5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: 30 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 Thursday, June 30, 2016.

Actually, there are 15 entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on. Take a look…

Michael Proper
Michael Proper

15. Hybrid Service Providers: Michael Proper, an early leader in the MSP market, sees a channel shift to the Hybrid Service Provider (HSP) model. His latest business -- ClearCenter -- is working on some big surprises (hush, hush). While we can't spill the beans on some of the developments, we can certainly describe the ClearCenter journey to date. And we'll do so, soon...

14. Seagate Layoffs: The hard drive maker is cutting 1,600 jobs, or about 3 percent of its workforce, amid the slumping PC market. Seagate as you may recall, also sold off its EVault cloud business continuity business in late 2015. New owner Carbonite plans to launch an overhauled EVault for midmarket partners this summer.

13. SonicWall Channel Conflict?: SonicWall, which Dell recently sold to a private equity firm, has signed up a massive reseller named... Dell. Indeed, Dell plans to resell and support SonicWall -- which means potential competition with SMB channel partners that have remained loyal to the security platform.

12. Windows 10 Milestone: Microsoft says Windows 10 now runs on 350 million devices. On the one hand the number is impressive -- especially since the PC market is suffering from a sales slump. But on the other hand Windows 10 essentially was a free upgrade over the past year...

Stuart Crawford

11. MSP Marketing: Ulistic has launched a Virtual MSP Marketing Department service for MSPs that need a little kickstart with their marketing strategies and execution. The program, priced at $297 per month,  includes a print newsletter, email scripts, direct mail pieces and additional marketing services, according to CEO Stuart Crawford.

10. Box File, Content Migration Tools: How can companies move lots of data, content and files to Box's cloud? The latest answer involves Box Shuttle -- a new migration service from the file sync and sharing company. Box Shuttle is in beta now and general availability is expected in Fall 2016. It's the latest step in Box's corporate strategy -- which also includes Box KeySafeBox Governance and Box Zones. Of course, Box faces plenty of competition -- particularly in the IT channel. Autotask Workplace, Datto Drive, Dropbox and eFolder Anchor are also pursuing channel engagements.

9. MSP Marketing, Part II: We've been in touch with Dan Shapero, CEO of ClikCloud, in recent weeks. The Kaseya and Ingram Micro veteran has been developing some rather interesting marketing platforms for MSPs, Telcos and Cloud Services Providers. We'll share more details soon...

8. Brexit Loses, France Wins?: Amid Britain's decision to exit the European Union, here's an interesting spin: France will become Europe's startup nation, according to Cisco Chairman John Chambers. I'm not sure I fully agree. Some workaholic entrepreneurs and venture capitalists worry about France's labor laws -- which lean heavily toward the employee rather than the employer.

7. Twitter SMB Dashboard: Twitter has launched a free Dashboard designed to help small businesses more easily manage their social media engagements. The goal: Twitter Dashboard allows businesses to connect with "their fans, customers and community." Hmmm... We're giving it a look.

6. magicJack Launches SMB Offering: magicJack VocalTec has launched magicJack for BUSINESS, an Internet-based phone service for SMB customers.  The flat-rate offering was created for entrepreneurs and business owners. We don't know if the platform has a channel partner program...

5. Cross-platform Cloud Management: Red Hat CloudForms 4.1 now supports hybrid cloud management services that stretch across Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. CloudForms supports physical, virtual and container platform management, the company says.

4. BDR Funding: Zerto has secured an additional $20 million in Series E1 financing led by CRV. Sales at the data protection and recovery company have grown more than 100 percent every year from 2012 to 2015 -- though we don't have actual financial figures.

3. Oracle SPARC in the Cloud: Oracle has launched new cloud services, engineered systems and servers based on SPARC -- the RISC processor best known for running Sun Solaris. The SPARC cloud services move is noteworthy for two reasons. First, it potentially brings HPC (high performance computing) technologies to the cloud. And second, it somewhat suggests that Oracle's own public cloud is built on x86 technology -- not SPARC technology, which Oracle owns.

2. Channel Partner Programs Database: Need to search for a specific IT solution, service or partner program? Check out the ChannelE2E Partner Programs Database. More than 120 different hardware, software and cloud companies -- along with their partner programs -- are listed.

1. Thank You: Today endeth Q2 2016. ChannelE2E has experienced rather remarkable growth since Q1 2016. In fact, it is the fastest-growing IT media platform that the After Nines Inc. team has ever launched (ahem... and we've launched quite a few IT channel sites). Thanks for visiting us daily, and for constructive criticism that helps us to make ongoing course corrections. We're enjoying the E2E journey. Onward. Upward.

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.