Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Monday, December 10, 2018.
Actually, there are 18 timely updates designed for managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), IT consulting firms, systems integrators, VARs, independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents, and telco agents to sip on. Take a look:
18. Breaking - MSP Acquired: Evergreen Services Group has made its 12th MSP acquisition. The latest deal involves NeGain Technologies.
17. Online Store: Avaya Holdings has unveiled expanded cloud communications offerings for Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) via a new storefront.
16. Dell Technologies - Public Stock: Investors on Tuesday are expected to approve Michael Dell's plan to return Dell Technologies to public markets. The plan had faced pushback from activist investor Carl Icahn, but Dell sweetened the deal terms to address Icahn's concerns.
15. Partner Program - HCI: Hyperconverged Infrastructure provider Nutanix is enhancing its channel charter, Power to the Partner, to extend opportunities to value-added distributors (VAD) and global systems integrators (GSI) along with additional opportunities for resellers, the company disclosed today. We'll share more details soon.
14. Layoffs: It sounds like Ricoh USA will cut some U.S. positions, and Qualcomm will lay off some staff in North Carolina and San Diego, California.
13. Red Hat Cloud Price Cuts: Red Hat is cutting some cloud services prices ahead of the open source software company's $34 billion sale to IBM...
12. Cisco Did Not Ban China Travel: Contrary to some reports, Cisco Systems did not ban company travel to China. The erroneous report surfaced after Canada arrested Huawei's CFO for allegedly violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. Many folks in the tech industry area wondering if China's government will retaliate for the arrest. Huawei is based in China.
11. Integration - Cisco and ServiceNow: Bucher + Suter AG has developed a certified integration between Cisco Contact Center and ServiceNow. The Bucher + Suter AG integration is now available in the ServiceNow Store.
10. Chatbots: 42Gears Mobility Systems, a Unified Endpoint Management solution provider, has launched a Self Service Chatbot for enterprise end users.
9. Cloud Managed Services Market Forecast: The market for cloud managed services will reach $86.4 billion in 2022, generating a 9.60 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2017, according to Transparency Market Research.
8. Microsoft 365 and Contractors: Microsoft has launched a 365 freelance toolkit to help customers more effectively work with freelance contributors. The Microsoft 365 freelance toolkit is free as part of an Office 365 Enterprise or Microsoft 365 Enterprise subscription.
7. Private Equity Concerns: Even as private equity firms are flush with cash and continuing to raise capital, they’re facing the rising risk in 2019 that increased interest rates will push up their costs and drive down values, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service.
6. IT Services Expansion - Part One: Rural Sourcing, an IT outsourcing company, plans to invest more than $3 million in its Fort Wayne, Indiana, development center and create up to 130 jobs by the end of 2021, according to Inside Indiana Business. The Fort Wayne location will be the company's sixth development center in the country and its first in the Midwest. The company plans to hire web, app and database developers, cybersecurity specialists, business analysts, and project managers, among other positions, the report says.
5. IT Services Expansion - Part Two: Entec Systems, a Richmond, Virginia-based technology services company, has opened a new office in Charlotte, North Carolina.
4. M&A - Sage Partners: AcctTwo has acquired Leap the Pond, uniting two Sage Intacct partners. The combined company has more than 100 employees who support customers across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. We'll share more details soon.
3. MSP Seeks Investor: Nexon Asia Pacific, an IT services provider, has hired KPMG to find a potential strategic investor to help fuel the company's growth, The Australian Financial Review reports.
2. Hackers Steal $800,000 From College: Cape Cod Community College lost $800,000 in a phishing attack, the college disclosed on December 7. Next-generation endpoint security technology would have blocked the attack, reports suggest.
1. ConnectWise - Another Acquisition?: It sounds ConnectWise has acquired HashInclude Computech, an India-based software development firm that develops cloud, smart IoT and process automation code. Chatter about the apparent deal surfaces a few days after ConnectWise acquired Sienna Group, an MSSP that will educate MSPs about cybersecurity and risk mitigation.
