Content, 5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: Monday 25 February 2019

Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Monday, February 25, 2019.

Actually, there are 11 timely updates designed for managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), IT consulting firms, systems integrators, VARs, independent software vendors (ISVs), and telco agents to sip on.

11. Talent - Distribution: D&H Distributing has hired Peter Hurley as director of the company's new ProAV Business Unit. Hurley previously held key positions at Stampede Presentation Products, Cable & Wireless, Sharp Electronics, and Unisys Federal. D&H's new ProAV Business Unit aims to help VARs and MSPs to deploy digital signage, unified communication, collaboration video walls, and audio/visual solutions. This is the distributor's second key hire in recent weeks. Ingram Micro and Axcient veteran Jason Bystrak joined the company earlier this month.

10. Talent - Government Cloud Consulting: Former Amazon Web Services (AWS) executive and White House Senior Advisor Frank DiGammarino has joined Booz Allen Hamilton as an executive vice president. Among his focus areas: Helping Booz Allen Hamilton's government mobile security efforts, Washington Technology says.

9. Private Equity - Facing Challenges: BlackRock’s $12 billion bid to become a private-equity giant is behind schedule, according to The Wall Street Journal.

8. Private Equity Financing Shift: Some private equity firms that are keen to put their swelling cash piles to work are paying for expensive acquisitions of fast-growing companies mostly out of their own pockets and trimming back their reliance on debt, PE Hub Network notes.

7. Partnership - WWT & Red Hat: World Wide Technology (WWT) is collaborating with Red Hat’s partner ecosystem to validate and customize the Red Hat Virtual Central Office (VCO) solution in WWT’s Advanced Technology Center (ATC). Red Hat plays a key role in WWT’s ability to deliver full-stack network function virtualization (NFV) solutions four times faster than traditional validation, the companies say. Partners working in WWT’s ATC include Affirmed Networks, Altiostar, Amdocs, Cumulus Networks, Edgecore Networks, F5 Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, MYCOM OSI and Trilio. IBM is in the process of finalizing its $34 billion buyout of Red Hat.

6. SMB Network Management: D-Link has unveiled Nuclias Connect -- a network management solution for Small-to-Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) that offers remote configuration, automated management, and on-the-go monitoring of new and legacy devices, including access points, managed switches, and smart switches. We're checking to see if the platform is multi-tenant for MSPs.

5. SMB Owner Work-Life Balance: Some surprising survey results here...

4. M&A - Cloud ERP Consulting: Alight Solutions has acquired Carlson Management Consulting, an Adaptive Insights implementation partner that provides system implementation, optimizations and integrations for cloud-based ERP and CPM systems.

3. M&A - IT Solutions Providers: Enterprise Vision Technologies (EVT), an enterprise-focused systems integrator and VAR, has acquired cloud management, IT Service Management (ITSM) and automation solutions partner, Zefflin Systems.

2. Your Most Profitable MSP Service: That’s the topic of ChannelE2E’s February webcast. Register now to join us.

1. Stick Around: Our Monday afternoon reading will warrant your full attention.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.