5 Channel Partner Updates: 13 February 2017

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Monday, February 13, 2017. Actually, there are 18 timely 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. Application Performance Monitoring (APM): Keep a close eye on this market. The competitive landscape will evolve a bit later this week... ... ... 17. Toshiba Meltdown: Watch for Toshiba to unveil a massive writedown related to the company's U.S. nuclear business. The Toshiba writedown, which could reach nearly $6 billion according to some reports, threatens the very foundation of Toshiba's overall business... 16. Small Business Retirement Plans: Keep a close eye on potential regulatory shifts for state-mandated small business retirement plans. A Congressional vote on some of the proposals could come as soon as this week, Forbes says. 15. President Trump and Small Businesses: Entrepreneur analyzes the potential impact of President Trump's tax plans on small businesses. 14. Managed Security Services: Proficio, a managed security service provider (MSSP), has bolstered the company's Synergy Partner Program. Also, Lee Sher has joined Proficio as senior director of channel sales. Proficio raised $12 million in November 2016. 13. IoT Managed Services: The worldwide market for IoT managed services will have a 15.3 percent compound annual growth rate from 2016 through 2022, according to Orbis Research. But where are the managed IoT opportunities for MSPs? We'll share more thoughts soon.

Jason Jacobson

12. MSP Succession Plan: NetGain Technologies has named Jason Jacobson CEO and Brendan Jacobson president of the managed IT services company. The brothers are the third generation to helm NetGain since Don Jacobson, their grandfather, founded the company in 1984. Don’s sons Mark Jacobson (former CEO) and Jim Jacobson (former COO) led NetGain’s transition from VAR (value-added reseller) to MSP (IT managed services provider), the company said. We'll share more details soon about the Lexington, Kentucky-based company's business. 11. Cisco vs. Avaya: Cisco Systems has penned an open letter to Avaya customers, claiming that Cisco is a trusted option for customers who are worried about Avaya's recent chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Mitel and ShoreTel have made similar claims vs. Avaya in recent weeks. Avaya, meanwhile, is hosting its Engage 2017 conference for partners and customers this week in Las Vegas. Though still navigating the bankruptcy waters, Avaya posted reasonably healthy quarterly financial results last week. But wait. More content awaits you on page 2. Proceed to page two now and sip up the remaining items... Welcome to page two. Enjoy a second serving of channel content -- items 10 to 1 -- here.

Mazzola, Jain, Cafiero and Jiandani

10. Cisco Veterans Surface Again: The team that sold three “spin-in” startups to Cisco has launched Pensado, according to The Information. This time around founders Mario Mazzola, Prem Jain, Luca Cafiero, and Soni Jiandani don’t have formal ties to Cisco, as they did with previous startups Andiamo, Nuova, and Insieme, SDXcentral notes. 9. Peak 10 & Level 3: Peak 10, which positions itself as a national IT infrastructure, connectivity and CSP, now offers Level 3 network services across all 16 of the company’s data centers in 10 U.S. markets. 8. Hosting Compliance: HOSTING, a managed cloud services provider, has earned HITRUST CSF certification. The certification essentially means the company adheres to data security, privacy and compliance controls that healthcare customers typically demand. 7. Arby's Hacked: Arby's fast good franchises suffered a security breach in January. The point-of-sale breach involved malware that may have compromised 355,000 credit cards, according to Krebs on Security.

Remo Canessa

6. Zscaler Preparing IPO?: Zscaler, a cloud security startup, has hired Remo Canessa as CFO. He previously was CFO of Infoblox, which went public in 2012. He also was at NetScreen amid that company's IPO and ultimate sale to Juniper Networks. 5. HIPAA Deadline: Another key HIPAA deadline is approaching. March 1, 2017, is a key date for organizations to disclose "small" breaches that were discovered in 2016. Here are the details. 4. Top Financial Mistakes at Startup Businesses: If you're running a startup, here are the key financial mistakes you'll likely make during key stages of your business... 3. Security Operations Center (SOC), Part I: Milton Security Group Inc., which specializes in network and endpoint security, has launched the Milton Security Operations Center (SOC). The SOC features Network Access Control (NAC) As A Service. 2. Security Operations Center (SOC), Part II: IBM has launched Watson for Cyber Security -- a special version of the artificial intelligence platform designed for Security Operations Centers (SOCs). IBM claims the effort will inject cognitive computing into the SOC ecosystem. The move comes as IBM PartnerWorld 2017 kicks off in Las Vegas and RSA Conference 2017 starts in San Francisco. 1. ChannelE2E This Week: We're attending RSA Conference (San Francisco) while also closely tracking IBM PartnerWorld 2017 and Avaya Engage 2017 (both in Las Vegas). Got news or updates to share from one of those gatherings? Email me the information: [email protected]. More: Read all of our daily 5 Channel Partner Updates. Plus: Subscribe to our daily enewsletter. Thanks to those who already have.