Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to sip on for Monday, February 1, 2016.
Hey, wait… Actually, there are 11 items for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on…
11. This Just In: Two well-known IT service providers have been acquired by a well-known IT service provider. If I had to guess, I suspect details will emerge later this week. We're working on confirmations and interview requests now...
10. Safe Harbor 2.0: Was a new deal privacy deal reached between Europe and the U.S.? No quite yet. But regulators are hoping for a so-called Safe Harbor 2.0 deal by February 2. That agreement, in theory, will help cloud service providers, IT companies and other tech firms to navigate data privacy issues while managing customers on both sides of the pond. The first Safe Harbor agreement expired in 2015.
9. Alphabet & Google Earnings: Google and parent Alphabet will disclose quarterly results today (Monday, Feb. 1). It's a great opportunity to see how the company's business is performing outside of its traditional search revenues.
8. AWS Cloud Partner Acquired: Bulletproof has acquired Cloud House Limited, a cloud services provider and Amazon's largest AWS Advanced Consulting partner in New Zealand. This is Bulletproof's third acquisition, having previously acquired Panthacorp, an AWS Consulting partner (December 2014) and Infoplex, a private cloud provider (October 2015). Update: Here's our valuation estimate on Bulletproof's buyout of Cloud House.
7. Yahoo Layoffs?: They could surface as part of CEO Marissa Mayer's latest turnaround plan. That plan along with Yahoo earnings are expected to arrive on Tuesday, Feb 2. Yahoo revenues have declined in seven of the past 10 quarters, Bloomberg notes.
6. I Seriously Doubt That: SoftChoice claims it its the first North America MSP to launched a managed service for Dell servers. Um... I suspect a few thousands Dell PartnerDirect partners would debate SoftChoice on that claim...
5. Xerox Spin Control: Xerox CEO Ursula Burns says the company breakup -- into separate hardware and IT services companies -- is "about opportunities. It's not about panic." Hmmm... Either way it signals that Xerox's 2008 buyout of Affiliated Computer Services for $6 billion hasn't worked out.
4. Don't Mortgage Your Startup: In their quest to shoot for the moon, some business founders apparently are signing bad term sheets with venture capitalists and angel investors. In other words, the entrepreneurs are seeking sky-high valuations and wind up sacrificing a range of basic business ownership rights along the way. David Frankel explains the challenge and the solution.
3. Top Five Field Service Apps: They are HouseCall Pro, GeoOp, mHelpDesk, ProntoForms and GoSpotCheck, according to research from GetApp. The rankings are based on user reviews, security, integrations, mobile app availability and media presence. And of course: The rankings don't specifically involve field service apps designed for VARs and MSPs. Though they certainly attract some VARs and MSPs onto their platforms.
2. Rumor Mill: This is purely an unconfirmed rumor from two sources at different companies. They suggest Kaseya has licensed Vorex to build a "full" PSA integration directly into Kaseya's RMM platform. Basically, the deal would be a major checkmark to counter software companies like Autotask, ConnectWise, SolarWinds, which have erased the line between PSA and RMM systems. If the Kaseya-Vorex licensing rumors are true, I'd expect details sometime this month. But again: Purely a rumor at this point.
1. Top MSPs: Attention all MSPs. Have you built a successful business? Then celebrate that success and earn some recognition. Participate in our Top Vertical Market MSPs survey. It's open to all MSPs across all vertical markets.
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