Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, October 4, 2016.
Actually, there are 11 entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to sip on. Take a look…
11. 3-D Printing Project: Ithaca College has two-and-a-half 3D printers in one of its IT labs. What's behind the fractional deployment? Students are using the first two devices to literally print a third printer -- but the project isn't done yet.
10. Partner Program: Spectralink Corp. has launched the Engage Channel Partner Program for North American resellers and distributors. Key hires to drive the effort include Scott Thie, VP of North American sales, and Bill Foster, director of channel sales. Spectralink specializes in enterprise mobility solutions for the healthcare, retail and manufacturing verticals.
9. New CFOs in the Channel:
- Relayware, which specializes in partner relationship management (PRM) software, has hired Jennifer Fleissner as CFO.
- StorageCraft, the business continuity software specialist, has hired Matt Crumley as CFO.
8. Microsoft Azure Price Cuts: Only a few weeks after a Microsoft executive suggested the cloud price wars have ended, major Azure VM price cuts have arrived. Indeed, Microsoft has cut some VM prices by up to 50 percent. Generally speaking, the three major public cloud providers -- Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud -- slash prices at regular intervals.
7. Clouds for Healthcare IT: Microsoft's cloud services are more popular than Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud in the healthcare vertical, according to a recent SADA Systems survey.
6. Ontario Disaster Recovery: For residents and entrepreneurs in the Canadian providence of Ontario, disaster recovery assistance is available to help you navigate the recent flooding.
5. Technology Layoffs: Cypress Semiconductor is cutting about 500 jobs -- which will reduce payroll by about 7 percent. The semiconductor specialist suffered a $623.3 million loss for the first have of this year, nearly double the loss compared to the first half of 2015. Cypress is striving to reposition for the Internet of Things.
4. MSP Backup Services: Acronis now integrates with ConnectWise's RMM (remote monitoring and management) software, LabTech. It's the latest in a growing list of BDR (backup and disaster recovery) options that work with LabTech.
3. Lexmark Buyout: Lexmark's buyout by a Chinese consortium has received so-called CFIUS approval, which essentially means the U.S. government won't blog the printer firm's buyout.
2. Entrepreneur of the Year: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) will honor Bob Godgart as its Entrepreneur of the Year this Friday. Established in 1990, the award recognizes entrepreneurs and role models who share their wisdom and experiences with students. Godgart has started five companies in his career, including Autotask and ChannelEyes. He exited Autotask in 2011 and remains chairman of ChannelEyes. Godgart also is the former Chairman of CompTIA.
1. Channel Partner Events: Check the ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar for a list of channel industry events set for 2017. Dozens of partner conferences and summits for VARs, MSPs and CSPs are now listed.
More: Read all of our daily 5 Channel Partner Updates. Plus: Subscribe to our daily enewsletter. Thanks to those who already have.
