. It almost sounds like a response to FinancialForce's recent PSA momentum statement on Salesforce.com.
9. Uncle Sam's Hacking Strategy: A confidential National Security Council “decision memo" calls on government agencies to develop encryption workarounds, estimates additional budgets and identifies laws that may need to be changed to counter what FBI Director James Comey calls the “going dark” problem: investigators being unable to access the contents of encrypted data stored on mobile devices or traveling across the Internet, according to Bloomberg. Details about the memo emerge as the FBI pushes for Apple's help to unlock an iPhone allegedly used by a terrorist.
8. Docker Container Security: Red Hat and Google earlier this week discovered a container security issue, which could allow hackers to remotely crash servers or execute malicious code. The discovery introduces a fresh round of concerns about proper Docker and container security.
7. IoT Partner Program: The Samsung Artik platform is now commercially available, essentially empowering partners with IoT development kits. The company also introduced a Certified Artik Partner Program (CAPP) to help accelerate the Internet of Things market.
6. Negotiating with Data Terrorists: Struck by ransomware, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid hackers $17,000 in ransom to regain control of the hospital's data. The medical center's president, Allen Stefanek, said, he believed it was the "quickest and most efficient way" to free the Los Angeles hospital's network, which was paralyzed for about 10 days. Hmmm... Can't you just feel the copycat attacks on the way?
5. ConnectWise CloudConsole: ConnectWise's new management tool for Office 365 is now available, though I don't know pricing. CEO Arnie Bellini described CloudConsole in ChannelE2E Podcast 061.
4. Insensitive? That's Just the Start: Justin Keller, founder of Commando.io, an online server management platform, published an Open letter to SF Mayor Ed Lee and Greg Suhr (police chief) that started a firestorm of controversy in San Francisco. In it, he wrote: "I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day. I want my parents when they come visit to have a great experience." Now, Keller -- and by extension, Commando.io -- are taking heat for such insensitive statements...
3. China-US Technology Relations: As a corporate conglomerate in China moves to acquire Ingram Micro, there are signs that the IT cold war between U.S. and Chinese technology companies is starting to thaw -- at least a bit. A key example: Qualcomm said it reached a new patent-licensing deal with Lenovo Group, the last remaining holdout among China’s five largest smartphone makers. Qualcomm has signed more than 80 new patent license agreements in China.
2. One Million Nodes: Continuum says its 5,800 MSPs now manage more than 1 million customer nodes -- or roughly 175 nodes per MSP. The company is set to unveil a "custom designed office space" in Boston on February 25.
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