5 Channel Partner Updates: 1 February 2017 -

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, February 1, 2017. Actually, there are 19 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…

19. Apple Revenues, Cash & Trump: Apple's latest quarterly results, delivered yesterday, were better than expected thanks to iPhone sales. On the geopolitical front, CEO Tim Cook has expressed concerns about President Donald Trump's immigration policies. However, Cook is optimistic about another political issue: Cook is "optimistic, given what I am hearing" that there would be changes to the corporate tax reform this year that would allow Apple to bring more than $200 billion in offshore cash back to the United States, according to Reuters. What would Apple do with all that cash once it's on U.S. soil? "Let's wait and see," Cook added. 18. President Trump and Small Business Regulations: Immigration policies aside, President Trump's moves so far on the regulatory front seem to be impressing small business owners. We'll share more thoughts soon. 17. Autotask Expansion?: Keep an eye on the Autotask's Schaumburg, Illinois office. Hmmm....

16. IT Services Franchises: TeamLogic IT was recently recognized by five leading franchise industry organizations as a top franchise brand -- including honors from Entrepreneur Magazine, Franchise Business Review and Americas Best Franchises. TeamLogic IT, led by CEO Chuck Lennon, reached the 100-unit milestone in 2016. 15. M&A -- Data Centers: DataBank, backed by parent Digital Bridges, continues to buy up data centers. We'll share more thoughts soon. 14. Partner Programs: Statistica, a Quest Software business and provider of analytics solutions, has launched Statistica Edge and a new IoT partner program. 13. Business Continuity: Arcserve has launched a new Unified Data Protection (UDP) solution. It supports Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a remote disaster recovery site; enhanced Office 365 protection; along with expanded reporting and orchestration capabilities.

12. Channel Chief: Aryaka, an SD-WAN provider, has hired Nick Fan as VP and GM of Americas. Fan leads sales and channel functions for Aryaka in the Americas region. 11. Microsoft Azure Cloud Partner: TierPoint LLC, a national provider of hybrid IT solutions, is now a Microsoft Azure Authorized Indirect Cloud Solution Provider. Fewer than one dozen U.S.-based managed hosting and cloud providers have achieved that designation 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.

10. Free MSP Marketing Tool: AppRiver’s Partner Portal now contains appMailer, a free marketing tool for an MSPs. Once an MSP sets up their branding within the system, they can send email marketing campaigns with four clicks of a mouse, according to Channel Sales Manager Justin Gilbert.. No HTML knowledge is required. The tool supports English, German, French and Spanish -- with additional language support on the way. Third-party marketing services aren't required, but appMailer can be integrated with Mail Chimp, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, or HubSpot. Users can also create an HTML file that can be sent using Outlook. 9. Join Us: On a related note, AppRiver's Justin Gilbert is set to speak on our March 16 webcast ("Total Data Protection: 3 Upsell Opportunities for MSPs"). He'll cover Office 365 upsell opportunities, particularly in the area of data protection. Register now to join us. 8. IT Monitoring & Funding: Sensu has raised $2.5 million from Foundry Group to bolster the company’s flagship product, according to BizJournals. Sensu is an open source software tool used to monitor digital infrastructure. Unlike other tools, Sensu looks at infrastructure in its entirety and monitors everything from servers, to the software to the apps that a customer's clients are running, the journal reported.

Security Updates

Finally, we've got a lengthy list of security-focused updates for you... 7. File Sharing Protection: FinalCode has launched its latest persistent, file-centric information rights management (IRM) solution, which protects files inside and outside of an organization. FinalCode 5.2's features include a file preview capability in Box, enhanced support for EMC storage and macro-enabled Office files and screen watermarking. 6. M&A - Threat Assessments: Everbridge has acquired IDV Solutions, a provider of threat assessment and operational visualization software. IDV’s Visual Command Center application displays an integrated picture of external threats and events overlaid with an organization’s people, assets and supply routes, along with other contextual information.

5. Security Talent: InfoArmor Inc, a provider of employee protection solutions and elite cyber intelligence services, has promoted President and CFO John Schreiber to the CEO post. The company also announced an investment by global growth equity investor Summit Partners, though a financial figure was not disclosed.

4. Endpoint Security: Comodo has expanded its Comodo Advanced Endpoint Protection (AEP) product from Windows to Mac OS X and Linux. The company's partner program works closely with Webhosts and resellers.

3. D-Link IoT Security Lawsuit: Cause of Action Institute, on behalf of D-Link Systems, has filed a Motion to Dismiss the "baseless" charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the company's security practices for consumer routers and IP cameras. The FTC claims D-Link's IP devices contain security holes that hackers can potentially exploit to harm consumers. "This is a case of politicized government overreach without justification or any evidence of consumer injury," said Patrick Massari, assistant vice president, CoA Institute. "In fact, to her credit, Acting Chairwoman Ohlhausen voted not to bring this case and has spoken out against the agency filing other lawsuits 'on the eve of a new presidential administration' that are based on a flawed legal theory and lack economic and evidentiary support." We'll continue to track the case...

2. IT Security: Webroot has unveiled three new security products: Webroot FlowScape Analytics; Webroot BrightCloud Streaming Malware Detection; and Webroot SecureAnywhere DNS Protection. The offerings leverage Webroot's artificial intelligence engine to safeguard MSPs and their customers from malware threats.

1. Symantec Earnings: The security company is expected to announce earnings sometime today. We'll be watching to see how Symantec is executing amid multiple acquisitions and channel changes over the past year.

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