Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, March 30, 2017.
Actually, there are 28 snackable updates for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to chew on.
28. HPE Wants to Buy Veeam?:The speculation has started...
27. New Venture Capital: Panasonic will launch Panasonic Ventures LLC in April. The new venture capital firm, based in California, will invest in start-up companies mainly in the United States, with initial investments of around $100 million. What niches will Panasonic pursue? The company didn't say...
26. Big Portfolio: Xerox yesterday announced the "largest product launch in company history." The lineup includes 29 ConnectKey-enabled printers and multifunction devices that "transform traditional printing devices into smart, connected workplace assistants, providing channel partners with additional opportunities to grow revenue and enter new markets," the company claims.25. Distribution - Milestones:Intelisys Inc., a ScanSource company, says LAM Technology is its ninth Sales Partner to be named a Platinum Partner. An Intelisys Sales Partner since 2008, LAM Technology is a cloud and telecommunications agency and consulting firm that provides carrier agnostic solutions.
24. Distribution - Cloud Security:Cloud Distribution has agreed to distribute CrowdStrike Falcon, an endpoint security platform. Cloud Distribution is a value-added distributor focused on security, networking and storage solutions. The company positions itself as a "next-generation" distributor. We're checking to see if or how the company potentially differs from Pax8, another cloud-centric distributor.
John Walters23. Distribution - Talent: Speaking of Pax8 (see item above), the company has "streamlined operations by adding new processes and organizational enhancements." John Walters has joined Pax8 as VP of service operations. Walters oversees the strategic direction of Pax8's service delivery and technical support. He reports to COO Klaus Dimmler.22. Distribution - AWS Cloud Services: Westcon-Comstor is now offering Amazon Web Services' (AWS) in Canada as an AWS Value Added Distributor. Watch for links between Westcon-Comstor's BlueSky cloud and service management platform and AWS. The move reinforces the fact that traditional distributors are both competing and partnering with AWS, which now has its own marketplace for third-party applications.
21. Distribution - Storage: Boston Ltd., an integrator, has inked a distribution deal with Datera, a provider of elastic block storage for on-premises clouds.
20. Red Hat Storage Partners: More than 20 North American reseller partners are now accredited to sell Red Hat's software-defined storage solutions -- including Red Hat Ceph Storage and Red Hat Gluster Storage. This is in addition to more than 15 technical alliances partners, such as Cisco, Dell EMC, Intel, QCT, Samsung Semiconductor, Seagate and Supermicro, the company says.19, Data Center Storage:Scality, which specializes in object and cloud storage, is now certified to run onCisco UCS S3260 storage server and integrated UCS Manager.
17. Multi-Cloud Management: Verizon has agreed to resell Equinix colocation and interconnection services. Watch for connections between Equinix's International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers around the globe with Verizon’s security, network and advanced communications services.
16. Managed Broadband Services:RigNet Inc., an MSP focused on the energy market, has deployed deep water 4G LTE service in the Gulf of Mexico. RigNet delivers carrier-class services to the oil and gas industry across over 300 facilities from Texas to Alabama. Still, the company has been diversifying beyond its core managed services amid weakness in the Oil and Gas sector.
15. Managed Security Services, Part I: Telstra will launch a suite of managed security services and two new cybersecurity centers in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. The offerings will debut on July 19, according to ZDNet.
14. Managed Security Services, Part II: Vector Security, an integrator, has consolidated two of its businesses (National Accounts Division and Industry Retail Group) to operate under a single brand called Vector Security Networks. The division offers managed network services and physical security for multi-site businesses across North America. Areas of specialty include NOC monitoring, device management, PCI compliance, alarm management, loss prevention and video surveillance.
13. DDoS Mitigation:Radware, a provider of cyber security and application delivery solutions, has launching a managed DDoS protection service with integrated, unified protection across data centers and public cloud environments -- including Amazon Web Services (AWS, available now) and Microsoft Azure (Q2 2017).
12. Identity and Access Management: ManageEngine has added two-factor authentication (2FA) support in ADManager Plus, its Active Directory (AD) management and reporting solution. Keep an eye on ManageEngine and sister company Zoho... Lots of synergies are emerging. We'll share more details soon.11. Partner Program - Security: Swivel Secure is expanding global partner program with concentrated efforts in North America. The UK-based company, founded in 2000, specializes in authentication.
But wait. More content awaits you on page 2. Proceed to page two now and chow down the remaining items...Welcome to page two. Enjoy a second serving of channel content -- items 10 to 1 -- here.10. "Top Notch, Top Notch:" Computer Design & Integration LLC has achieved Titanium Tier in the Dell EMC Partner Program, with competencies held in converged, hyper-converged, flash, data protection, data protection services, networking, server and storage solutions. Titanium is the highest level in the new Dell EMC Partner Program, which launched a few weeks ago.9. Security Freeware:Comodo's Dome Shield, a DNS- and cloud-based web security offering, is now available free of charge. Dome Shield negates the need for on-premise web gateway hardware and serves as a first line of defense to protect enterprises, small businesses and individuals from web-borne threats, the company claims.8. Fresh Funding:Icertis, which develops a cloud-based contract management platform, has raised $25 million in Series C funding.
