5 Channel Partner Updates: Friday 07 June 2019

Here are five (actually, far more…) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Friday, June 7, 2019.

A. Our Daily Brew

B. Freshly Brewed News and Chatter

1. ConnectWise & Datto Conferences: Meet ChannelE2E at ConnectWise IT Nation Explore 2019 or DattoCon19. To check our schedule for a potential briefing, please email me ([email protected]).

2. Cisco MSP Partner Strategy: The latest details are here from Marc Inderhees, Cisco's partner managed services GTM lead within the Global Partner Organization. We'll be watching for more Cisco MSP updates during the IT Nation Explore conference next week 2019.

3. IT Glue Conference: The MSP documentation company has confirmed multiple high-profile speakers for its GlueX conference -- scheduled for September 15-17 in Phoenix. Captain "Sully" Sullenberger -- the famed pilot for the Miracle on the Hudson emergency landing -- will deliver the keynote. The agenda includes these additional MSP thought leaders.

4. M&A - Manufacturing IT Services: Indian outsourcing giant Wipro is acquiring International TechneGroup Incorporated (ITI), a global digital engineering and manufacturing solutions company. ITI offers Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) interoperability software services. 

5. Talent - Data Management: AppRiver veteran Justin Gilbert has joined Files.com as sales director. Files.com (formerly Brickftp.com) takes on file management and data sprawl across multiple vendors (Google Drive, OneDrive, local storage, etc) and wrests back control of file management and sharing of files outside the organization, according to Gilbert's LinkedIn profile. Zix acquired AppRiver, an MSP-centric cloud services provider, in January 2019.

6. Accountants - Trusted IT Providers?: More than 80 percent of small business owners are asking their accountants for technology advice, according to research from AccountingWeb and Zoho. Key MSP advisors are sitting up and taking note of the report. Stuart Crawford, president and CEO of Ulistic, an MSP marketing organization, notes: “I believe MSPs need to make sure they are building strong networks, not just with CPAs and Accountants but with all professionals who work strategically with small to midsize business professionals.   Instead of going at it alone and struggling, team up, partner up and work side-by-side with these trusted advisors.”

C. Partner Programs and Strategic Alliances

1. Mainframe IT Services: IBM has withdrawn an application for anti-trust approval for a mainframe computing venture with T-Systems, the IT services arm of Deutsche Telekom, after the German cartel office made a critical initial assessment of the plan. Pulling the deal marks a setback for T-Systems CEO Adel Al-Saleh, who since being hired at he start of 2018 has reduced staff, closed offices and sought to hive off business lines that are not expected to generate profitable growth. Source: Reuters.

2. ITSM - Microsoft Dynamics 365: Alithya Group is now a gold level Provance partner, promoting and deploying Provance's IT service management software for Microsoft Dynamics 365 in the UK, United States and Canada.

D. Next Five Technology Conferences

Got news to share for our morning update? Email me: [email protected].