Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to sip on for Wednesday, June 29, 2016.
Actually, there are 16 entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on. Take a look…
16. Channel Talent: NinjaMSP, which develops RMM (remote monitoring and management) platforms, has hired John Reumann as VP of business development and marketing. He'll drive NinjaMSP's 3rd party integrations while building the company's channel program. Reumann previously held key positions at ThreatTrack Security/GFI Software, Sybari Software and Fortress Technologies. NinjaMSP, launched by several PacketTrap veterans, has been gaining momentum since the company emerged from stealth mode last year.
15. Mac Security Partner Program: SecureMac has launched an Affiliate Partner Program for its PrivacyScan and MacScan 3 platforms.
14. IT Spending Management: SciQuest, a provider of spend management solutions, has launched the SciQuest PartnerSelect Program. The Hackett Group (see item 7) is one of the first partners to join the program.
13. Healthcare IT Merger, IPO: McKesson plans to form a health-care IT joint venture that it expects to take public later in an initial public offering. The new company will combine most of McKesson’s technology business with the bulk of Change Healthcare Holdings Inc., which is majority owned by Blackstone Group LP, The Wall Street Journal says.
12. Government IT Acquisition: Arlington Capital Partners, a private equity firm, has acquired EOIR Technologies, an "early mover in smart sensors, video analytics and directed energy research" serving the federal government. Financial terms were not disclosed. Arlington Capital buys and builds businesses in four verticals: (1) Aerospace and Defense, (2) Government Services and Technology, (3) Healthcare Services and (4) Business Services and Software.
11. RIAs Are The Next Business Continuity Opportunity: Heads up to MSPs and VARs -- it looks like Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) could be a prime target for disaster recovery and business continuity services. Indeed, the SEC has proposed a rule that would require RIAs to "adopt and implement written business continuity and transition plans reasonably designed to address operational and other risks related to a significant disruption in the investment adviser’s operations."
10. Cisco Buys CloudLock: Cisco is acquiring CloudLock Inc., a privately held cloud security company based in Waltham, Mass. CloudLock specializes in cloud access security broker (CASB) technology. The platform provides enterprises with visibility and analytics around user behavior and sensitive data in cloud services, including SaaS, IaaS and PaaS, according to the two companies. Our spin: Watch for potential synergies with OpenDNS, which Cisco acquired in mid-2015.
9. Distribution: NTS Direct, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paragon Communications, has has agreed to distribute Unify -- the Atos brand for communications software and services. NTS Direct services more than 6,500 North American customers.
8. Office 365 for Vertical Markets: Ingram Micro is bundling LawToolBox365 with Microsoft Office 365 as an Outlook add-in. The bundle allows legal professionals to manage deadlines from beginning to end without ever leaving their Outlook Inbox, LawToolBox asserts.
7. Oracle Cloud ERP Partner: The Hackett Group has expanded its existing Enterprise Performance Management/Business Intelligence (EPM/BI) Practice to include a newly-created Oracle ERP Cloud Services Practice. Doug Hansen has joined the group to lead the practice. The Hackett Group is an Oracle Platinum member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN).
6. Interesting Oracle Cloud Stat: Here's an interesting stat... Oracle is selling more cloud-based business software than traditional licensed products in Latin America. The debate: Does that mean Oracle Cloud Latin America is especially strong or was Oracle's legacy software business especially weak -- or a combination of the two? Hmmm...
5. Hillary Clinton's Federal IT Strategy: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Tuesday laid out a technology and innovation agenda ranging from connecting every U.S. household to high-speed internet by 2020 to beefing up cyber security and reducing regulatory barriers, according to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. Recode calls the policy speech a "love letter to Silicon Valley." Here are Clinton's proposed IT policies.
4. Brexit Infects Asia: Proving once again that Brexit has international implications, Asian tech companies are scrambling to assess the consequences of the UK referendum -- and many experts think Brexit will threaten earnings in Japan's tech sector, The Wall Street Journal asserts.
3. Microsoft Azure and Big Data: Hortonworks says Microsoft Azure HDInsight is now its "Premier Connected Data Platforms" cloud solution for running Apache Hadoop in cloud environments. The news comes amid Hadoop Summit 2016, a major gathering this week in San Jose. Meanwhile, a partner ecosystem for Hadoop- and big data-focused channel partner programs is starting to emerge. MapR Technologies -- a Hortonworks rival -- unveiled its formalized Converged Partners program last week.
2. New Veeam CEO, COO: Veeam Software has hired VMware veteran Peter C. McKay as president and COO, and promoted EVP William H. Largent to the CEO pos. Veeam co-founders and Directors, Ratmir Timashev and Andrei Baronov, will remain strategic to the company, playing active roles focusing on market strategy and new product development. At first glance it sounds like a shakeup of sorts but Veeam says the backup and disaster recovery company continues to enjoy double-digit revenue growth rates. Founded in 2006, Veeam currently has 39,000 ProPartners and more than 193,000 customers worldwide, the company says.
1. VAR, MSP, CSP Sales Compensation: What does a sales compensation plan look like once your business shifts to cloud and managed services? Complete our quick Salary and Compensation Survey, and we'll leverage the data in a research report that will debut in Q3 2016. Your contact info and responses will remain confidential.
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