Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, gossip and chatter to start your day for Thursday, October 29, 2015.
Actually, today's update involves 18 items (oh my...) for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs) and cloud services providers (CSPs) to sip on...
18. Scalable Service Desk: Orange, the massive European telecom operator, has launched a new service desk that leverages ServiceNow. It's part of a broader Orange Service Management Suite -- which strives to bolster cost optimization, simplification, visibility and control, and performance improvement for multinational organizations, the company claims. My takeaway? Much in the way that Salesforce.com dominates the world of cloud CRM, ServiceNow is emerging as a dominant cloud-based IT service management platform.
17. Feeling Congested?: Global cloud traffic will more than quadruple by the end of 2019, from 2.1 zettabytes to 8.6 zettabytes, according to Cisco Systems' latest Global Cloud Index. The research is sort of a self-fulfilling prophesy... Cloud traffic is growing because mobile and cloud are growing, right?
16. Internet of Things Shift: Today, 73 percent of data stored on client devices resides on PCs. By 2015 (corrected: 2019), the majority of data (51 percent) will move to non-PC devices such as smartphones, tablets and M2M (machine to machine) modules, Cisco says. By the way, I sort of like the M2M moniker nearly as much as I like the E2E moniker. Hmmm...
15. IT Service Management Conference: I nearly overlooked FUSION 15, a global conference for IT service management that's set for Nov. 1-4 in New Orleans. Keep an eye on Navvia at the conference... Though I can't say why just yet...
14. Disaster Recovery in AWS: This is starting to sound familiar. Denovo is the latest company to offer managed disaster recovery services built atop Amazon Web Services. The move echoes Continuum CEO Michael George, who told ChannelE2E a few days ago that he sees public clouds from IBM, Amazon and Microsoft as the safer, more secure choice for data backup and disaster recovery...
13. That Reminds Me: Building on the item above, Continuum unveiled an upgrade to its Continuity247 BDR platform for MSPs. Originally available atop IBM's SoftLayer cloud, watch for Continuum to extend the solution to Azure and AWS...
12. Free Office 365 Backup (Sort of): SkyKick's cloud backup application is now free with Microsoft's Internal Use Rights (IUR) program. The cloud-to-cloud backup system offers unlimited storage and recovery of Office 365 data (including Exchange, OneDrive for Business and SharePoint). Skykick's backup solution runs in Azure.
11.Veeam Builds MSP Cloud Dashboard: Veeam, the well-known provider of backup software for VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V, has unveiled VeeamOn -- a managed backup portal for service providers. The the portal works as advertised, MSPs will be able to manage all of their Veeam-based customers from a single cloud-based dashboard. But I wonder: How many MSPs would rather do that Veeam management from their PSA or RMM systems? Hmmm... The VeeamOn dashboard is expected to debut in Q1 2016.
10. Oracle Cloud and Big Data: Oracle unveiled numerous cloud-based Big Data tools during OpenWorld yesterday. Aptly named Oracle Cloud Platform for Big Data, the goal is to speed customers' "time to insight." There's even a NoSQL Database Cloud Service...
1. ChannelE2E Research: Yup. After Nines Inc. is announcing ChannelE2E Research later today. Our goal is to pinpoint key business and technology trends across the IT service provider community. Our first two surveys are open for your participation. First up, the ChannelE2E 100 Survey uses real-world data to identify and honor the Top 100 IT Entrepreneurs, Startups and Exits across the IT channel in 2015. Also, the ChannelE2E M&A and Exit Survey explores how IT service provider owners plan to build, transform and exit their businesses over the short- and long-haul. Get more details and participate by visiting www.ChannelE2E.com/Research. And stay tuned for the official research announcement later today.
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See Page 2: Items 9 through 1 — including Flipboard's implosion; Oracle and Extreme Networks for MSPs; CompTIA's new security training; and more...
Page 2 of 2: Today's top channel partner updates, continued: 9. Content Aggregation Is So 2014: Flipboard, the "news reader app" that allows you to aggregate and view content from a range of sources, is now struggling to stay independent. Two key executives have left in recent weeks, and investors are pressuring CEO Mike McCue to fix the business or sell it, according to The Wall Street Journal. By the way, investors have pumped $210 million into Flipboard... I'm still wondering: Where the heck did all that money go? 8. Worth a Discussion: Are there any Blockchain experts in the IT channel? If so, tell me more... Especially since Blockchain as a Service is coming to Azure... 7. And Oracle for MSPs: Also at Oracle OpenWorld, the company unveiled Oracle Management Cloud -- a monitoring and analytics solution that can maintain on-premises and cloud systems... even non-Oracle solutions, the company asserts. Initial services include Oracle Application Performance Monitoring, Oracle Log Analytics and Oracle IT Analytics. 6. Google Fiber: The Google broadband network may soon extend to Jacksonville, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; and Oklahoma City, Okla., according to Google's blog. Google Fiber sounds like a dream come true -- nearly limitless broadband from a company that truly cares about consumer connectivity. But some early Google Fiber deployments elsewhere also involved frustrated consumers... 5.Extreme Networks Makes MSP Pitch: Best known for networking hardware, Extreme Networks is "extending its software and solution-based strategy to its global partners." Dig a little deeper (ChannelE2E did) and you'll notice new managed services offerings called (1) MonitoringPLUS Managed Services and (2) ResponsePLUS Managed Services. 4. Accounting and Finance Partner Program: You're used to selling technology. But on the business side of the house, BlackLine has unveiled a global channel partner program for its midmarket financial solutions. 3. CompTIA Launches CyberSecure: CompTIA, the well-known IT association with deep channel roots, has launched CyberSecure, a new online training course that "bolsters the first-line of defense: employees." Smart move. We all know that IT security's weakest link remains naive employees (surely not the folks who are working for you...). The course covers everything from stopping information leaks to safeguarding data and networks. 2. Tigerpaw Roars: Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But watch for Tigerpaw Software to unveil a new software licensing model for its business management platform today. The new Tigerpaw One approach, expected to be announced today, is an all-in-one subscription pricing model that costs $89 per user per month. I suspect CEO James Foxall brainstormed the concept a bit with Executive Coach Bob Godgart, himself the former CEO of Autotask. There are also signs that Tigerpaw could be entertaining takeover offers. I haven't discussed the chatter with Foxall and Godgart, but it seems like the company is willing to be a division of a larger channel-centric parent -- if the right offer comes along...
