Good morning, channel partners. I'm somewhere between Las Vegas and New York at the moment, traveling overnight from Continuum Navigate 2015 to Strata+Hadoop World in The Big Apple. But enough about me. Here are five technology news insights, updates, chatter and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015.
Actually, today's update involves 14 items for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs) and cloud service providers (CSPs) to sip on.
14. Apple Enterprise Revenue: It hit $25 billion for the 12 months ended June 2015, according to CEO Tim Cook's statement at a Box Inc. conference. Also, Cook says the figure does not include BYOD devices. So I assume he was referring to corporate IT budgets that actually purchased Mac hardware, iPads, iPhones... and is Apple still in the server business (frankly, I forget).
13. Box Shows Apple Love: Box introduced a photo and video app for Apple iOS (sorry, no Android support). It's designed for business customers working in such verticals as construction and retail...
12. Directory as a Cloud Service: JumpCloud, which offers directory-as-a-service, has inked a channel partnership with Syber -- an MSP focused on cloud apps and IT infrastructure. That's all I know... so far. Bonus: JumpCloud's tagline is rather cool -- "One Directory to Rule Them All."
11. MSP Encore: How does a former MSP -- TruMethods CEO Gary Pica -- keep his guidance sharp and on message for the MSPs he coaches? The simple answer involves Pica building a new MSP. As you may recall, it's called Apex. And I hope to take a tour really soon...
10. Smarter HP Partners?: Tech Data has launched EmpowerMe, an online learning management system (LMS) for HP authorized solution providers. EmpowerMe offers users exclusive incentives, industry news, information about products and services, and in-depth training to enhance solution providers’ businesses, growth and profitability, the distributor asserted. Hmmm... Memo to Tech Data -- feel free to pump ChannelE2E's RSS stream into EmpowerMe.
9. Amazon Cloud Monitoring: Datadog, a SaaS-based monitoring platform for cloud applications, has launched diagnostics and monitoring of Amazon EC2 Container Service (Amazon ECS). The market opportunity for channel partners and MSPs: Lifecycle management for cloud-based Docker applications. 8. Profiting From AWS Price Cuts: Expect a fresh round of Amazon cloud price cuts during the company's AWS re:Invent conference next week, according to Merrill Lynch. Continuum CEO Michael George this week hinted that his company will extend backup products to public clouds like AWS and Microsoft Azure -- allowing MSPs to plug into lower and lower pricing from cloud giants... 7. Microsoft, Texas Instruments & IoT: Texas Instruments has launched three low-cost evaluation kits based on its embedded processors supporting Microsoft Azure Certified for Internet of Things. That's a jargon-filled way to say TI is helping early IoT developers to plug into Microsoft's cloud. 6. Real IoT Revenues: General Electric says its Industrial Internet of Things platform, called Predix, will generate $5 billion in revenues and $6 billion in bookings this year.“We are connecting real-time controls and sub-systems and creating models for optimizing . We use sensor data, then work against models and adjust controls in real time based on that,” Bill Ruh, vice president and global technology director at General Electric told TechCrunch.5. Ahem... Part I: Relyenz is a value-added distributor, backed by CharTec, that's focused heavily on security. Hmmm... 4. Cisco Recurring Revenue: If a hardware giant can shift to recurring revenues... why can't you? For more details, this Cisco Recurring Revenue article does a nice job explaining the company's technology, business and financial evolution. 3. MSPs of the Year: Continuum's partners of the year, announced on Monday, included:
- All-in All Star – Gordon Flesch Company
- Excellence in Business Continuity – WAMS
- Help Desk MVP – CMIT Solutions of Cambridge
- Innovator of the Year – ImageQuest
- Partner of the Year – Vertical Solutions
- Revenue Growth Rock Star – Securus Corporation
- Rookie of the Year – Meridian Imaging Systems
