5 Channel Partner Updates: Thursday 09 January 2020 -

Here are five (actually, a bit more…) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, January 9, 2020. Sip up.

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A. What’s Hot Today

1. Breaking - Veeam Acquired: Our coverage so far...

2. M&A and MSPs: Here's a look at the first 25 technology acquisitions of 2020, many of which involve MSPs and private equity firms.

3. All M&A Deals: You can track, sort and search all M&A deals involving MSPs and technology companies at our new M&A database here.

4. M&A - Tech Data Lawsuit: A Tech Data shareholder has sued to block the company’s pending $6 billion sale to New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The shareholder contends that the $145 that Apollo has offered for each share of Tech Data is a “steep 20 percent discount” when compared with the $183.10 per share that Tech Data’s own investment banker, BofA Securities, has determined would be appropriate under a discounted cash flow analysis of the company’s value. Tech Data shareholders are expected to vote on the deal on February 12.

5. Talent - Data Management: Talend has hired SAP Concur veteran Christal Bemont as CEO. She succeeds Mike Tuchen, who led Talend from a $50 million startup to a $250 million publicly-held company. Also, Ann-Christel Graham is now chief revenue officer and Jamie Kiser is chief customer officer.

6. SD-WANs: Aruba Networks has upgrade its SD-Branch solution to enable more secure, streamlined and simplified deployment and management of large distributed retail networks, the company says. The updates, according to the HP Enterprise business, include:

An expansion of Aruba’s unified branch defense capabilities to provide unique, identity-based attack detection and intrusion prevention to deliver zero trust in-store network security;
SD-WAN Orchestrator improvements in Aruba Central to deliver unified edge-to-cloud management and secure connectivity to cloud workloads; and
new branch gateways that provide non-stop connectivity via built-in cellular, including LTE.

B. Channel Partner Programs and Strategic Alliances

1. MSP Conference: Pax8 expects 1,500 partners to attend the inaugural Wingman2020 partner conference in June. Given Pax8's rapid growth as an MSP-focused cloud distributor, the event landed on our Top 50 Technology Conferences list for 2020.

Aptean’s Chief Revenue Officer Bob Kocis — **LinkedIn**: Aptean Chief Revenue Officer Bob Kocis, formerly of Continuum

2. Talent - ERP Software: Aptean has hired Continuum veteran Bob Kocis as chief revenue officer. Aptean develops ERP and supply chain management solutions for discrete manufacturers, distributors, and other focused organizations. Kocis exited Continuum after ConnectWise acquired that company in October 2019.

3. Funding - Office 365 Data Management: AvePoint, a channel- and MSP-focused provider of data governance, protection and migration solutions for Office 365 and SharePoint, has raised roughly $200 million in new funding led by TPG Sixth Street Partners with additional participation from both new and existing investors, including Goldman Sachs. The company is seeking to add more than 40,000 customers through the channel in the next three years. Key partners include Ingram Micro, Tech Data and Synnex.

4. All Partner Programs: Search the comprehensive ChannelE2E Partner Program Database here. Also, submit your company information here and your partner program can be listed in the database.