5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: 24 June 2016

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Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to sip on for Friday, June 24, 2016.

Actually, there are 13 entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on. Take a look…

13. Britain Exits European Union: Many Americans are trying to understand what Britain's decision to exit the European Union potentially means to commerce and business. The so-called Brexit vote happened yesterday. Here's the potential fallout for IT service providers. Plus, some folks predict the Brexit vote could hurt small business lending in the U.S.

12. International Data Privacy: The European Union and the United States have agreed changes to a data transfer pact that is key to transatlantic business, including stricter rules for companies holding information on Europeans and clearer limits on U.S. surveillance, Reuters says. In other words, it sounds like the new EU-US Privacy Shield agreement (the successor to Safe Harbor) is starting to take shape. Ironically, progress on the policy work comes just as Britain has voted to leave the EU.

11. Next Xerox CEO: Xerox veteran Jeff Jacobson will become CEO of the company's core copier and printing business after Xerox splits into two businesses later this year. He will succeed Ursula Barns, who intends to remain chairman of the copier business.

10. Blockchain and Venture Capital: Circle Internet Financial is valued at $480 million after completing a Series D funding backed by investors including Baidu Inc., Bloomberg reports. Circle uses bitcoin’s blockchain technology so customers can instantly send payments in a message that can be accompanied by emojis or GIFs, the report said.

9. Don't Underestimate BlackBerry Channel Strategy: We briefly mentioned BlackBerry's latest earnings yesterday -- and perhaps our spin on the situation wasn't positive enough. The update: Shares rose nearly 5 percent yesterday after the company forecasting better-than-expected profit and insisting there was a way to make its ever-shrinking phone business profitable again, Bloomberg notes. Among the momentum areas: BlackBerry's enterprise software business -- which is increasingly channel-driven.

8. AWS Government Cloud Authorizations: Amazon's AWS GovCloud (US) Region has received a Provisional Authority to Operate (P-ATO) from the Joint Authorization Board (JAB) under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High baseline, a standardized set of security requirements for cloud services. What The Heck Does That Mean?: AWS’s FedRAMP High authorization, which includes over 400 security controls, gives U.S. government agencies the ability to leverage the AWS Cloud for highly sensitive workloads, including Personal Identifiable Information (PII), sensitive patient records, financial data, law enforcement data, and other Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), Amazon asserts.

7. Microsoft Azure Government Cloud Authorizations: Hmmm... has Microsoft Azure received the same FedRAMP authorization levels as AWS?

6. IBM Reselling AWS, Azure: Yes, it's starting to happen. More details soon.

5. Distribution: Ingram Micro will now offer CoreSite's data center services and solutions to tens of thousands of channel partners throughout the U.S. and Canada, the two companies announced. Ingram Micro Cloud, meanwhile, also has momentum with third-party IaaS providers like Amazon Web Services, the company mentioned to me earlier this week...

4. Okta Pursues IPO or Company Sale: Okta, a cloud identity management company valued at $1.2 billion, has hired Goldman Sachs Group to lead an initial public offering or outright sale, Reuters says. ChannelE2E's Spin: An "IPO or company sale" inflection point usually means "we'd rather sell the company than test the IPO waters."

3. MSP M&A: TriCore Solutions, which specializes in SAP cloud hosting and SAP HANA managed services, has acquired G3G, Inc., an SAP certified channel partner. More detail soon.

2. PSA Partner Program: Plumbline Consulting has launched the Progressus Partner Program. Based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Progressus is professional services automation (PSA) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that is mobile-enabled and architected for the intelligent cloud. While PSA channel partners consume PSA systems like Autotask and ConnectWise to run their businesses, it sounds like Progressus is more of a "resell" opportunity -- for channel partners to deploy the PSA system into end-customer settings.

1. Sales Compensation Plans for MSPs, CSPs: How are you compensating sales team members for managed and cloud services deals? Participate in ChannelE2E's Salary and Compensation Survey. Your submission will be confidential, but we'll reveal overall industry trends based on the survey.

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.