Channel Brief: Dell Shares Slump, Snowflake Strategizes AI Channel Sales

Summertime and the livin's easy ... and it seems like a slow news week, at least in the MSP/MSSP space!

Still, we're looking at Snowflake's strategy for driving generative AI channel sales, a significant solution provider consolidation in the EU driven by cybersecurity and cloud computing, and Dell's slumping shares.

We're also looking at a new strategic partnership between Ignition Technologies and Cranium, which is positioned to help organizations navigate the complexities of the EU's AI Act. And UiPath's co-founder Daniel Dines will take over from Rob Enslin as CEO.

Don't be shy -- send tips, news, rumors and whatever you have to me at [email protected] and I will do my best to include it in the daily Briefs!

Grab your coffee. Here’s what you need to know today.

Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News

1. Snowflake's Plans for Generative AI Channel Sales: CRN reported that Snowflake is urging its system integrators, MSPs, consultants and resale partners to boost their expertise around the Snowflake platform and focus on industry-specific use cases to drive AI and data transformation sales. Snowflake's global channel chief Tyler Prince told CRN that AI is the perfect use case for cloud computing, as customers need all their data in a secure and centralized location to reap the true benefits of AI and generative AI.

2. Wiit/Redcentric in Takeover Talks: Consolidation in the cybersecurity space continues, and Italian cybersecurity and cloud services provider Wiit and British IT services group Redcentric are in talks about a potential takeover offer by Wiit. Finimize reported that Wiit is exploring the acquisition of the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of Redcentric, potentially making a cash offer. Redcentric, known for clients like Britain's Channel 4, Heathrow Airport, and the NHS, saw its shares rise over 5%, upping its market value to approximately £250 million ($320 million USD). While no firm offer is guaranteed, Redcentric has engaged investment bank Lazard to scout for potential buyers, according to Finimize. This isn’t Redcentric’s first foray into the M&A arena – the firm explored a sale in 2020 with Stifel Financial Corp but the deal didn't happen.

3. AI Cuts Into Dell's Margins: Reuters reported that Dell Technologies shares tumbled about 14% in premarket trading today, as its sizable AI investments are predicted to dent its quarterly profit. If these losses hold, Reuters said, Dell is on track to lose more than $17 billion in market value after more than doubling this year. On Thursday, the company said it expects adjusted gross margin rate to decline about 150 basis points in fiscal 2025. It forecast adjusted profit per share of $1.65, plus or minus 10 cents, for the second quarter, versus LSEG estimates of $1.84. Companies, including Dell, have been investing heavily in pricey hardware to build out advanced servers with the ability to process complex artificial intelligence tasks as more businesses rush to adopt the technology.

4. New Partnership to Help Firms Navigate EU AI Act: A new strategic partnership between Ignition Technology and Cranium aims to help organizations comply with the recently introduced EU Artificial Intelligence Act. The legislation aims to establish rigorous standards for the responsible and ethical deployment of artificial intelligence systems. The collaboration between Ignition, a cybersecurity SaaS specialist, and Cranium, a renowned enterprise AI security and trust software provider, will offer European channel partners a value proposition tailored to the needs of European and multinational organizations, as CRN UK reported. According to CRN, by leveraging Cranium's Exposure Management Solution, the companies claimed security teams will gain unprecedented visibility into their AI ecosystems, along with tools and insights to take swift and precise action.

5. UiPath Has a New (Old) CEO: CRN reported that UiPath co-founder and chief innovation officer Daniel Dines will become the company’s new CEO. Former CEO Rob Enslin said in a LinkedIn post that he ‘made the difficult decision to resign as CEO of UiPath for personal reasons.’ Enslin came to UiPath after three years with Google Cloud as president of cloud sales, CRN said. He also worked at SAP for more than 26 years, leaving in 2019 as president of the Cloud Business Group and executive board member. UiPath's stock was downgraded by at least two investment firms based on disappointing first fiscal quarter performance and the CEO transition announcement. Investment firms did say Dines was “well-positioned to retake the CEO position given his long tenure with the company.”

6. Hurry Up, Cloud MSPs! Submit Your Survey to Our Top Cloud MSPs List - Every year we've done an MSP ranked list, Jessica C. Davis has blasted out the deadlines and written blog posts and sent emails telling people over and over that the deadline is close. And once the window closes to submit your MSP, there are always a handful of companies that beg to reopen the survey so they can submit their companies. Somehow they missed all the messages. Don’t let this be you! Our Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs survey is open now, but it closes in June. Don’t wait until the last minute. Get it done and check it off your list today so you don’t miss the deadline. If your MSP practice includes working with a cloud provider, this survey is for you. Here’s the link to participate. Participation is free. The survey closes in June. Submit your MSP here for recognition today! And if you want to check our lists from previous years, you can find them here.

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