Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, October 31, 2018. (Boo!)
Actually, there are 16 timely updates designed for managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), IT consulting firms, systems integrators, VARs, independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents, and telco agents to sip on. Take a look:
16. Google Employee Walkouts: Several hundred Google employees plan a walkout Thursday to protest the company’s alleged protection of high-ranking executives who quit the company amid allegations of sexual misconduct, BuzzFeed and Silicon Valley Business Journal report.
15. Talent - Container Software: Docker has made several executive hires. The lineup includes:
- VMware cloud veteran Kal De as chief technology officer;
- SAP veteran Neil Charney as chief marketing officer; and
- SAP Concur veteran Melanie Morgan as senior VP and chief legal officer.
14. SD-WANs: Sprint’s SD-WAN services are now available worldwide, "allowing enterprises to more simply and efficiently manage its global IT resources and application performance across any network at any destination throughout Asia-Pacific, Latin America, North America and Europe," the company says.
13. Zendesk Earnings, Talent: Customer service software provider Zendesk says revenue was $154.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, up 38 percent vs. the corresponding quarter last year. Zendesk also had a GAAP net loss of $34.1 million. On the talent front, the company promoted Senior VP Jeff Titterton to Chief Marketing Officer -- and also hired a VP of channels.
12. ConvergeOne Earnings, Company Sale?: ConvergeOne, the large IT solutions provider, says revenues were $404.75 million in Q3 2018, up 65 percent from the corresponding quarter last year. Most of the growth involved M&A deals rather than organic expansion. Still, the revenue figure beat Wall Street's expectations. Rumors about ConvergeOne exploring a potential company sale have swirled in recent days...
11. Microsoft Office Price Increases: Some of the new Microsoft Office 2019 suites cost 10 percent more than the 2016 edition of the suites, according to ComputerWorld.
10. Multi-Cloud Management: LogicMonitor has introduced performance monitoring capabilities for Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The monitoring platform already supports Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. The multi-cloud management push also includes key talent hires -- including former Datto executive Mark Banfield joining LogicMonitor as chief revenue officer in September.
9. Rackspace Public Cloud Managed Services: Rackspace has expanded its portfolio of managed public cloud solutions. We'll share more details soon.
8. Partner Program - Cloud Management: Turbonomic is touting a new Partner Program to help companies manage Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) assessment plans and optimization services.
7. Datto EMEA Growth: Datto now supports more than 3,000 MSP partners across EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). The company has attracted more than 750 new MSP partners in EMEA so far in 2018, and Datto is seeking to hire at least 40 more people across the EMEA region. It's a safe bet some of the growth involves synergies between the Datto and Autotask merger of 2017. Autotask was an early mover in the EMEA market, localizing its software and opening multiple branch offices to support MSPs outside of the United States.
6. Nastiest Malware of 2018: Webroot has unveiled a list of the Nastiest Malware of 2018...
5. Employee Stock Ownership Plans: Seventy-five percent of companies with ESOP ownership models increased their wages at or above the national average of 2.7 percent, and 29 percent increased wages by 4 percent or more, according The ESOP Associations' research.
4. MSPs & HIPAA Compliance: Compliancy Group and The 20 are partnering to offer HIPAA- and cybersecurity-related solutions to MSPs. Compliancy Group is a well-known educator in the MSP and health care IT industry. The 20 is an ecosystem of MSPs that leverage standardized sales and IT automation tools.
3. MSPs and IoT Services: Logicalis, a major MSP, has partnered with RoviSys and N3N, to offer IoT solutions on manufacturing plant floors. The IoT solutions, which also involve Cisco Systems, deliver predictive maintenance, remote monitoring, asset and supplier control, operational tests monitoring, and workforce automation capabilities, Logicalis says.
2. Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs 2019: Complete the survey and potentially have your MSP honored for its vertical-market momentum.
1. How to Reach $5 Million Annual Recurring Revenues: We’ll share the tips during our next ChannelE2E webcast. Register now.
