5 Channel Partner Updates: Wednesday 06 December 2017 -

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, December 6, 2017. Actually, there are 18 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: 18. Breaking News - M&A: ABRY Partners, a private equity firm, has acquired Breakthrough Technology Group (BTG), a managed private cloud service provider focused on supporting enterprise workloads and IT services. BTG will leverage ABRY's investment to accelerate growth, both organically and through strategic acquisitions, the companies said. We'll share more details later today. 17. Talent Shortfall: IBM will fall short of its hiring goals in Ohio, and therefore will not qualify for promised taxed credits from the state, according to BizJournals.com. Although IBM has been staffing up in such areas as cognitive computing, the technology giant has been cutting back in mature IT markets -- leading to a rebalancing of staff and an undisclosed number of job cuts in 2017. 16. IBM AI Servers: IBM's latest Power Systems Servers, which leverage the Power9 processor, are specifically built for artificial intelligence workloads, the company claims. 15. Laptops and Mobile Computing: HP Inc. has unveiled the HP ENVY x2, an Always Connected PC that "combines the best of a smartphone experience with the best of a Windows PC," the company claims. The device, HP asserts, is "impossibly thin and incredibly durable." On a related note, Microsoft has launched Windows 10 for ARM processors -- which has triggered multiple mobile device launches from hardware partners. 14. SD-WAN Momentum: Silver Peak, which specializes in broadband and hybrid WAN solutions, says its Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN has surpassed 600 production customer deployments. The rollouts typically involve small-to-midsized businesses up to enterprises and cloud service providers (CSPS). 13. Security Conference: The Fortinet Accelerate 18 conference, designed for partners and network security professionals, is set for February in Las Vegas, the company confirms. 12. Managed SMB Application Services: PlumChoice has expanded its managed IT services to support more SMB applications. Already a well-known provider of Office 365 services, PlumChoice now offers strategic counsel to help customers with backup, disaster recovery and productivity applications. The company's monthly recurring revenues have surged 20 percent since January 2017, and nearly all of PlumChoice's customers now run cloud services -- up from 70 percent in December 2016, the company says. 11. HIPAA Compliance: SecurityMetrics has launched this 2018 Guide to HIPAA Compliance. Continue to page two for items 10 to 1. They're a simple click away. Welcome to page two, featuring items 10 to 1 for today. 10. Cloud Infrastructure: Microsoft has deployed AMD EPYC processors in its data centers in advance of preview for its latest L-Series of Virtual Machines (VM) for storage optimized workloads. The Lv2 VM family will take advantage of the high-core count and connectivity support of the AMD EPYC processor, the chip maker says. This is the first public cloud rollout of EPYC technology, which could pressure Intel's grip on the data center market. 9. Data Centers: Neverfail has opened a datacenter in Manchester, England. The company, which works closely with service providers, specializes in resilient clouds and applications. 8. Network Operations Center Launch: Mindtree has opened its first North America-based network operations center (NOC) in Scottsdale, Arizona, to support the company's growing Infrastructure Management Services business. Mindtree already has NOCs in Chennai and Bangalore NOCs. The Scottsdale NOC supports as many as 30 employees across three shifts, giving customers 24x7 coverage for their application and infrastructure.

7. Talent: SolarWinds MSP and LogicNow veteran Alistair Forbes has joined UK investment firm Mercia Technologies as head of software and Internet. He'll lead an investment team that focuses on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advertising technology and SaaS. Forbes also is a board member at Harmony PSA and Auvik Networks. 6. Virtual Desktops and Servers: Keep an eye on TetherView, a private cloud provider startup that offers virtual desktops and servers. Is a relationship with Autotask emerging? Hmmm...

5. Webroot Momentum: Webroot added nearly 1,000 MSPs in Q1 of its fiscal year 2018, and now supports more than 10,200 MSPs, the company claims. The news marked the 15th consecutive quarter that Webroot has generated double-digit business growth. Still, the company isn't resting on its laurels. New CEO Mike Potts is expanding the company beyond endpoint security to drive an overall multi-layer platform strategy. Former CEO Dick Williams, who retired earlier this year, laid the foundation for the strategy before his exit. 4. Professional Services Automation: Krow Software, a provider of PSA software built natively on the Salesforce platform, has launched an upgrade that supports Slack Bot integration, protect forecasting, CPQ (configure, price quote) capabilities, enhanced scheduling, mobile time sheets, Microsoft Project integration, customer communities to collaborate on project, and additional integrations, the company says. Several PSA providers have specifically built their software to work with Salesforce.com. Another example is FinancialForce. 3. M&A - Time Tracking Software: Intuit is acquiring TSheets, which allows small business owners to automate time tracking and scheduling for workers. TSheets has over 35,000 customers with over 500,000 workers managed through their platform. Intuit will roll the technology into Quickbooks. The $340 million acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of fiscal 2018. 2. The 250 Best Managed Companies: The Drucker Institute and The Wall Street Journal have teamed to publish the 250 Best Managed Companies. The list is based on nearly 40 different metrics across five dimensions -- including customer satisfaction, employee engagement and development, innovation, social responsibility and financial strength. 1. Pass-Through Tax Savings: Lots of readers are asking ChannelE2E what the GOP's proposed tax bill potentially means to small businesses. Big businesses aren't the only ones who'll potentially benefit from the tax overhaul, CNBC claims. Small businesses — namely, pass-through entities such as S corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) — get a break, too, the report asserts. Still, the details can be tricky to process. Here's a closer look at how the tax bill could potentially impact small businesses and their owners, according to CNBC.