Good mid-morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to sip on for Friday, May 6, 2016.
Actually, there are 19 entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on. Take a look…
Leadership, Finances, M&A
19. After the Scandal: Toshiba has nominated Satoshi Tsunakawa, a former head of its medical equipment division, to be its next CEO. Shareholders are expected to approve the nomination at a June meeting. His key priority: Leading Toshiba forward and closing the books on a $1.3 billion accounting scandal at the technology giant. Tsunakawa was not involved in the scandal.
18. New CEO: Gridstore has named Hewlett Packard Enterprise veteran Nariman Teymourian as its new CEO. The company, which focuses on hyperconverged infrastructure and all flash storage, recently raised $19 million in fresh funding.
17. IT Outsourcing Weakness: Cognizant Technology Solutions reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth in 14 years as its clients in the financial and healthcare services held back on spending, Reuters noted. Cognizant blamed the weakness on M&A in its healthcare customer base and financial market volatility.
16. IT Services M&A: Net@Work of New York has acquired Maine-based Dresser & Associates, which provides IT services for compliance, benefits, payroll and other human resources administration. Mark Dresser, president of Dresser, has been named practice director of employer solutions for Net@Work. Dresser & Associates has been a top seller of Sage HRMS, the companies assert.
15. 3D Printing M&A: Formlabs, which develops 3D printing systems, has acquired Pinshape -- a 3D printing online community. Pinshape will operate as a standalone business within Formlabs. ChannelE2E didn't track down financial details.
14. Big Investment: Ford and Microsoft led a $253 million funding round for Pivotal, the developer-focused company owned by EMC Corp. Hmmm...
Managed Services News & Chatter
13. MSP Analytics: ManageEngine has launched Analytics Plus, a self-service analytics platform. It's designed for mid- to large-size organizations that want to draw insights from their IT data. The big question: Can ManageEngine's installed base of service providers leverage Analytics Plus to gain insights from their customers? We're checking.
12. MSPs & Workspace as a Service: US Signal, a network and cloud hosting provider, has partnered with itopia to offer MSPs end-to-end cloud workspaces for end-customers. The platform automatically discovers all components of an on-premises IT environment, and then provisions and migrates those components to the cloud, the two companies say. Moreover, the process is 10 times faster than traditional approaches and at a much lower price point, the companies allege.
11. MSP Network Management: Huawei plans to launch a Cloud Managed Network solution that enables cloud-based network planning and management for SMBs, large enterprises with branch networks, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Yup, Huawei's Cloud Managed Network (CMN) will be available to enterprises through managed service providers (MSPs).
Security and Data Protection
10. No They Don't: IBM and Cisco have the same security strategy, according to Motley Fool. I rather enjoy that website but disagree with their views on this particular matter. Cisco remains an overwhelmingly "channel first" business, while IBM has a massive direct salesforce -- and also partners with the channel in some areas.
9. Backups vs Ransomware: Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) software and cloud companies are starting to position their platforms as the best defense vs. ransomware. According to the FBI, there were more than 2,400 reported ransomware attacks in 2015 totaling more than$24 million, with ransoms paid during the first quarter of 2016 surpassing $200 million. StorageCraft is jumping on that data point and positioning its offerings as the best way to safeguard data from ransomware.
8. Security Upgrade: HEAT Endpoint Management and Security Suite (EMSS) 8.4 has arrived. The offering eases quarantined file management, simplifies the authorization of new or blocked applications, and integrates more easily with third-party systems, the company claims.
7. Webroot Momentum: The MSP-centric security company saw Q3 bookings for the period ending March 31 jump 36 percent in the business sector and 9 percent in the consumer market, according to CEO Dick Williams. Among the solutions driving that momentum: Webroot BrightCloud Threat Investigator, a new threat investigation tool that provides actionable threat intelligence on individual IPs, URLS, mobile apps, and files, Webroot said.
6. FireEye Financial Miss, CEO Change: FireEye reported weak Q1 results, a weak overall outlook for 2016, and a CEO change. Kevin Mandia will succeed David DeWalt as CEO on June 15. Mandia founded Mandiant, which FireEye acquired in 2013. The FireEye weakness comes only a few weeks after Symantec reported weakness in its business and announced the search for a new CEO.
Bonus Materials...
5. What Took So Long?: Apple and SAP are partnering to bring HANA-related big data apps to the Apple iOS operating system. Apple has similar enterprise-focused relationships with Cisco Systems and IBM. Although iOS is gaining enterprise momentum with app developers, overall iPhone and iPad sales have been weak compared to historic numbers.
4. Retro Macs: A teenager in Winslow, Maine, has created a 1,000-square-foot Apple Mac museum in his family's home. Shockingly, Dave Sobel was not a consultant on the retro product. Find more details about the retro Mac collection over on the Huffington Post...
3. Windows 10 Free No More: Microsoft will start charging for Windows 10 after July 29. A full copy of the operating system will cost $119. Some folks say it will still be "free" with new PCs. But um... you're paying for it in the PC price tag. Roughly 300 million devices now run Windows 10, which launched in July 2015.
2. You Don't Say: Blog for blog, the writer who generates the most reader comments in the IT channel is... Amy Katz. Thoughtful, insightful. Her weekly entries on ChannelE2E generate healthy reader interaction on our site. And yet.. she keeps me around to run content.
1. Upcoming Channel Events: ChannelE2E next week will be tracking Lenovo Accelerate 2016, Internet of Things World, Intel Security Americas Partner Summit 2016, and Robin Robins Sales and Marketing Boot Camp. Check in daily for our coverage. And submit your channel partner conference to our ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar.
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