Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Friday, August 5, 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…
15. Continuum Security Vulnerability Update: Continuum is warning MSPs about a security vulnerability (see item 14, Aug. 1) involving an admin account called SAAZDEPUSR. In an Aug. 4 email warning to MSPs, Continuum said it was "strongly recommending that all partners check for suspicious activity." Continuum partners can use this link for more information about the vulnerability and mitigation steps.
14. MSP Merger: BackupPlan.ca has merged with CTECH Consulting Group , sources tell ChannelE2E. We'll share more details soon...
13. Biggest HIPAA Fine (Ever): Advocate Health Care, the largest delivery system in Illinois, on Thursday was hit with a $5.55 million HIPAA fine -- the largest ever levied on a healthcare organization charged with HIPAA violations, according to InformationManagement. The fine was “a result of the extent and duration of the alleged noncompliance (dating back to the inception of the Security Rule in some instances), the involvement of the State Attorney General in a corresponding investigation, and the large number of individuals whose information was affected by Advocate, one of the largest health systems in the country.”
12. HIPAA Resolution Agreement: Here's an example of a HIPAA resolution agreement (actually, it's the agreement that OCR reached with Advocate Health Care).
11. More HIPAA Fines Coming?: Indeed, nearly 170 HIPAA audits are under way, and it's a safe bet fines will reach health care companies and their partner ecosystems -- including MSPs and VARs.
10. You Must Comply: Here Endeth our HIPAA rant of the day.
9. FireEye vs. Symantec: Yesterday was opposite day in the security market. Former high-flier FireEye announced a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast yesterday and confirmed plans to cut about 300 to 400 employees -- or about 10 percent of its workforce. On the flip side, Symantec -- which has been struggling in recent years -- disclosed stronger-than-expected revenues yesterday. The company was boosted by the Blue Coat buyout.
8. Hortonworks Partners?: After disclosing weaker-than-expected revenues yesterday, Hortonworks executives disclosed that they've cut some non-revenue producing employees in order to bulk up the sales staff. But during an earnings call for the company, Hortonworks never once mentioned how VARs, integrators and service providers can potentially help the company to overcome the revenue shortfall. It was a major missed opportunity to put the focus on the channel -- and a potential sign to me that Hortonworks isn't putting enough emphasis on partners. So who pays? Shareholders. Hortonworks' stock fee about 25 percent in after-hours trading amid the revenue miss.
7. Apple Bug Bounty Program: Apple will pay white hat hackers who report vulnerabilities up to $200,000 for the most severe bugs, The Wall Street Journal notes. Bug bounty programs are common among IT companies -- but even auto companies like Tesla and GM are now offering similar programs because of all the software in cars, the Journal notes.
6. European Cloud Market Share: Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google) and IBM hold a combined 40 percent cloud market share in Europe, according to IDC. And the fab four nearly tripled their combined cloud infrastructure revenue in the region to $2 billion in in 2015 vs. 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported. Just don't shout those stats too loudly. European regulators are worried about U.S. companies dominating the cloud market the way Facebook and Google dominate the social and search markets...
5. European Cloud Alternatives: If you're a European business that's seeking cloud services outside of the big four (Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet/Google and IBM), check out this top 10 list of European IaaS cloud providers... (Opps... Google is on the list.)
4. Rackspace Acquired?: That's the ongoing rumor. If true, I suspect Rackspace will share official details during or a bit before the company's next quarterly earnings call -- which is set for Monday, August 8.
3. Pivotal Cloud Partner: Crosslake, a software development consulting company, has launched its Pivotal Cloud Foundry services alongside its On-Premise to Cloud practice, the company has confirmed. The announcement comes a day after Pivotal -- an EMC Federation company -- officially announced its own partner program (see item 3, Aug. 3).
2. Best Geek Headline of the Week: Goes to PC Magazine for this one, "How to Use Dungeons and Dragons for Security Training."
1. Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs: Did you miss the exclusive ChannelE2E list identifying and tracking the Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs for 2016? It's right here.
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