Good mid-morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to sip on for Wednesday, May 4, 2016.
Actually, there are 19 entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on.
19. Cisco Partner Marketing: Trying to figure out how to go to market with Cisco Systems? Get the answers right here...
18. U.S. Election & Entrepreneur Concerns: The U.S. presidential election has triggered concerns among small business owners, making them less optimistic about the U.S. economy and perhaps even undermining hiring and business spending, according to a Bank of America survey. Hmmm...
17. Office Supplies: Amazon Business, the company's office supply platform, now generates $1 billion in annual sales. Oh, and the business is growing 20 percent month-on-month, Amazon told Reuters. Anybody else still wondering why Staples and Office Depot are trying to merge?
16. That Sounds Serious: Automatic Data Processing Inc. says tax and salary data for "a small number" of its clients has been stolen. Memo to ADP: Define a "small number" please?
15. Microsoft Counters Box, Dropbox: Microsoft is releasing a new version of SharePoint, introducing phone apps designed to fix the product’s lack of mobile integration, and OneDrive file-sharing apps to counter Box, DropBox and Google Drive, Bloomberg notes. The moves come as MSP-centric players like Autotask Workplace, Datto Drive and eFolder Anchor continue to ramp up their file sharing services for SMB customers.
14. Microsoft IoT Strategy: Microsoft has acquired Solair, an Italian IoT software company focused on the manufacturing, retail, food & beverage and transportation verticals. Watch for Solair's technology to surface in Microsoft's IoT platform for Azure.
13. Cloud Monitoring: CloudHealth Technologies, which develops a cloud monitoring and management platform, has raised $20 million in new venture funding. The company sounds promising but faces plenty of competition from the top 50 cloud monitoring tools for Azure, AWS, Google and more.
12. Docker, Container Management: RightScale, which specializes in universal cloud management, has launched RightScale Container Manager. The platform allows enterprises to manage containers alongside traditional workloads. The dashboard supports container management across clouds as well as virtual and bare-metal servers. We're checking to see if the offering is multi-tenant for service providers...
11. OpenStack MSP Move: Aptira, an MSP focused on OpenStack clouds, has named Simon Anderson as Executive Chairman. He'll "steer the company's strategic direction as it continues to expand operations from the Asia-Pacific to Europe and the Americas." Hmmm...
10. Managed Services: ConvergeOne has extended its OnGuard monitoring capabilities across all of the company's multiple-vendor solutions. The MSP has also launched an enhanced customer center portal, while successfully completing the Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 Type II audit.
9. Partner Programs
- CAST, which develops software analysis and measurement solutions, has launched the Highlight Partner Program. The goal is to help partners identify risk, reduce complexities and minimize costs associated with managing enterprise applications for end users.
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CloudPhysics has launched Partner Edition. The offering allows channel and vendor partners to "provide targeted data center assessments," leveraging CloudPhysics' big data analytics platform.
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Collabrance, a GreatAmerica company and Master MSP, has launched a new website and blog. Get the first look here: www.collabrance.com.
- Internap, a provider of Internet infrastructure services, has joined the Equinix Channel Partner Program as well as the Equinix Cloud Exchange to expand its global reach and provide high-performance connectivity to its portfolio of cloud services.
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Ulistic has launched a Media and PR relations service for MSPs.
8. Workspace as a Service: CloudJumper has spun off from nGenx to focus on Workspace as a Service offerings. The WaaS market -- basically, desktop as a service and a whole lot more -- enjoys healthy growth. But frankly, there are too many players and I suspect consolidation is coming. A few WaaS businesses have entertained buyout offers in recent months but valuation debates derailed some of the discussions, sources tell ChannelE2E.
7. VMware Momentum: Frank Rauch, VP of VMware's Americas Partner Organization, sounds upbeat. During a conversation with ChannelE2E yesterday at EMC World, Rauch said partners and customers are opening their arms to the pending Dell-EMC merger. And during a partner session at the conference, EMC praised VMware's efforts with VxRail, a hyperconverged platform that's exceeding EMC's original sales forecasts. VMware delivered stronger-than-expected revenues and profits in its most recent quarterly results -- which were lifted by growing NSX and VSAN demand.
6. Backup and Disaster Recovery: eProsper, a well-known IT service provider in Toronto, has transitioned customers to Continuum's Continuity247 platform. It's the latest in a growing list of wins for Continuum's BDR platform, though competition in the market remains fierce. Indeed, Carbonite just announced surprisingly strong quarterly results -- led by SMB partner engagements. And Barracuda is about to extend its Intronis business beyond BDR into security subscription services.
5. Midmarket M&A Activity: Dealmaking dipped again in April, with the composite score of Mergers & Acquisitions’ Mid-Market M&A Conditions Index (MACI) of 52.0, down from the March score of 54.6. Here's a closer look at the data...
4. Security Integration: Webroot has integrated with Citrix. The result? Citrix will complement its NetScaler ADC platform with Webroot's BrightCloud IP Reputation Service. The integration should help IT service providers to uncover and mitigate malicious IP addresses within customer environments.
3. Lenovo Startups: Lenovo plans to invest $500 million in a startup fund. Yes, the Chinese PC and mobile giant is striving to incubate next-generation businesses.
2. That Reminds Me: We'll check out Lenovo's business strategy next week during Lenovo Accelerate 2016, the company's partner conference in Orlando, Fla.
1. Top Vertical Market MSPs: Who are they? Find out by joining our next Webcast.
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