5 Channel Partner Program and MSP Updates: 19 May 2021

Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Sip up.

What’s In Our Daily Brew?

A. What’s Brewing Today: Technology News

1. M&A - MSP Acquisitions and IPO?: ReachOut Technology plans to acquire 75 MSPs over the next two years, and CEO Rick Jordan plans to take the company public in 2021, according to a company news release...

2. Managed Print Services: MPS Monitor now monitors more than 1 million printers and multifunctional dev ices, the company says.

3. Managed Software Containers: Amazon has unveiled AWS App Runner, a fully managed container application service that "makes it easier and faster for customers to build, deploy, and run containerized web applications and APIs with just a few clicks," AWS says.

4. UCaaS and CCaaS Converge: 8x8 has announced Experience Communications as a Service (XCaaS), a cloud communications deployment model that erases the boundary between Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), the company asserts.

5. Talent - UCaaS: Cytracom has hired Datto veteran John Tippett as chief operating officer (COO). The move suggests Cytracom is preparing to make some key, partner-led moves in the unified communications as a service (UCaaS) market.

6. Talent - MSP: Kyndryl, the forthcoming MSP and managed infrastructure services spin-off from IBM, has hired NBC Universal veteran Michael Bradshaw as CIO (chief information officer).

7. Talent - Cloud Distribution: Microsoft veteran David Willis has join the Pax8 board of directors.

8. Talent - Cloud MSP: SADA, a Top 250 Public Cloud MSP focused on Google applications, has named Lusine Yeghiazaryan as chief financial officer and Julie Cullivan to the board of directors. SADA also named SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna as an advisor to the board. SADA grew 130 percent in 2020 vs. 2021, and expect to finish 2021 with nearly 500 employees, according to a SADA blog. Actual revenue and income dollar figures were not disclosed.

9. Data Protection and Ransomware Mitigation: Rubrik has enhanced its cloud-based data management platform with data security features that enable organizations to "easily and accurately assess the impact of ransomware attacks and automate recovery operations to maintain business continuity," the company says.

10. Data Monetization: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced multiple solutions to help organizations "advance data monetization by tapping into Gaia-X, an emerging federated data infrastructure supported by more than 300 organizations in Europe and globally," HPE says.

11. Cloud Migration Tools: Apptio has introduced Cloudability Shift, a cloud migration planning solution.

12. Business and Technology Automation: Workato announced various automation software and RPA (robotic process automation) connectors during a virtual conference called Automate 2021.

B. Channel Chiefs, Partner Programs and Strategic Alliances

1. Channel Chief: Otava has named Shelly Bodine as channel chief to drive advancements for Otava's service provider ecosystem.

2. Partner Program: Fuze has launched a partner-first initiative led by Mike Berlin, VP of global partner experience. The partner program is a reboot for Fuze, which stepped back from the channel in 2019 to focus mainly on enterprise accounts.

3. Distribution - Data Management and Analytics: Tech Data has agreed to distribute Cloudera in North America.

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