Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to sip on for Thursday, April 21, 2016.
Actually, there are 16 entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on.
16. Distribution and the Cloud: Avnet is now offering VMware on IBM Cloud through the Avnet Cloud Marketplace. The distributor also is offering IBM Connections Cloud, including IBM Verse to partners. The 'Connections' offering includes social collaboration software and third-party applications.
15. Carbonite Partner Program: The data protection specialist has launched a new partner program that stretches from SOHO (small office/home office) to midmarket accounts and even enterprises with 1,000 or more seats. The effort, led by Carbonite VP of Channel Sales Jessica Couto, includes clearly defined channel account managers across the U.S.; deal registration perks and other updates. Carbonite in late 2015 acquired EVault and hired several new executives to extend beyond its consumer and SMB heritage into the midmarket.
14. MSP Mergers, Acquisitions, Advice: We mentioned two M&A deals yesterday. And we've covered quite a few advisory firms that assist MSPs with acquisitions and/or company sales. If you read ChannelE2E regularly, you're already familiar with Cogent Growth Partners and Service Leadership Inc. Now, along comes SellYourMSP.com. We're not out to endorse any particular consultants in the market. And we wish SellYourMSP.com's site offered more details about who actually runs the site. (We know the owners. And hope to line up/publish an interview soon...)
13. MSP Scorecards: Looking for some KPIs (key performance indicators) to measure the effectiveness of your engineers? Nilear.com offers a score carding system for MSP engineers as well as a new heads up display for ConnectWise. Christo IT Services, an MSP, launched the software business in 2010. As we've previously mentioned: MSPs tend to be really good at launching software companies.
12. On the Move: Congrats to former IDC channel analyst Darren Bibby; he's joining a software company after 10 years at the market research firm. (More details soon.) Meanwhile, a lengthy list of channel-focused analysts remain at IDC. Names to know include Steve White, Daniel O'Boyle Kelly, Marilyn Carr, Paul Edwards, Pam Miller, Brendan Rouse and Margaret Adam. Bibby's move from IDC comes a few weeks after Tiffani Bova jumped from Gartner to Salesforce.com.
11. IoT and Energy Management: Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics are heading for home. The latest example involves Curb, a home energy monitoring system that monitors your real-time energy consumption, and then helps you to decide which devices to use and for how long. The one thing that's still missing? How about a partner program...
10. Dell SecureWorks IPO: Watch for it to likely arrive before the weekend. Maybe even today? The managed security services provider is growing fast -- annual revenue is $339.5 million, up from $262 million the previous year. But Losses grew to $72.4 million, up from a $38 million loss the previous year. Dell is raising money and selling off some assets before finalizing its $67 billion buyout of EMC, which is scheduled to be official between May and October 2016.
9. Cybersecurity Down Under: Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has launched a national cybersecurity initiative. He wants to invest A$230 million on 33 cybersecurity measures that will create 100 new government jobs, Reuters notes. Privacy and security issues in the U.S. have strongly influenced Turnbull, who pointed to the Edward Snowden leaks and the FBI vs Apple iPhone battle as major areas of concern.
8. Angel Investor Trends: Angel investors annually fund an estimated $24 billion in early-stage companies, but what kind of returns do they achieve? Plus, how will equity crowdfunding change the way startups raise capital? Clues may emerge when the Angel Capital Association unveils new research next month at the 2016 ACA Summit in Philadelphia.
7. A Warning to Entrepreneurs: Venture Capitalist Bill Gurley has posted a lengthy blog describing how unicorn financing has poisoned the water for many entrepreneurs and startups seeking funding. He warns business owners to avoid sharks with dirty term sheets, and instead swallow your pride, get to cash flow positive and take clean money at a lower valuation.
6. Managed AWS Security: Palerra, which positions itself as a cloud access security broker (CASB), now integrates with Amazon Inspector to provide visibility, threat protection, and compliance for enterprises that leverage Amazon Web Services (AWS)... Some folks are praising the Amazon Inspector launch, while others say it potentially makes security more complicated. We're poking around for more details...
5. Cloud Services and Taxes (In Texas): The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts apparently has issued a private letter ruling that involves taxes on cloud services. RSM, a audit and tax consulting firm, is telling businesses to take a closer look at the ruling to see if or how it impacts their online taxes.
4. Data Center Operating System: Keep a close eye on Mesosphere's Data Center Operating System (DC/OS). The platform allows service providers to treat a data center as a single computer that runs applications in software containers, notes TechCrunch. And now, Mesophere is open sourcing the platform. Key Mesophere investors include Microsoft and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)... Hmmm...
3. HIPAA Fine: The Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, P.A. of North Carolina has agreed to pay approximately $750,000 in OCR HIPAA settlement fines after an alleged healthcare data breach in 2013 involving a business associate.
2. Speaking of HIPAA: We're set to visit Compliancy Group this morning. The HIPAA specialist, led by Marc Haskelson, works closely with MSPs. We'll likely share more details soon. We're also checking out ongoing confusion involving mobile apps and HIPAA compliance...
1. Channel Partner Programs: Trying to find specific channel partner programs for security, storage, networking, cloud and more? Check out the ChannelE2E Partner Programs Database for hundreds of hardware, software and cloud partner programs. Or, submit your company's partner program so that it's listed in the database.
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