5 Channel Partner Updates: 23 November 2016

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, November 23, 2016. Actually, there are 18 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… 18. M&A: You ever get the feeling that another MSP software company is about to be acquired -- perhaps over the holiday weekend? Hmmm... 17. HP Enterprise Server Weakness: HP Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman conceded that the company's x86 server business needs to execute better with channel partners amid growing cloud services competition... 16. HP Enterprise Acquisitions: Rumors about potential HPE acquisitions also continue. Many pundits think HPE remains overly dependent on hardware sales, and needs recurring revenue software subscriptions to round out the business. Still, some deals may involve a mix of hardware and software consolidation. One ongoing rumor involves HPE potentially acquiring SimpliVity...

15. HP Inc. Earnings: HP Inc. yesterday announced stronger-than-expected quarterly PC sales but continued weakness in its printer business. To the company's credit, CEO Don Weisler and his lieutenants mentioned the channel and partner priorities more than two dozen times during an earnings call with Wall Street. Stephanie Dismore, VP and GM of Americas Commercial Channel, described HP's channel partner strategy to ChannelE2E earlier this month. 14. HP Enterprise Discover London: Speaking of HPE (yet again...) the company's HP Enterprise Discover conference is set for November 21-December 1 in London. Roughly 10,000 customers are set to attend. We'll be tracking HPE developments that emerge at the show... 13. FireEye Under Pressure: Goldman Sachs says there's a 15 percent to 30 percent chance that FireEye gets acquired. The security company faces considerable challenges shifting from high-end hardware based products to broader subscription-based offerings, the investment firm asserts. 12. AWS Disaster Recovery: Druva is the latest company to launch disaster recovery services atop Amazon Web Services. Keep an eye on Druva's Phoenix platform and associated MSP opportunities... 11. Multi-Cloud Management: Watch for Cloudyn to demonstrate multi-cloud management capabilities for MSPs at next week's Amazon AWS re:Invent 2016 conference... Surely, you're not done reading yet. Proceed to page two for items 10 to 1. It's worth the click. Welcome to page two, featuring today's items 10 to 1. 10. Partner Program Part I: FixStream has launched a partner program to help VARs and MSPs sell/support Meridian, an IT operational analytics (ITOA) platform for application services, infrastructure components and more. In some ways, Meridian sounds like a managed services platform that allows partners to perform root cause analysis on IT application and infrastructure performance issues. 9. Partner Program Part II: PaySchools, the education subsidiary of i3 Verticals, has launched a Strategic Alliance Partner program. The program is "designed to bring together complementary organizations, associations and software providers to deliver heightened value to K12 schools and school districts through multi-vendor software solutions." 8. Partner Program Part III: VARStreet, a provider of sales quoting solutions for VARs, has launch of a partner program aimed to boost its sales. VARStreet was briefly owned by Autotask but never quite connected with the MSP crowd. Autotask CEO Mark Cattini ultimately sold the business off upon his arrival to the company. 7. Edge Router Market Disrupted: If you sell edge routers for branch offices and remote locations, it's time to study up on SD-WAN technology. All the pundits say SD-WAN offerings will disrupt edge routers. But I'd like to hear your opinion on the topic. Got on? Put SD-WAN in the subject line and email me: [email protected].

Shekar Ayyar

6. VMware Pursues Telcos, CSPs: VMware is opening its arms wide to telcos and communication service providers (CSPs). The company promoted Shekar Ayyar to executive VP and GM, Telco Group.  No doubt, VMware's cross-cloud architecture and software-defined technologies are central to the effort. Telcos have slashed their hardware infrastructure spending and are shifting their IT budgets toward network functions virtualization (NFV). Big suppliers like Cisco Systems are struggling to adapt to the trend. But VMware sees an opportunity to cash in with its software approach to network modernization. Ayyar reports directly to CEO Pat Gelsinger, which reveals just how strategic the telco and CSP business is to VMware...

5. Data Center Expansion: TierPoint has expanded its Marlborough (Boston West Metro) and Baltimore data centers, adding approximately 15,500 sq. ft. of high-density data center space to its national data center footprint. Both data centers are SSAE 16, SOC 2 Type II compliant facilities. TierPoint invested $13 million in the Marlborough and Baltimore projects, with most of that investment made in 2016, culminating a total of nearly $45 million invested in expansion projects this year. TierPoint, which serves more than 5,000 customers, now has 39 data centers across 20 U.S. markets. 4. Big Turnout, Part I: Much of the cloud industry will gather next week at the Amazon AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas. Yes, we'll be on hand for some key meetings...

Renee Bergeron

3. Big Turnout, Part II: More than 2,000 channel partners and vendors will surface at Ingram Micro ONE next week in Las Vegas. Among the key executives offering updates: Renee Bergeron, senior VP of Ingram's global cloud channel. Hashtag: #ONEIngram. Meetings: Although my schedule is now packed, please email me ([email protected]) if you'd like to check for any last-minute meeting availability. 2. Top Channel Events for 2017: Plan your 2017 conference schedule now. Visit the ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar to pinpoint the dates and locations for hundreds of VAR, MSP and CSP conferences. Or, submit your conference to the event calendar... 1. Happy Thanksgiving: To our readers and our sponsors. It has been 14 months since After Nines Inc. launched ChannelE2E. It remains the fastest-growing IT media site that Amy Katz have ever co-launched. We couldn't make that claim without your daily readership. Thanks for all of your support and have a fantastic Thanksgiving. More: Read all of our daily 5 Channel Partner Updates. Plus: Subscribe to our daily enewsletter. Thanks to those who already have.