Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to sip on for Monday, March 7, 2016.
Actually, there are 11 items for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to sip on…
11. This Week's Partner Conferences: We'll be keeping a close eye on VMware Partner Leadership Summit 2016, Aruba Atmosphere 2016 and several other partner-friendly conferences this week. If you hear interesting chatter while on the road attending conferences, feel free to send it our way ([email protected]).
10. Mac Ransomware: Palo Alto Networks has described the first known Mac OS X ransomware -- dubbed Keranger. Scroll through the Pal Alto networks blog and search for the section titled "How to Protect Yourself" to safeguard Mac OS X systems from the attack.
9. Office 365 Management: Microsoft is set to deliver a new Office 365 administration center within the next few weeks. It's safe to expect deeper reporting capabilities, allowing customers and partners to monitor the adoption and consumption of Office 365 by specific users. Many MSP-centric software companies now offer Office 365 management tools as well. The latest is ConnectWise CloudConsole.
8. Data Center Hardware Spending: While many companies cut hardware spending and shift workloads to the cloud, Avnet continues to load up on hardware to support its cloud data center push, says CIO Steve Phillips.
7. HIPAA Compliance Tools: Yes, there are dozens of tools and technologies to help enforce HIPAA compliance. Among the latest and most interesting is an Office of Civil Rights (OCR) crosswalk effort to help identify possible HIPAA gaps within organizations...
5. IT Consulting M&A: Logic20/20 Inc. has acquired Brainbox Consulting. The two Seattle-area IT consulting companies specialize in business intelligence, data warehousing, and data analytics. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, however there will be no layoffs as a result of the acquisition, said Brainbox founder and CEO Adam Nathan in an e-mail to GeekWire.
4. Kaspersky Lab Partner Program: The security company has introduced several offerings -- including Security Intelligence Services. Kaspersky has been a 100 percent partner-focused software company. We're checking to see how the new security services are sold/promoted via partners...
3. Hyperconverged Battle: Hewlett Packard Enterprise is preparing to launch a hyperconverged platform that will compete with Cisco HyperFlex and Nutanix, among other offerings. HPE CEO Meg Whitman teased some of the details during an earnings call last week. The launch is expected later his month.
2. MSPs and the Cloud: Our dangerously belated headline of the week comes from ITProPortal: "Why MSPs should embrace the cloud in 2016." Um, shouldn't that be '2010?'
1. Channel Partner Programs: Searching for specific channel partner programs in specific product or service categories (cloud, mobile, security, networking, more)? Then check out ChannelE2E's Channel Partner Program database. More than 120 partner programs are listed. Yes, listings are free if you'd like to submit your company as well.
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