Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Friday, February 10, 2017.
Actually, there are 16 captivating 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…
16. London Land Grab: Kao Data has secured $41.5 million to fund a data center buildout near London. From large IT companies to small IT service providers, London has seen dramatic land-grab activity in recent months. Additional examples include Equinix acquiring IO UK's data center business and CMI acquiring Solsis. Most major MSP-focused software companies also have built out offices in London in recent years...
15. Next-gen Security Innovators: Why settle for being a VAR or MSP? Top-performing partners are evolving into next-gen security innovators, according to Palo Alto Networks Channel Chief Ron Myers. He shared some details with us yesterday. Also on the line: Lang Tibbils, head of global partner experience. So what else did Myers and Tibbils share? Hmmm... We'll spill the beans -- but not the coffee -- sometime soon.
14. Oracle, Ex-Finance Manager Settle Lawsuit: Oracle and a former senior finance manager have settled a lawsuit involving Oracle's cloud services accounting practices. The former employee claims she was fired for refusing to follow allegedly unlawful accounting practices tied to Oracle's cloud services business. Oracle had denied any wrongdoing. The settlement surfaced on Thursday, according to Law360.
13. InfoSys Compensation: The board of Infosys, India’s second-largest technology services company, is facing questions over executive compensation and corporate governance in a letter sent by at least three of its founders, according to Bloomberg. Infosys denied that it had any lapses in governance, Bloomberg added.
12. Midmarket Executive Optimism: Following years of sluggish economic recovery, business leaders believe 2017 stands to usher in a long-awaited acceleration in growth, according to a Deloitte report. Fully 83 percent of executives surveyed after the November U.S. presidential election are confident that the U.S. economy will improve over the next two years (compared to 65 percent last year). In fact, 39 percent of respondents expect the U.S. economy to grow in excess of 3.5 percent over the next 12 months, the report said.
11. Microsoft Azure Stack on Cisco Hardware: It's coming in Q3 2017... Hmmm...
10. Cisco Umbrella Update: Cisco Umbrella (formerly OpenDNS) is making key moves ahead of next week's RSA Conference in San Francisco. We've reached out to Cisco to get a better feel for what the updates mean to MSPs and channel partners.
9. Partner Program: ForeScout Technologies has announced new features for its global channel partner program, including: Resale margins to boost partner profitability; region-specific program enhancements, revenue attainment and investment requirements; market opportunity insights and support provided to expand business; and Web presence through the ForeScout Partner locator, the company says.
8. Ingram Cloud Goes Vertical: The Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace now offers NCR Silver and NCR Silver Pro Restaurant Edition in the U.S. As a result, Ingram Micro resellers can purchase, provision, manage, and invoice NCR's point of sale system from a single cloud interface. Side note: Ingram Micro Cloud Summit 2017, one of the largest cloud partner conferences of the year, is set for April.
7. IoT Cybersecurity Alliance: AT&T, IBM, Nokia, Palo Alto Networks, Symantec and Trustonic have formed the IoT Security Alliance. The alliances goals are to: Collaborate and research IoT security challenges across verticals; dissect and solve IoT security problems; make security easier to access; and influence security policies and standards.
6. Big MSSP Deal: CSPi Inc.'s German subsidiary secured a three-year managed security services contract worth $6 million to an international IT service provider. The customer's name wasn't disclosed. But the deal shows how MSSPs are profiting from peer IT service providers that need security options...
5. Private Equity Challenge?: KKR, the private equity giant, reported lower-than-expected earnings on Thursday as losses in privately held investments that have yet to be realized dragged on overall performance, Reuters said. Hmmm... KKR acquired Optiv Security -- the massive IT security solutions provider -- back in December 2016. Although the value was never publicly announced, sources told ChannelE2E that KKR paid a whopping $1.9 billion for Optiv's business... That deserves another Hmmm....
4. Avaya Engage 2017: Avaya partners and customers will gather at Avaya Engage 2017 in Las Vegas starting on February 12. The conference comes at a critical time for Avaya, which is navigating its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. While some rivals stir fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about Avaya, the company actually delivered reasonable earnings results earlier this week...
3. IBM PartnerWorld 2017: IBM's annual conference for all types of partners -- resellers, global systems integrators, MSPs, ISVs, etc. -- kicks off February 13 in Las Vegas. IBM launched its updated partner program ahead of the conference. Jamie Mendez, director of PartnerWorld, explained the strategy here. Stay tuned for more updates from the conference. Also, stay tuned for a ChannelE2E podcast featuring Mendez and CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux within the next few days...
2. RSA Conference 2017: ChannelE2E is attending RSA Conference 2017 next week in San Francisco. (Here's a preview.) Our schedule is packed solid. But if you've got news to share please email me the details ([email protected]). Yes, our team honors embargoes...
1. Channel Partner Programs Database: A ginormous number of partner programs are now listed in the ChannelE2E Partner Programs database. It's Huge. Absolutely Yuge. You made us build it. And you made us pay for it. Now, get your company listed in it -- for free.
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