Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, March 8, 2017.
Actually, there are 15 scrumptious updates 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…
15. Talent - Continuum: Continuum has hired Geoffrey Willison as CFO and Fielder Hiss as VP of product, effective March 1. Willison succeeds CFO Steve Royal, who is retiring after nearly six years with the company. Willison previously held key posts at Boston Consulting Group and Valore. Hiss, meanwhile, takes on leadership of Continuum’s product team from the company’s Boston headquarters. Hiss previously was VP at EnerNOC.
14. Security Operations Center?: Continuum CEO Michael George hinted in late 2016 that the company may develop a SOC. Hmmm... Check out Fielder Hiss's bio (item 15 above) in the energy intelligence market -- including some background in emergency services...
13. Talent - FinancialForce: FinancialForce, which develops Cloud ERP and PSA offerings for the Salesforce Platform, has hired Kevin McKay as senior VP of customer success, and Susie Sedlacek as senior VP of global professional services. The company grew more than 40 percent in 2016, and has now reached the $100 million annual revenue run rate milestone -- which means monthly revenues are now somewhere above $8 million.
12. Datadog & Docker: Datadog has completed the Docker Certification Program, a framework for partners to certify their technology to the Docker Enterprise Edition (EE) commercial platform. Datadog develops infrastructure monitoring and application performance monitoring (APM) platforms for DevOps teams and MSPs. Docker announced the certification program last week.
11. Online Certification: ProctorU is now offering secure online certification examples for CompTIA's Project+ certification. We'll share more thoughts soon...
10. Apple in Business: MacOS and iOS adoption within businesses continues to accelerate. Roughly 75 percent of organizations saw their MacOS and iOS adoption climb in 2016 vs. 2015, according to Jamf.
9. Professional Services Mobile App: VOGSY, a mobile ERP solution for the professional services industry, is now available in Google's G Suite Marketplace. The ERP solution allows midsize professional services organizations manage the Quote-to-Cash process across sales, account management, resourcing, financing and more.
8. Cybersecurity Customer Testing: Synoptek, a well-known MSP, has launched a Cybersecurity Training and Testing service for its end customers. On a related note, Synoptek CEO Tim Britt shared his secrets to MSP success in this ChannelE2E podcast from 2016.
7. Microsoft Cloud Outage: Multiple Microsoft cloud services suffered outages for several hours on Tuesday across Western Europe and the Eastern United States, Reuters reported. Among the services affected were Microsoft Outlook.com, Office 365, Xbox Live and Skype. The outages come roughly one week after user error triggered major Amazon Web Services outages.
6. Microsoft Office365 Bugs: Microsoft has doubled the bounty it's willing to pay developers to find Office 365 bugs. The traditional fee involved a minimum payment of US$500 up to a maximum of US$15,000. But from March 1 to May 1, 2017, the bounty for certain bug discoveries will double up to US$30,000.
5. Big Data Trends: MapR CEO Matt Mills describes key big data software and partner trends in ChannelE2E Podcast 083, featuring co-host Todd Thibodeaux, CEO of CompTIA. Check out all of our podcasts here.
4. M&A - Healthcare IT Services: Tech Mahindra is acquiring HCI Group, a 500-person IT consulting firm based in Jacksonville, Fla. HCI specializes in electronic health records management and other healthcare-related IT projects. Tech Mahindra, an India-based firm, will pay $89.5 million for an 85 percent stack in HCI now, with the remaining 15 percent to be purchased over the next three years.
3. M&A - IT Services: Comm-Works, a technology integrator, has acquired Network Access Products Inc. (NAP), which specializes in post-project support. The deal will "further enhance Comm-Works' managed services and depot maintenance capabilities," the companies said. We'll share more details soon.
2. Facebook Ads Don't Work?: Sixty-two percent of small business owners say Facebook Ads don't work. We've got evidence to prove them wrong. Join Marketing Wizard Chris Wiser as he explains Facebook advertising tips -- and shares real RIO case studies -- during ChannelE2E's March 30 webcast. Register now.
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