7. M&A - CRM:Quilvest Private Equity and former head of Sage France, Antoine Henry, have acquired Eudonet, a CRM specialist. Financial terms were not disclosed. Eudonet co-founders Christophe Morizot, Bertrand de La Villegeorges, and Guillaume Bouillot will exit the company while remaining minority shareholders.
6, M&A - Networking: Extreme Networks has confirmed plans to buy Brocade's IP networking business for $55 million in cash. By the way: Loyal ChannelE2E readers found out about the M&A rumors on Tuesday (item 2 here), a day before the deal was announced. Our source? Actually, his or her name is a mystery to us. No joke.5. M&A - IT Services:Computers Nationwide (Wheeling, Ill.) has acquired KC Computers (Whitewater), a 30-person IT services company. Computers Nationwide specializes in commercial surveillance systems. KC Computers is a reseller and MSP that has network design and security expertise. We'll share more details soon.
4. Can We Please Innovate? (Pretty Please?): IT pros spend only 11 percent of their time on IT planning and strategy, and only 13 percent of their time on modernizing technology. Alas, the other 76 percent of their time is spent on mundane troubleshooting, according to a new Carbonite study, commissioned in collaboration with Spiceworks. At first glance those are depressing stats. But take a closer look and the data points reinforce the need for MSPs, many of which free up IT pros to focus on more strategic work...
Diane Krakora3. State of Partnering: PartherPath has published its11th annual State of Partnering report: The 6 Pillars of Partner Experience. The 38-page report draws on over 20 years of channel experience plus survey responses from 134 vendors and 212 solution providers, the consulting firm and market researcher says. Check in with CEO Diane Krakora if you have questions about the report.2. Running to the Exits?: You know ChannelE2E covers the entrepreneur-to-exit (E2E) journey. Based purely on market demographics, thousands of Baby Boomers are set to retire in the next few years -- which means they'll need to transition their businesses to new owners. Now, that trend has a rather classic name: The Silver Tsunami -- as in silver-haired business owners who are racing toward the exits, and whipping up M&A or ESOP storms around them. We'll share more details soon.
1. The End Cometh: Our Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs Survey closes tomorrow (Friday, March 31) at 23:59:59 eastern. Complete the survey now and your MSP could be ranked among the world's Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs when we reveal honorees and research results on April 27.
Bonus: Who really writes this daily blog entry? Only a madman (or madwoman) would rise early to pen this column daily. Or... perhaps a software algorithm writes it all? Hmmm...
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.
10. "Top Notch, Top Notch:" Computer Design & Integration LLC has achieved Titanium Tier in the Dell EMC Partner Program, with competencies held in converged, hyper-converged, flash, data protection, data protection services, networking, server and storage solutions. Titanium is the highest level in the new Dell EMC Partner Program, which launched a few weeks ago.
9. Security Freeware: Comodo's Dome Shield, a DNS- and cloud-based web security offering, is now available free of charge. Dome Shield negates the need for on-premise web gateway hardware and serves as a first line of defense to protect enterprises, small businesses and individuals from web-borne threats, the company claims.
8. Fresh Funding: Icertis, which develops a cloud-based contract management platform, has raised $25 million in Series C funding.
7. M&A - CRM: Quilvest Private Equity and former head of Sage France, Antoine Henry, have acquired Eudonet, a CRM specialist. Financial terms were not disclosed. Eudonet co-founders Christophe Morizot, Bertrand de La Villegeorges, and Guillaume Bouillot will exit the company while remaining minority shareholders.
6, M&A - Networking: Extreme Networks has confirmed plans to buy Brocade's IP networking business for $55 million in cash. By the way: Loyal ChannelE2E readers found out about the M&A rumors on Tuesday (item 2 here), a day before the deal was announced. Our source? Actually, his or her name is a mystery to us. No joke.
5. M&A - IT Services: Computers Nationwide (Wheeling, Ill.) has acquired KC Computers (Whitewater), a 30-person IT services company. Computers Nationwide specializes in commercial surveillance systems. KC Computers is a reseller and MSP that has network design and security expertise. We'll share more details soon.
4. Can We Please Innovate? (Pretty Please?): IT pros spend only 11 percent of their time on IT planning and strategy, and only 13 percent of their time on modernizing technology. Alas, the other 76 percent of their time is spent on mundane troubleshooting, according to a new Carbonite study, commissioned in collaboration with Spiceworks. At first glance those are depressing stats. But take a closer look and the data points reinforce the need for MSPs, many of which free up IT pros to focus on more strategic work...
Diane Krakora
1. The End Cometh: Our Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs Survey closes tomorrow (Friday, March 31) at 23:59:59 eastern. Complete the survey now and your MSP could be ranked among the world's Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs when we reveal honorees and research results on April 27.
Bonus: Who really writes this daily blog entry? Only a madman (or madwoman) would rise early to pen this column daily. Or... perhaps a software algorithm writes it all? Hmmm...
