5 Channel Partner Updates: 04 April 2017

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, April 4, 2017. Actually, there are 18 updates for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to sip on.

18. BREAKING: VMware has sold its vCloud Air cloud business to OVH, the two companies confirmed this morning. The move allows VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger to better focus the company on multi-cloud management and the forthcoming VMware Cloud for AWS launch. OVH, based in Europe and expanding into the US, is one of the world's top cloud services providers (CSPs). 17. DRaaS: Contemporary Computer Services Inc., an MSP on Long Island, has launched disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS). Although the storage platform vendor's name was not disclosed, CCSI has a relationship with Veeam... 16. HPE Buying Veeam? (Nope): Another M&A rumor is no more. Veeam says it has no plans to sell itself to HP Enterprise, The statement comes after HPE-Veeam M&A rumors on The Register. This is the second Register rumor that has been proven false in recent days. An earlier rumor involved Oracle performing due diligence on Accenture. But Oracle ultimately denied any interest in buying the IT consultant giant. Related Partner Conference: VeeamOn 2017 is set for May. 15. HPE Completes Spin-off: HP Enterprise has completed the sale of its enterprise services business, which merged with CSC to create DXC Technology. HPE CEO Meg Whitman has been shedding slow-growth and no-growth assets, and using the funds to acquire smaller, faster-growth assets like SimpliVity (hyperconverged infrastructure) and Nimble Storage (All Flash Array). 14. Big Data & Hybrid Cloud Licensing: Teradata has launched flexible database licensing options for hybrid cloud deployments. The new model features: Portability for deployment flexibility; subscription-based licenses; and simplified tiers with bundled features, the company asserts. 13. IoT Partnership: Cisco Systems and SAS Institute are partnering to deliver an Edge-to-Enterprise IoT Analytics Platform. Also yesterday, SAS launched SAS Results, a cloud-based analytics service. 12. SAS Partners of the Year: The lineup includes...

• Global Partner of the Year – Accenture
• Channel Partner of the Year – Maxtera Technologies
• Excellence in Innovation – Datagear
• Asia Pacific: ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation
• Canada/Latin America: Financial Risk Group
• Central/Eastern Europe: Nunatec
• DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland): Cintellic
• MEA (Middle East, Africa): Linktera
• Nordics: KnowIT
• SWE: Sopra Steria
• United Kingdom/Ireland: Sopra Steria
• United States: d-Wise

11. Alfresco's Partners of the Year: That list includes...

• Americas Partner of the Year: Zia Consulting
• EMEA Partner of Year: Incentro
• Solution of the Year: Micro Strategies
• Customer Success Partner of the Year (Americas): Technology Services Group (TSG)
• Customer Success Partner of the Year (EMEA): Atol Conseils et Développement
• Deal Registration Partner of the Year EMEA: SynApps
• Deal Registration Partner of the Year Americas: Ricoh US
• Fastest-Growing Partner of the Year: XenIT
• Public Sector Partner of the Year: Credence Management Solutions

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. Omnichannel Marketing: ePages and CM4all have launched an integrated solution for both professional web presence and omnichannel e-commerce.  This latest version of CM4all Sites is positioned for web hosting, cloud and telco providers seeking e-commerce customers. 9. Secure Tablets: The US army has ordered nearly 10,000 F110 G3 rugged tablets from Getac Technology. The tablets feature Trivalent’s NSA-certified data protection technology. 8. M&A - IT consulting & Cloud MSP: AASKI Technology has acquired ConnectSolutions, an MSP focused on Adobe Connect and associated cloud services. Here are the details. 7. Security Compliance: OneNeck IT Solutions, a top MSP,  has completed the PCI DSS version 3.2 “Level 1” service provider validation. The move positions OneNeck to attract event more compliance-related business.

Jessica Couto

6. Security Partner Program: Hexadite, which develops an agentless intelligent security automation platform, has launched a Security Automation Channel Program. VP Jessica Couto is driving the effort. She's a veteran of LANDesk, Kaspersky Lab, Bit9/Carbon Black and Carbonite. 5. Identity and Access Management: One Identity, part of the Quest Software spin-off from Dell, had nearly a quarter billion dollars in 2016 bookings, the company says. Moreover, those bookings were up 17-percent in 2016 vs. 2015. It's the 13th consecutive year for profitability, and partner-driven revenues rose 29 percent in 2016, One Identity says. Next up: Watch for more SaaS- and subscription based services from the IAM company, according to our meetings at the recent RSA Conference 2017. 4. IBM and MSP Pricing: Here's an in-depth look at IBM's MSP pricing for i Series software.... 3. Informa Shuts Down HostingCon: Informa, the new owner of Penton, has killed the HostingCon conference. The final HostingCon is being held this week. Penton acquired HostingCon as part of the iNet Interactive buyout in January 2015. At the time, Penton called HostingCon "the premier hosting tradeshow series...including events in the US, China, India and Asia." Disclosure: Our team sold some IT media assets to Penton in 2011.

Rachel Cassidy

2. Rackspace Channel Conflict?: Rackspace partners should keep a close eye on the company's new professional services team -- called the Rackspace Global Solutions and Services (GSS) group. According to the team's announcement:

• "For the first time, Rackspace will provide professional services to any business, regardless of which cloud platform it chooses or whether it is an existing Rackspace customer."
• Rackspace VP Rachel Cassidy put it this way... "We’re expanding our managed cloud portfolio to offer professional services not only to the SMB and mid-market customers we have served for nearly two decades, but also to our fast-growing stable of enterprise customers."

Hmmm... We're checking to see if or how Rackspace will balance its professional services with channel partners. Rackspace, now private equity owned, confirmed layoffs in February 2017. The company's managed services for AWS and Azure are growing, but not rapidly enough to offset weaknesses in other portions of the business. 1. Unveiling the Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs - 2017: Register now to join our April 27 webcast, during which we'll unveil the Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs of 2017. We'll also share associated research for multiple vertical markets.