5 Channel Partner Updates: 22 March 2017

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Actually, there are 19 updates for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to sip on... 19. M&A - Security: A new wave of IT security acquisitions signals the start of a consolidation trend, according to Dark Reading. Hmmm... Didn't Venture Capitalist, former VMware CTO and Datto Board Member Steve Herrod predict this was coming? 18. M&A - ServiceNow Consultant: Accenture (ACN) has acquired Focus Group Europe, a ServiceNow consulting firm in the United Kingdom. Accenture and several rivals have been buying up ServiceNow consultancies worldwide.... 17. Partner Program: MongoDB has expanded its OEM Partner Program. The goal: Make it even easier for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to embed and deploy MongoDB, build modern software, and drive business growth. 16. Network Assessments for Channel Partners: Tata Communications Transformation Services Limited (TCTSL... it just rolls of the tongue) and Microsoft are delivering Network Assessment as a Service (NAaaS) to channel partners. Indeed, TCTSL will work with Microsoft channel partners to deliver NAaaS and add-on services for Office 365 built under the Skype Operations Framework (SOF), MS Power User reported. Hmmm... Within the MSP world, companies like RapidFire Tools help channel partners with network and storage assessments. 15. From Chrome OS to Office 365: Neverware has made a name for itself with its CloudReady software, which essentially transforms any old PC or Mac into a Chromebook, according to Engadget. Now, the company is offering a new version of Cloud Ready for schools that integrates Microsoft's Office 365 online suite instead...

14. Talent - MSPs: Interactive, Australia's largest privately owned MSP, has named Darren Reid as its first head of partnerships and alliances, CRN.au reported. It's part of a broad strategy to grow channel sales to 30 percent of revenue within two years, the website asserted. Interactive's revenues were AU$158.7 million in 2016, up 6.6 percent from the previous year. EBITDA was $46 million. The company had roughly 400 employees as of mid-2016. 13. Data Center Expansion: ViaWest has expanded a data center in Las Vegas, adding 32,000 square feeet of raised floor. The data center, which opened in 2013, now features a total of 66,000 square feet of raised floor space. The facility offers colocation, cloud and managed services to support customers' IT infrastructure. ViaWest now has 30 North American data centers and multiple cloud nodes. 12. Ingram Micro: Ingram Micro Commerce & Fulfillment, a strategic business unit of Ingram Micro, has upgraded Shipwire -- a cloud-based order management and fulfillment software platform. New dashboards pull order and inventory information, shipping data and other supply chain metrics, and convert it into structured, summarized reports, building upon the platform's business intelligence, the company says. Shipwire has been accessed from 160 countries over the past year, and it has thousands of active daily users. 11. U.S. Cybersecurity Strategy?: A top Trump administration information security official said the White House hopes to have a national strategy for cybersecurity completed in the next two months, with a view toward having it implemented within two years, On the Wire reported. There has been chatter about creating cybersecurity scorecards and report cards for federal agencies, which are prime targets for attack. But wait. More content awaits you on page 2. Proceed to page two now and chow down the remaining items... Welcome to page two. Enjoy a second serving of channel content -- items 10 to 1 -- here. 10. Cisco Security Hole & the CIA: Cisco Systems warned customers of a critical vulnerability that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code and obtain full control on more than 300 different models of its switches and routers, ThreatPost reported. Cisco became aware of the vulnerability after WikiLeaks released its Vault 7 cache of documents that revealed the existence of covert tools allegedly used by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the report said. 9. Hybrid Cloud Monitoring & MSPs: Opus Interactive has launched a hybrid cloud monitoring solution. It blends Opus Interactive managed services and customized dashboards with ScienceLogic’s hybrid IT monitoring solutions. The result is an end-to-end view of IT services, including workloads running in Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. 8. Wal-Mart Incubator: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is creating a technology-startup incubator in Silicon Valley to identify changes that will reshape the retail experience, including virtual reality, autonomous vehicle and drone delivery and personalized shopping, according to Bloomberg. The incubator will be called Store No. 8, a reference to a Wal-Mart location where the company experimented with new store layouts, the report says.

Todd Scallan

7. SMB Backup Services: Axcient has enhanced its Business Recovery Cloud platform, including a refresh of hardware appliances, expanded support for protecting heterogeneous environments and several performance and UI updates, the company says. Chief Product Officer Todd Scallan says the enhancements reinforce Axcient's commitment to channel partners. Venture-backed Axcient has pivoted a few times in recent years. 6. World Backup Day: It's March 31. And it's safe to expect "how to" announcements from just about ever cloud- and on-premises backup provider you can think of. First from the gate: SolarWinds MSP, which now promotes BDR (backup and disaster recovery) solutions acquired during last year's LogicNow buyout.

Ivory Johnson

5. Certification: HarpData, an IT services provider in Washington, D.C., and Buffalo, N.Y., has been certified by New York's Office of General Services under its Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development program. HarpData President and Founder Ivory Robinson is an Air Force veteran. The Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development program, created three years ago, confers bidding preferences for state work, according to BizJournals. 4. Salesforce on Amazon Australia: Salesforce's global expansion continues. The latest move: Launching various SaaS and cloud offerings atop Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Australia. Salesforce chose AWS as its preferred cloud provider in 2016, essentially confirming that third-party infrastructure often is the fastest and most economical way to extend SaaS and PaaS services...

Steve Williams

Mitch Walkaden

3. Avaya Channel Team: Avaya Australia and New Zealand has named  Mitchell Walkaden and Steve Williams to lead its local sales and channel operations, respectively. The company also announced new hires and promotions to build on its continued business transformation. The moves arrive as Avaya navigates Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and the potential sale of its networking business to Extreme Networks. 2. CompTIA AMM: We're set to meet with a range of sources today at CompTIA Annual Member Meeting. We'll spend some time with  experts from CleverDucks, Ingram Micro Cloud, Mailprotector, Pax8, Sophos, Sungard Availability Services, TeamLogic IT, Xcellerate and more. Stay tuned for an event recap and more on ChannelE2E. 1. Get Honored: ChannelE2E's Second Annual Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs survey closes on Friday, March 31. Sub now and perhaps your MSP will be honored when we unveil the list and associated research during an April 27 webcast.