5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: 3 April 2017

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Monday, April 3, 2017.

Actually, there are 14 updates for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to chew on.

14. Hello Again, McAfee: Intel's spin-off of McAfee becomes official this week. So, where is the security software provider heading next? Stay tuned for updates...

13. Oracle Not Buying Accenture: Oracle has absolutely no plans to buy Accenture, according to a spokesperson for the database giant. Rumors about a potential Oracle-Accenture M&A deal surfaced last week.

12. Amazon vs. Distributors: How is Amazon competing against distributors in multiple market segments? CMS Wire offers this analysis. Also, keep in mind that Amazon now has a SaaS market that handles billing for multiple third-party applications...

11. H-1B Visas & President Trump: Starting today, the U.S. government will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B visas. The suspension could last up to six months and directly affects those applicants filing Form I-907 and Form I-129 H-1B petitions, The New York Daily News reports. What does the suspension mean for U.S.-based technology companies? Here are some perspectives.

10. Microsoft Azure Cloud Backup: Dozens of companies now offer cloud-based backup services. But sometimes I wonder: Will services like Microsoft Azure Backup somehow gobble up the entire market? Hmmm... Probably not. Especially since so many of those backup companies work so closely with MSPs in the SMB sector...

9. Apple Channel Partners: Yes, they still exist. A case in point: Apple has designated ComputerCare as a Premium Service Provider for the second consecutive year. ComputerCare has been an authorized service provider for Apple's range of iPhones, MacBooks, iPads and more since 2008. ComputerCare is one of only 10 Premium Service Providers currently in California.

8. Managed Cloud Services: MTS has launched CloudMTS, a cloud service offering for large corporate customers in Russia. MTS leverages VMware technologies for its cloud platform across data centers in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Novosibirsk. In addition to traditional IaaS, PaaS and SaaS offerings, watch for MTS to soon promote big data as a service.

Matt Mills
MapR CEO Matt Mills

7. Cloudera IPO: Cloudera has filed to pursue an IPO. But read the fine print and you'll discover that Intel -- an early Cloudera investor -- may not benefit all that much from the offering. Cloudera specializes in Hadoop and big data software platforms. The company competes with Hortonworks (already publicly held) and MapR (still privately held). This recent MapR CEO Matt Mills podcast explained the overall big data software market.

6. M&A - Security: Accenture has completed the Arismore buyout. That deal, announced in December 2016, strengthens Accenture's identity and access management (IAM) expertise.

5. M&A - Software: Micro Focus International has launched a $5.5 billion leveraged loan to help finance the company's buyout of HP Enterprise’s software business. The M&A deal, announced in 2016, is expected to close in Q3 2017. HPE has been selling off slow-growth or no-growth assets to acquire faster-growth tuck-in businesses. Recent purchases include SimpliVity (hyperconverged infrastructure) and Nimble Storage (All Flash Array).

4. M&A - Data Centers: DCiM has acquired IIS Group and rebranded the business as Critical Environments Group -- or CEG for short. The company also reinforced its channel partner program as part of the new branding.

3. M&A - ServiceNow IT Consulting: Computacenter has acquired TeamUltra, a key ServiceNow channel partner. Computacenter has worked with TeamUltra since last year when the two firms delivered a series of projects for financial, utility and pharma customers, according to MicroScope. Hmmm... IT consulting firms focused on ServiceNow have been getting acquired worldwide. We'll share more thoughts soon.

Mark Cattini

2. Partner Summits: SAS Global Forum 2017 is under way in Orlando, Fla. (April 2-5).  We'll be tracking the partner-related big data, business analytics, data science and business intelligence news at the conference. Stay tuned for updates. Also, next week's partner summits include Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2017 in Las Vegas, and Autotask Community Live Europe 2017. Autotask CEO Mark Cattini is scheduled to keynote that summit. More: Visit the ChannelE2E Technology Conference Calendar to track all upcoming partner conferences and summits throughout 2017 beyond.

1. Thanks Again/Next Up: Thanks to Chris Wiser for sharing Facebook Advertising Tips during our most recent webcast. If you missed the session you can view it on demand here. Also, don't miss our Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs webcast on April 27. We'll unveil the list of honorees and associated research during that webcast.

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.