Content, 5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: Tuesday 17 July 2018

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, July 17, 2018.

Actually, there are nine timely updates designed 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:

10. MSP Security Management: Keep a close eye on VIPRE Security, which just launched a site manager tool; it features a multi-tenant environment for MSPs to manage endpoint security. We'll share more details later today...

9. CenturyLink-Oracle Partnership: CenturyLink will offer dedicated and private access to Oracle Cloud through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure FastConnect. Customers gain a direct, secure connection that does not traverse the public Internet, delivering a consistent experience for users of demanding enterprise workloads, the companies claim.

8. Operations Management: PagerDuty is now available on AWS Marketplace. PagerDuty’s real-time platform for action enables DevOps and ITOps teams to manage the health of their cloud services and take action to respond to any incidents, as well as address any opportunities, the company asserts.

7. Kaseya's BDR Arm: Unitrends has announced the “Gen 8” release of its flagship Recovery Series backup appliances. The appliance features self-healing storage and high disk density that stores more data in less space, saving up to 60 percent on power and cooling, the company says. The Recovery Series appliances also come pre-integrated with new Unitrends Backup version 10.2 software. Unitrends merged with Kaseya earlier this year.

6. Commvault Reaffirms Partner Push: Commvault says its has "broadly expanded its dedication to partners through significant commitments to personnel, programs and resources, all of which put partners firmly at the center of Commvault’s go-to-market strategy and creates an even stronger foundation for the mutual success of Commvault and its worldwide partner network." The effort includes more than 300 resources across its sales, partner and field marketing organizations to create new teams dedicated to Commvault’s four routes to market: Alliance Partners, VARs and Distributors, Service Providers and Global Systems Integrators (GSIs). The move comes after activist investor Elliot Associates pressured Commvault to find a new CEO and adjust its business strategy amid heightened competition from Veeam, among other storage companies.

5. Carbonite Acquisitions?: Carbonite announced preliminary quarterly results that were stronger than Wall Street expected, and the company unveiled a proposed public offering of common stock. My reaction? A few months ago, I would have guessed that a private equity firm or a strategic buyer would acquire Carbonite. Fast forward to present day, and Carbonite looks more like a buyer rather than a seller in the M&A market.

4. Private Equity Fraud?: Private equity firm HGGC is facing a fraud-related legal case. The PE firm is known for its link to NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Steve Young, though the connection does not necessarily mean Young was aware of HGGC's alleged wrongdoing...

3. M&A - Cloud Services: Orange Business Services is acquiring European cloud infrastructure provider Basefarm for 350 million euros. Basefarm has a "strong operational presence in several European countries, particularly in NorwaySwedenthe NetherlandsAustria and in Germany, where it boasts a cutting-edge big data activity," the companies say. We'll share more details soon.

2. M&A - IT Services: Uniserve Communications has acquired certain RootCellar Technologies Corp. assets for $2 million. RootCellar, a hybrid IT consulting firm, expects revenue of $8 million and EBITDA + position of $800,000 for the year ending July 31 2018. RootCeller's team includes Security Operations Center talent.

1. Microsoft Partner Conference News: Live daily coverage of Microsoft Inspire 2018 continues here.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.