Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, February 8, 2018.Actually, there are nine timely updates designed for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to sip on. Take a look…9. Layoffs: Gigamon is shedding nearly one-fifth of its Silicon Valley workforce and restructuring the company, it said a month after its buyout by a global hedge fund, according to Silicon Valley Business Journal.8. Talent: SD-WAN provider Talari Networks has named George Just as its VP of worldwide channel sales. He previously was VP of sales. The company says Q4 2017 revenues surged 86 percent vs. Q4 2016.7. Unified Communications: Intermedia has launched Intermedia Unite – a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform designed for SMBs and the partners that serve them. The platform delivers an IP phone system, plus integrated screen sharing, video collaboration, and backup and file sharing, the company says.6. Distribution: Untangle, which develops network security solutions for small businesses, has inked five new value-added distributor relationships across Europe and Latin America. The new relationships include Zedsphere (UK), FCBrasil (Brazil & LATAM), WhiteHat (Portugal), SivTech Telecom (Romania) and Naonis (Italy).5. Cloud Certification: A newly updated CompTIA Cloud+ certification has surfaced.
4. Federal Cloud Services: The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a five-year contract to REAN Cloud LLC, worth up to $950 million, in a bid to speed up its shift to the cloud, The Wall Street Journal says.3. MSP Portal: Utelogy Corporation, creator of audio/visual control, management, services and analytics software for use in higher education and enterprises, is beta testing a Managed Services Portal for MSP partners.2. M&A - IT Services: Unitas Global has acquired Solinea to grow its hybrid cloud IT services portfolio. Unitas has been in rapid growth mode. Revenues were $22 million in 2016, up 421 percent over a three-year growth period, according to the Inc. 5000 list for 2017.1. MSP Valuations, Exit Strategies: How much is your MSP worth, and how can you whip your company into shape for potential M&A discussions? Those topics and more will take center stage today at an M&A Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ChannelE2E will be blogging live from the event, which is hosted by Kaseya. Key guests include executives from Thrive, Cogent Growth Partners and Onepath. We'll share live updates later today.
