5 Channel Partner Program and MSP News Updates: 21 September 2021

Here are exactly five (actually, more) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Sip up.

What’s In Our Daily Brew?

A. What’s Brewing Today: Technology News

1. M&A - IT Consulting Rumored Denied:  French IT company Sopra Steria has denied rumors that it approached rival Atos about a potential acquisition, Reuters reports. Atos takeover rumors have swirled multiple times in 2021. The global IT consulting company has faced growth challenges, and has been exploring potential plans to sell or spin off certain managed infrastructure assets.

2. M&A – Cloud Security: F5 is acquiring Threat Stack, a cloud security software provider, for $68 million. The deal will boost F5’s revenue roughly $15 million during fiscal year 2022. Threat Stack’s software provides security visibility across application infrastructure and cloud workloads, the buyer says.

3. Freshworks IPO: Freshworks raised its target price range for a U.S. initial public offering, which could bring up the valuation of the business and customer engagement software company to nearly $9.6 billion, Reuters reports.

4. Ransomware Recovery Software: Druva's Accelerated Ransomware Recovery module now features a Curated Recovery capability. The new feature "mitigates the impact of a ransomware attack, building an uncorrupted, unencrypted and malware-free recovery point to ensure a successful recovery before one is ever initiated," the company says.

5. Executive Leadership - Cybersecurity Consulting: Evolver, a government-focused security consulting firm, has named Dan Jetton as VP of cybersecurity. The Reston, Virginia-based company has roughly 200 employees.

6. Executive Leadership - Printers and Office Equipment: Xerox has promoted Deena LaMarque Piquion to chief marketing officer.

7. Executive Leadership - Logistics & Asset Tracking: Position Imaging, which specializes in omnichannel logistics fulfillment and asset tracking, has added Dick Sillman as VP of engineering, Matthew Knoff as VP of service, and Matt Haynes as senior VP of sales.

B. Channel Chiefs, Partner Programs and Strategic Alliances

1. Channel Chief - SD-WAN and SASE: Aryaka has named Craig Patterson as its new channel chief and vice president of sales – Americas. Patterson is responsible for go-to-market strategies within the agent, resell, and distribution channels.

2. Integration - IT Service Management (ITSM) and Identity Management: Avatier Identity Anywhere is now certified for use with the ServiceNow Rome platform. The integration allows users to "securely connect, provision and audit any identity or app from within ServiceNow’s Now Platform Rome," Avatier asserts.

3. Microsoft Partner: Lemongrass attained a gold-level competency in the Microsoft partner program.

4. Partnership - Operations Technology Management (OTM): Infosys and ServiceNow are partnering to deploy ServiceNow Operations Technology Management (OTM), to support manufacturing industries as they digitize their factories, floors, and plant operations, the two companies say.

5. Distribution - Open XDR: IT Security Distribution Inc. of the Philippines has embraced Stellar Cyber Open XDR to protect customers and remediate incidents in the region.

C. Channel Partner Summits, MSP Conferences and Virtual Events Calendar