5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: 22 Sept. 2016

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Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, September 22, 2016.

Actually, there are 15 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…

15. Massive Yahoo Data Breach?: Perhaps yes. Redcode expects Yahoo to confirm some type of breach this week.

14. Messaging Apps & AI: Alphabet has launched Google Allo, a messaging app that blends Google search, chatbot and artificial intelligence capabilities. The offering counters Facebook's WhatsApp & Messenger.

13. Apptio IPO?: Apptio, which makes cloud software that helps CIOs track, plan and analyze information technology investments, is seeking to raise as much as $90 million in an IPO, according to Bloomberg. The company is expected to price the IPO after the market closes on Thursday.

12. Bidding for Cloud Business: American Airlines plans to move major portions of its customer website and applications to the cloud, The Wall Street Journal says. Amazon, IBM and Microsoft apparently are in the running for the business. Where's Google Cloud Platform? Hmmm...

11. Red Hat Momentum: The Linux company has successfully diversified into application development and emerging technology platforms, lifting quarterly revenue 19 percent to nearly $600 million, Red Hat announced yesterday. We'll share more thoughts from CEO Jim Whitehurst later today.

10. Cloud Price Wars: Microsoft says cloud price wars are slowing down. We respectfully but strongly disagree (See item 7 from Sept. 16). Now, 451 Research reinforces our point, stating that the cloud price wars are "only just getting started."

9. Big Data as a Service: Cloudera and CenturyLink have expanded their alliance, and are now delivering big data as a service to customers. CenturyLink already offers managed services for Cloudera's Hadoop big data software. But now, it sounds like CenturyLink will also offer Cloudera Enterprise as a SaaS service to customers. The move comes as CenturyLink attempts to sell up to 60 data centers worldwide. A decision on that move is expected later this year.

8. Cuba IT Services: The Cuban government says it will make five miles of Havana's iconic seafront boulevard, the Malecon, into the largest WiFi hotspot in one of the world's least-connected nations, according to The Associated Press.

7. AT&T Layoffs: The company is cutting 190 technical positions in the Birmingham, Alabama area, according to Fox News. It sounds like these are localized cuts; we haven't heard of any nationwide-type layoffs.

6. AT&T Managed Services: Cloud services and the Internet of Things are making managed network services and higher-value offerings such as virtual private networks more critical than ever, according to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.

5. ConnectWise LabTech & Trend Micro: The Trend Micro Worry-Free Services plug-in for ConnectWise LabTech is now available. It's free to new and existing Trend Micro MSP Partners through the LabTech Solution Center.

4. Small Business Cybersecurity: Seventy-five percent of small business owners say they can’t trust the U.S. government to help combat threats against their business, and 81% say elected officials should be working harder to stop cyber threats against small businesses, according to a survey by Carbonite and Regina Corso Consulting. As I often tell my kids: Don't depend on the government. Instead, depend on yourself. And in this case... a few MSPs with security expertise.

3. Small Business Cash Flow: The typical small business has enough cash on hand to withstand 27 days without additional cash inflows into their businesses, according to a JPMorgan Chase Institute research. We'll share more takeaways on this soon.

2. Next Week: A lengthy list of IT and channel partner events will surface next week. Autotask, Continuum, Microsoft, Splunk and Synnex each are hosting key events. Check the ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for dates, locations and associated links.

Teanna Spence
Teanna Spence
Service Leadership Inc. CEO Paul Dippell

1. Today: Join us for today's webcast --  2017 Sales Compensation Plans. It's set for 2pm ET/11am PT. Service Leadership CEO Paul Dippell and Compensation Expert Teanna Spence will lead the conversation. I'll moderate. And we'll tackle attendee questions throughout the conversation. Register now and join us.

More: Read all of our daily 5 Channel Partner UpdatesPlusSubscribe to our daily enewsletter. Thanks to those who already have.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.