Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, November 21, 2017.
Actually, there are 17 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:
17. Last Trip of 2017: We're gearing up to attend both Ingram Micro ONE and Amazon AWS re:Invent 2017 next week in Dallas and Las Vegas, respectfully. Special thanks to the more than two-dozen companies and industry leaders who confirmed meetings with ChannelE2E and MSSP Alert during the two events.
16. Net Neutrality: The FCC is preparing to outline a plan that rolls back certain Net Neutrality rules. I'm bracing for a lousy user experience, and can practically feel certain digital vendors reaching into my wallet to give me 'preferred' access to selected online services...
15. HPE's Smart Move: When HP Enterprise acquired Nimble, most folks considered it a savvy storage move. But take a closer look and you'll see that HPE also gained some artificial intelligence technology in the deal. And now, HPE is getting ready to unleash the power of that AI code, according to TechCrunch...
14. Server Performance, OpEx Financing: HPE has unveiled the ProLiant DL385 Gen10 server in partnership with AMD, offering up to 50 percent lower cost per virtual machine (VM) than traditional server solutions, the companies claim. And to compete against public cloud services, HPE offers the ProLiant DL385 with "flexible IT consumption models and special financial programs," the company says...
13. Talent: SD-WAN specialist Talari Networks has hired SonicWall veteran Patrick Sweeney as CEO. Sweeney played a key role in SonicWall's transition from Dell ownership to private equity ownership -- including marketing and branding efforts to bolster the security company's channel partner engagements.
12. Distribution: Value-added distributor StarLink has agreed to promote Endace, a specialist in high-speed network recording and network history playback, to partners in the EMEA security and IT markets.
11. M&A - Cloud Payments: AvidXchange, a provider of accounts payable and payment automation solutions for midsize companies, has acquired Ariett, a cloud solution provider in the purchase-to-pay market.
But wait. There's more. Continue to page two of two for items 10 to 1.
Greetings and salutations. Here's page two of two, listing items 10 to 1 for today.
10. M&A: Addison Group of Chicago has acquired Bridgepoint Consulting of Austin, Texas. Bridgepoint offers finance, risk and technology consulting services to organizations -- with a particular emphasis on C-suite engagements. Financial terms were not disclosed.
9. Microsoft Azure Cloud Cost Management: Nerdio has launched the Azure Cost Estimator, a web tool that allows anyone to calculate the potential costs of running IT services and workloads on Microsoft Azure.
8. Hybrid Cloud Data Management: Rubrik will offer its hybrid cloud data management solution on Microsoft Azure. In addition, Rubrik has updated its platform to include support for Microsoft Azure Stack as well as support for application migration to Microsoft Azure through its CloudOn solution. Azure Stack is an on-premises equivalent to Microsoft's public cloud services.
7. Cloud Monitoring: Instana's artificial intelligence (AI)-driven application performance management (APM) solution can now discover, analyze and monitor Amazon Web Services (AWS). It's part of a larger trend that will unfold at next week's Amazon AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for constant updates from the event.
6. Full Stack Monitoring: SolarWinds is making a full-stack monitoring push in its corporate IT software business. It's a safe bet similar moves will eventually surface in the SolarWinds MSP business unit. PS: Expect more and more RMM (remote monitoring and management) software companies to describe full stack monitoring strategies in the months ahead.
5. Downtime Costs: One third of businesses don't know how much IT downtime can cost their companies, according to Databarracks research...
4. Backup and Disaster Recovery: Veeam has extended its availability software to support IBM AIX and Oracle Solaris platforms. Although enterprises have been migrating away from AIX and Solaris, the two Unix platforms still have massive installed bases worldwide. Veeam's decision to support Unix further differentiates the company from SMB rivals, and potentially helps Veeam to compete head-on against Veritas and other data protection companies in the enterprise.
3. MSP Win: WidePoint Corp., an MSP focused on secure mobile and wireless communications, has earned a $4.4 million deal with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). WidePoint will deliver cellular wireless managed services to USCIS through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cellular Wireless Management Services (CWMS) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), the company says.
2. In Case You Missed It: Cal Net Technology Group, a major MSP in southern California, is talking up its decision to leverage ConnectWise and Infrascale to drive down DRaaS operating costs while boosting overall backup and disaster recovery performance. ConnectWise works with multiple BDR platforms, but played up the Infrascale relationship during IT Nation 2017 last week in Orlando. The ConnectWise-Infrascale partnership essentially counters the Autotask-Datto merger, though ConnectWise has vowed to continue working with multiple BDR partners. Similarly, both Autotask and Datto have vowed to maintain and bolster third-party integrations.
1. Top 50 Channel Partner Conferences 2018: We'll unveil the Top 50 Channel Partner Conferences and Summits for 2018 in a December 2017 blog. To be considered you need to complete our survey and be listed on our ChannelE2E Technology Event Calendar.
