Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, March 14, 2018.
Actually, there are 14 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…
14. Alleged Employee Bias: Microsoft's investigators concluded that fewer than 1 percent of gender-discrimination complaints made internally were “founded," according to data unsealed in an ongoing class-action lawsuit, Bloomberg reports. The key takeaway? Microsoft almost never sides with female employees alleging bias, Bloomberg says.
13. Distribution - Compliance: Ingram Micro has agreed to distribute Blancco Technology Group's data erasure and mobile device diagnostics technology. Ingram partners can offer Blancco's data sanitization platform, which allows customers to verify sensitive data has been permanently erased and cannot be recovered. The technology helps customers to comply with PCI DSS, HIPAA, EU GDPR, ISO 27001 and NIST 800-53, among other regulations.
12. Distribution - Cloud Services: Tech Data's StreamOne Enterprise Solutions platform now supports Amazon Web Services in Spain, Portugal and the Nordics.
11. Funding: Moogsoft, a provider of artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps), has raised $40 million in Series D funding led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity. Moogsoft will use th funds to scale sales and marketing along with R&D. The company has raised $90 million to date.
10. Funding & Partner Program: Lumavate, an enterprise platform for developing progressive web apps (PWAs) at scale, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding and launched a partner program for marketing agencies, consultants and systems integrators, activation companies and technology firms.
9. Quality of Service: Unified Office has launched Total Connect Now Operations Management Suite (TCNOMS). The new customer portal unites all Total Connect Now services -- including VoIP, unified communications (UC), analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) services. The dashboard allows the MSP's customers to manage and view every aspect of their business communications and IoT services end-to-end, all in one place, Unified Office claims.
8. IBM Lotus Notes Resurrected?: IBM and HCL have outlined their R&D and business development plans for the Notes/Domino portfolio, which IBM offloaded to the HCL last year. Lotus Notes and Domino, which have email, groupware and collaboration capabilities, were very popular in the early to mid-1990s. IBM acquired Lotus for $3.52 billion in 1995, completing the largest software company acquisition of its time. But alternatives like Microsoft Exchange ultimately crushed Notes and Domino in the enterprise, and IBM largely missed the shift to cloud-based email.
7. Talent: Business continuity and risk management specialist Continuity Logic has named Laurence Mascera as president and COO, effective immediately. Mascera reports to CEO Tejas Katwala, and succeeds him as president. Mascera is responsible for technology, sales, marketing, operations and services. He previously held key roles at Toronto Dominion Bank Group, Barclays PLC and Broadpoint Gleacher Securities Group.
6. Amazon SMB Financing: Amazon intends to offer a credit card to U.S. small-business customers, extending its push to supply companies with everything from paper to factory parts, Bloomberg reports,
5. Monitoring: Ipswitch has unveiled WhatsUp Gold 2018, a network monitoring platform that now includes performance monitoring of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure cloud deployments, Meraki cloud managed wireless systems, Dell Compellent storage devices and Outlook 365.
4. PSA Upgrade: Promys has unveiled a PSA upgrade that features improved reporting and trending analytics. It features an integration with Microsoft Power BI, allowing IT service providers and professional services firms to more effectively track and understand booking, cash flow, labor utilization, subscription growth and other business trends.
3. MSP to MSSP Roadmap: ChannelE2E's sister site, MSSP Alert, will host its latest webcast tomorrow (Thursday (March 15). The topic: The MSP to MSSP Roadmap: Potholes, Pitfalls and Profits. VAR and MSP leader Eric Dosal, CEO of Compuquip Cybersecurity, will describe his all-in bet on the security market — and his unvarnished views on managed security services. I’ll provide a reality check for MSPs pushing into security. And we’ll answer your questions throughout the live webcast. Thanks in advance to those who join us.
2. Microsoft ERP for SMB: Microsoft is set to launch Dynamics 365 Business Central -- an ERP platform for SMBs -- on April 2. Formerly code-named Tenerife, the new offering is expected to compete with Oracle NetSuite and ERP systems that integrate with Salesforce.com. We're checking to see if the new Dynamics platform has any PSA-type capabilities for IT service providers.
1. Our Condolences: To the family and friends of Andrew Stuart, a widely respected Datto team member who died earlier this week. Datto CEO Austin McChord offers a tribute to Stuart here.
