Content, 5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: Tuesday 24 October 2017

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, October 24, 2017.

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:

14. New Salesforce AppExchange: Salesforce has overhauled its AppExchange. It now features intelligent search, personalized recommendations and embedded Trailhead learning. ChannelE2E got a demo in recent days. It looks slick. Of course, user interface changes can confuse loyal partners and customers. But Salesforce insists the company worked overtime on usability testing. Also, the company carefully studied a range of popular consumer sites for design ideas. Among the sites Salesforce closely studied: Kayak.

13. Cloud Supercomputing: Cray will offer supercomputer-as-a-service capabilities via Microsoft Azure, the companies say.

12. Managed SAP on AWS: itelligence is launching managed services to help customers implement, monitor, manage and optimize SAP HANA, SAP Hybris and S/4HANA workloads on Amazon Web Services. Several MSPs offer SAP-centric services on AWS. Those efforts compete with Dell EMC's Virtusteam business, which offers private, public and hybrid cloud services for SAP and other specialized workloads.

11. CSP Goes Bust -- Again: 4Data, a government cloud services provider (CSP) in Australia, has gone bust for the second in recent years, according to CRN Australia. Details about the company's alleged implosion are here...

10. Talent: TPx continues to bolster its channel team following the DSCI acquisition. The latest move involves DSCI veteran Carl Moore shifting to director of east coast. In addition, TPx has added channel managers across the country, bringing the total to 24, with plans to hire at least another four on the east coast, a company spokesperson says.

9. Partner Programs:

  • Naveego has launched a partner program to help customers improve cloud data quality.
  • symplr has launched a certified partner program for the company's SaaS-based healthcare compliance and credentialing solutions.

8. IT Services Slowdown?: Infosys has slashed its annual revenue forecast, as the Indian software outsourcing giant deals with the aftermath of a boardroom coup that forced out its top executive, Bloomberg reported. The big question: Are these challenges specific to Infosys, or is the financial warning part of a larger IT services slowdown facing India's tech giants?

7. Network Operations Centers: Do you get the feeling that a major Cisco AppDynamics push into Network Operations Centers (NOCs) is on the way? We'll find out during Cisco Partner Summit 2017 next week in Dallas.

6. After AppDynamics: Speaking of AppDynamics (item 7 above), company founder Jyoti Bansal has exited after selling the business to Cisco. His latest startup, called Harness, is the first "continuous delivery-as-a-service platform." Hmmm....

5. Earnings: We'll be watching for quarterly earnings today from Commvault Systems and Iron Mountain, respectively, later today.

4. Help Desks: Solvvy, which develops machine learning technologies that improve help desks and contact centers, has raised $12 million in funding.

3. Vertical Markets: EY is ranked number one in IT services consulting for banking, securities and insurance, according to Gartner's analysis of 2016 revenue and market share for that sector. On a somewhat related note, EY's cybersecurity practice ranks No. 26 among the world's Top 100 MSSPs for 2017, according to MSSP Alert.

2. PSA Upgrades: Watch for Upland Software to deliver a major Tenrox Professional Services Automation (PSA) upgrade this week. Details may emerge at the Technology Services World Conference in Las Vegas. Separately, Kimble Applications today described a PSA upgrade that involves diagnostic analytics. The new capabilities, found in Kimble's Winter 18 release, allow managers to explore gross margin and how revenue and cost trends affect it, the company says. Users can explore how utilization, average rate, resource count and number of business days impact revenue trends, Kimble asserts.

1. Top 50 Channel Partner Summits for 2018: If your company is hosting a channel partner summit in 2018 then complete our Top 50 Channel Partner Summits survey. Your 2018 event could appear on the resulting list of honorees this December (2017). All qualified submissions will also appear on our ChannelE2E Technology Events Calendar.

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.