Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, November 4, 2016.
Actually, there are 16 (not too shabby) entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to sip on. Take a look…
16. Earnings: I believe Arrow, Carbonite, CSC and FireEye are expected to announce quarterly results later today... Among the developments to watch:
- How is Arrow Electronics performing amid so much M&A activity in the IT distribution market?
- Has Carbonite continued to accelerate its midmarket momentum with MSPs? And what will the executive team say about the new E2 hybrid cloud offering?
- When will CSC complete the buyout of HP Enterprise's IT services business?
- Can FireEye regain channel partner momentum after alienating some partners with its consulting services in recent years?
15. Brexit Delay and Potential Fallout?: Britain's plans to leave the European Union were thrown into confusion Thursday after a court ruled that members of parliament must be given a say in the process, CNN reported. Regardless of the outcome, the near-term "uncertainty" isn't healthy for IT service providers in Britain. Amid the weak British Pound, Microsoft has confirmed plans to raise cloud and software prices in January 2017. And Apple has already raised prices considerably. There are also signs that major banks could pull some talent and offices out of the country. The faster Britain's parliament reaches a conclusion here the better for all parties...
14. EU-US Privacy Agreement Faces Pushback: The new EU-US Privacy Shield agreement, essentially the successor to Safe Harbor, faces a second legal challenge -- this time from a French privacy advocacy group, according to Reuters. Privacy Shield is designed to protect user data as it potentially moves between European Union countries and the U.S. Numerous technology companies and data center providers have been preparing to support the agreement. But some firms are taking a wait-and-see approach amid the emerging legal challenges...
13. Build Your Own Chatbots: We're still watching to see how emerging chatbot technology impacts IT service desks across the IT channel. Among the latest developments: Do-it-yourself tools that help you make your company's own chatbot. But do the tools work as advertised? Hmmm...
12. Lenovo Explores Artificial Intelligence: The PC giant announced a quarterly profit today but that mostly involved a property sale. While Lenovo remains committed to PCs, the company continues to increase its data center investments. The other key focus area: Smart home, smart office, smart healthcare and other areas that leverage artificial intelligence, Lenovo said in a filing.
11. Microsoft vs Slack: The new Microsoft Teams platform has surfaced... Think of it as Microsoft's group chat answer to Slack...
10. Partner Programs:
- Cirrity: The cloud provider has launched a Veeam-powered backup service for channel partners...
- InfoVista has launched a new partner program to help drive the market for application aware SD-WAN solutions. By the Way: My inbox is increasingly flooded with SD-WAN announcements that specifically involve channel partners...
- MegaPath, a provider of voice, data, security and cloud services in North America, has hired Josh Redick and Tom Rancel as Regional Channel Directors. They'll work closely with partners in MegaPath’s Northeastern and Southeastern regions, respectively.
- Parallels has enhanced its partner program for the company's Remote Application Server offerings.
9. M&A: SoftwareONE, has completed its acquisition and integration of House of Lync. That set the stage for SkpeSimple, a unified communications solution that streamlines Skype for Business migrations, the company says.
8. Ingram Micro Sale: U.S. antitrust officials have approved Ingram Micro's $6 billion sale to Tianjin Tianhai, a Chinese logistics giant. The deal is expected to be finalized before the end of 2016. Ingram has said all along that it expected regulatory approval. The distributor also maintained that it would remain an approved IT supplier to the U.S. government.
7. IT Monitoring Market Size: The global IT infrastructure monitoring market will reach $34.1 billion by 2024, up from $19.24 billion in 2015. That's a healthy 6.6 percent compound annual growth rate, according to Persistence Market Research. The tricky part? MSPs need to extend from PC and server monitoring to application performance monitoring (APM) and cloud workload monitoring...
6. Mojo WatchGuard: Mojo Networks, which focuses on secure, cloud-managed WiFi, is partnering up with WatchGuard Technologies, which specializes in network security. Under terms of the agreement, WatchGuard will license Mojo’s technology to power its next-generation portfolio of Secure Wireless solutions.
5. Lawyers and Office 365: If you serve the legal market, you may want to check this out...
4. Multiple Microsoft Azure Cloud Updates: They include...
- Microsoft is launching a Hadoop-friendly data lake...
- Microsoft Azure Active Directory Domain Services are now generally available...
- A catalog of Azure-certified IoT devices -- which could be highly valuable as partners seek to lock down IoT connections...
- Another Azure Relay preview -- which essentially provides secure connections between Azure and on-premises IT assets...
3. Next Week: We're attending Synnex Varnex and ConnectWise IT Nation. If you see us be sure to say hi.
2. ChannelE2E FAQ: Need help on managed services pricing, company valuations, IT tool selection and more? Check out the ChannelE2E FAQ. We'll be updating it with more entries later today...
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