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5 Channel Partner Updates: Thursday 17 May 2018

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Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, May 17, 2018.

Actually, there are 14 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…

Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett

14. BitCoin Debate - Warren vs. Fred: Famed investor Warren Buffett views bitcoin as fools gold. But respected venture capitalist Fred Wilson thinks Buffett's bitcoin opinions miss the mark. Here's why.

13. Digital Collaboration: Microsoft and Lenovo have partnered to deliver the ThinkSmart Hub 500, which integrates Microsoft’s Skype for Business directly into one conferencing system that features a rotatable 360 degree screen.

12. Cisco Outlook: Cisco Systems reported third-quarter profit and revenue that topped analysts’ estimates on Wednesday, but shares fell 4 percent after dour current-quarter forecasts indicated that the transition to a software-focused business remained a work in progress, Reuters says. Still, CFO Kelly Kramer says the company's business transformation is performing well. Also, quarterly security revenues grew 11 percent year over year.

11. Talent: Paessler AG, which specializes in network monitoring, has named Steven Feurer as CTO.

: MJ Shoer

10. Net Neutrality Vote(s): The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday in favor of keeping open-Internet rules in a bid to overturn the Federal Communications Commission decision to repeal net neutrality rules, but the measure is unlikely to be approved by the House of Representatives or the White Houses, Reuters notes. Still, yesterday's Senate vote deserves special mention. Bonus: Key proponents who influenced the vote include MSP and IT services industry leader MJ Shoer, who explains the battle to restore net neutrality here.

9. Partner Program - SD-WANs: RingCentral has launched a new software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) certified partners program. Key participants include VMware, CloudGenix, Riverbed, Cradlepoint, Windstream Enterprise, and GTT Communications

8. SMB/SOHO Managed Services: Telenet, the largest provider of cable broadband services in Belgium, has selected Benu Networks' Virtual Service Edge (VSE) platform to enable SMB and SOHO managed services. VCE enables guest connectivity, device level visibility, and security, Benu asserts.

7. Managed Print Services: MobileIron and ThinPrint are partnering to enable mobile printing for MobileIron customers. 

SolarWinds MSP’s John Pagliuca

6. MSP Software: SolarWinds MSP remains fully committed to two RMM (remote monitoring and management) platforms, contrary to "fake news" from rivals in the market, according to GM John Pagliuca.

5. Private Equity - Business Continuity: Resurgens Technology Partners has acquired the Assurance Business Continuity Management Planning (BCMP) software business from Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS). Financial terms were not disclosed.

4. M&A - Big Data & Hadoop: Google has acquired Cask Data, a startup that helps customers to run big data analytics services on Hadoop.

3. M&A - MSPs: American Computer Consultants Inc. (ACCi) has acquired NetGain Technologies of Alabama, LLC. NetGain is an MSP in Lexington, KY with locations in several states. ACCi acquired NetGain's Birmingham location including their clients, their managed services agreements, and one of their technical resources. We'll share more details soon.

2. Private Equity - MSP Merger: Breakthrough Technology Group (BTG) and NexusTek, two MSPs with cloud services expertise, have merged. The combined company is called NexusTek. Abry Partners, a private equity firm, in December 2017 made a majority investment in BTG and completed a recapitalization with NexusTek. We'll share more details soon.

1. Join Us Today - MSP Pricing Guidance: Join ChannelE2E today for our latest webcast. Our special guest, TruMethods CEO Gary Pica, explains MSP pricing strategies to attendees. Register now.

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.