5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: 29 March 2017

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, March 29, 2017. Actually, there are 22 timely updates for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to sip on… 22. Oracle Buying Accenture?: Rumors about exploratory due diligence have sparked speculation about Oracle potentially acquiring Accenture. Here's what such a deal would mean to Oracle Partner Network (OPN) members and rival global system integrators. 21. Oracle Partner Program: Phenom People, which specializes in talent relationship marketing, is now a Silver Partner in the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized program. Phenom People integrates with Oracle Talent Acquisition Cloud to assist customers' recruiting operations. 20. Certification - Cloud Services: Tintri Inc., a provider of All-Flash Arrays, has launched the Tintri Certified Cloud Expert (TCCE) program for partners seeking to advance their cloud practice and develop value-add offers. Tintri’s existing certification programs include Tintri Certified Sales Representatives (TCSR), Tintri Certified Solution Engineer (TCSE) and Tintri Certified Solution Expert (TCSX). 19. Certification - PaaS: Cloud Foundry, the massive open source project that allows enterprises to host their own platform-as-a-service for running cloud applications in their own data center or in a public cloud, has launched a “Cloud Foundry Certified Developer” program, TechCrunch notes. 18. Partnership - Unified Communications: Masergy and Cloudpipes are partnering to ensure more than 150 cloud and SaaS applications integrate with  Masergy's Global UCaaS platform. With this no-code approach, service providers can use a drag-and-drop, visual designer to weave communication events into cloud application workflows, the companies claim. 17. Partnership - WiFi Distribution: Synnex's U.S. Distribution Headquarters in Greenville, S.C. is now the first authorized training center for Aerohive Networks' WiFi equipment. Synnex now offers facilities and engineering resources for resellers to expand their skills to install, manage, and increase value with Aerohive, the companies said. 16. Avaya Bonuses Questioned: The U.S. trustee in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Avaya Inc. is urging the judge overseeing the case to reject the telecommunications company's executive bonus plan, arguing the performance targets are too easy to hit, reports suggest. Avaya claims other wise. Now, we're waiting for a ruling from a judge in the case. 15. Cisco's Red Alert: As you'll recall, the CIA allegedly leveraged security holes in Cisco's networking gear for alleged eavesdropping activities. Now, here's how Cisco scrambled to close those holes, according to Reuters. 14. Hello Again, VPNs: The vote by the U.S. Congress to repeal rules that limit how Internet service providers can use customer data has generated renewed interest in an old internet technology: virtual private networks, or VPNs. Here's why. 13. Managed Backup Services: ClearSky Data has expanded its data protection capabilities to deliver complete offsite backup and disaster recovery (DR) as part of its fully managed service, the company says. Customers only pay for a single, protected copy of their data that is accessible on-premises or in the cloud, ClearSky asserts. Find partner details here. 12. Business Continuity: Agility Recovery has launched myAgility 3.0, a business continuity planning and management platform and mobile application built to accommodate enterprise deployments. However, it's also designed for small and midsize business adoption. The tool helps business leaders plan for, and manage, their response to emergency events like fires, floods, hurricanes and other business interruptions. 11. Partnership - IoT: Three Group is working closely with Jasper -- Cisco's IoT platform.Later this year, customers will be able to access Jasper's Control Center locally through Three Group’s national networks, while global customers will have the option of accessing Control Center through Hue, Three Group’s mobile enabling services division. 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.
Eric Williams
Lou Lutostanski
10. Talent - IoT: Avnet has promoted Lou Lutostanski to VP, Internet of Things (IoT). He reports to Pete Bartolotta, chief transformation officer. In his new role, Lutostanski will strengthen Avnet’s IoT strategy and further Avnet’s reach to makers, entrepreneurs, startups and other IoT innovators, the company says. Former Avnet VP of IoT Eric Williams left the company earlier this year to pursue other opportunities. 9. Firewall Security: Sonus is collaborating with an unnamed firewall vendor to launch new offerings for MSPs. The work should protect customers from malware, telephony denial of service (TDoS) and other potential IP security threats. The question: Which firewall vendor is involved? Hmmm... 8. Partnership - Security: Guidance Software (endpoint security) and Demisto (incident response) have launched an integration to help service providers and customers orchestrate incident response across multiple security products, saving time and ensuring forensic-grade remediation of threats, the duo claims. 7. European IT Security: 35 percent of employees across the UK, France, Germany and Italy admit to have been involved in a security breach, according to a Forcepoint survey. What about the other 65 percent of folks? Apparently they don't realize they've been hacked yet... 6. IPO - Cybersecurity: Okta, the Identity and Access Management (IAM) specialist, has priced its IPO and hopes to hit a $2 billion valuation, Business Insider says. The IPO seeks to raise roughly $160 million. 5. Funding - Security Startup: Smyte, a security startup in San Francisco, has raised $4 million in Series A funding. The company's machine learning system helps customers to eliminate credit card fraud and other malicious activities. 4. Log Management Momentum: Loggly, the cloud-based log management solution provider, says revenue increased 99 percent in 2016 vs. 2015, aided by a significant shift in the proportion of enterprise-level customers. Indeed, average revenue per customer grew by almost 40 percent... 3. M&A - Managed Services:  Talent solutions provider Vaco has acquired the managed services division of Binary Semantics, a software development and systems integration company, according to Hunt Scanlon. We'll share more details soon. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 2. Microsoft Cloud PBX: Keep an eye on Microsoft's telephony services push. Skype for Business is gaining a range of new cloud PBX capabilities... 1. Time's Running Out: Participate in our Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs Survey. Deadline for submissions is this Friday, March 31. We'll announce honorees -- perhaps your company? -- and research results on April 27. MSPs worldwide can participate.
Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.