Content, 5 things

5 Channel Partner Updates: Wednesday 02 January 2019

Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, January 2, 2019. Actually, there are 25 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. The list is extra-long today because we've included some news and developments that you may have missed ahead of the New Year. Take a look: 25. Venture Capital and Private Equity Market Concerns: We touch on the concerns and implications for MSPs here. 24.  Students and Venture Capital: The Center for Entrepreneurship at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is launching $1 million student-run venture capital fund, Finsmes reports. 23. Amazon Conflict of Interest?: A top Amazon boss privately advised the US government on web portal worth billions to Amazon's business, The Guardian reports. 22. CFO Succession Plans: Nearly half of all CFOs don't have a succession plan, according to a Robert Half Management Resources survey. 21. Facebook Problems: Facebook's effort to address privacy, election interference and other concerns will take years to fix, CEO Mark Zuckerberg concedes. 20. Tesla Board: Oracle Founder Larry Ellison has joined Tesla's board of directors. The move is designed to appease investors who want seasoned, tech-savvy executives in the Tesla boardroom. The twist? Ellison  is a personal friend of Tesla CEO Elon Musk... 19. Rebrand - Cloud Services Provider (CSP): onthenetOffice, an IaaS provider, rebranded as IronOrbit on January 1, 2019. 18. Lawsuit - IT Staffing: TSR, an IT staffing firm in New York, has filed suit against multiple organizations. The suit involves recent attempts by the parties to acquire TSR... 17. Fined - Polycom: Headset maker Plantronics has agreed to pay $36 million to settle an SEC investigation into Polycom, which Plantronics acquired in mid-2018. 16. SMBs and Amazon: Roughly 50 percent of Amazon holiday sales involved SMB sellers... 15. SMB Loans: Square has filed documents to move into the banking industry. The strategy: Square's technology processes credit card payments. Those transactions can track a small business's financial momentum, and then recommend loans for SMBs that appear qualified for such financing... 14. SMB Compensation Plans: Seventeen states raised their minimum wages on January 1, 2019, and a number of others will follow suit later in the year, News Tribune reports... 13. Employee Stock Ownership Plans: The ESOP ownership model could emerge as an economic policy during the next U.S. presidential election cycle, The Intercept predicts. That could be a mixed blessing, ChannelE2E believes. Sure, some employees want ownership stakes in their employers. But do those employees also want to take on the financial risks associated with business ownership? 12. MSP - Customer Contract: Speedcast, an MSP that offers satellite-based remote communication services, has signed a new contract with cruise line operator Carnival Corporation. Speedcast will provide remote communications and value-added services across the company's global fleet of cruise ships. The three-year contract is expected to generate 8-9% of expected full year 2019 revenue, Speedcast says. 11. M&A - Systems Integrators: AVI-SPL has acquired Interactive Solutions Inc. (ISI), which specializes in audio visual and videoconferencing (AV/VC) solutions. Continue to page two of two for items 10 to 1. Welcome to page two of two for today. Here are items 10 to 1. 10. M&A - Vertical Market IT Services: Digital Intelligence Systems, LLC (DISYS) has acquired Princeton Information, headquartered in New York City. We'll share more details soon. 9. M&A - IT Services: Excel Redstone has acquired Kedington Holdings, one of the UK’s largest IT services companies. 8. M&A - Web Design: Wellspring Search has acquired Absolute Web Designs. We may share more details soon. 7. M&A - Private Equity Buys CMIT: In case you missed it, this big M&A deal involving CMIT surfaced a few days ago. 6. M&A - Midmarket MSP: Windstream has sold its EarthLink consumer Internet business and various fiber assets for a combined $390.5 million. The midmarket MSP is striving to strengthen its balance sheet while doubling down on unified communications, SD-WAN and other managed services. 5. M&A - SMB Communication: SPS Commerce has acquired CovalentWorks for $23 million in cash and stock. CovalentWorks provides EDI solutions for small- and mid-sized businesses, SeekingAlpha reports. 4. M&A - Vertical Market Software: OBASA Hospitality has acquired IBC Hospitality Technologies (IBC), which develops an all-in-one software and services platform for hotels. 3. Ingram Micro for Sale?: That's been the speculation for about a week... 2. Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs: Participate in our survey here and your company could be honored among the world's Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs. 1. How Much Is Your Business Worth?: Find out during our next ChannelE2E webcast
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.