Channel Brief: Empath, PowerPSA Partner for Cyber Training, Defense Tech Spending Grows

Good morning, folks, and welcome to Tuesday!

Congratulations are in order for Ronnie Tuttle, who was named Trustifi's channel sales director in June.

If you're looking for ways to gain new skills, check this out: PowerPSA Consulting has entered into a strategic partnership with learning management platform Empath to upskill MSP employees. This collaboration will offer members of PowerPSA’s vCISO program – The PowerGRYD – free access to Empath’s comprehensive learning resources.

In wider industry news, Westcon-Comstor has extended its distribution partnership with Proofpoint to Germany, Spain and Portugal, offering enhanced email and cloud security solutions to channel partners in those countries. And in the U.S., though venture capital investment has softened over the last year or so, spending on defense technology remains solid.

As always, drop me a line at [email protected] if you have news to share or want to say hi!

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

Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News

1. Trustifi Names Ronnie Tuttle Channel Sales Director: Industry veteran Ronnie Tuttle has been named Trustifi's new channel sales director, the company announced last month. Tuttle joined the Trustifi team in June 2024 as a channel-dedicated leader, in addition to Zack Schwartz, Trustifi’s current vice president of business development , to strengthen the company’s allegiance and enhance its business in the managed services provider (MSP) and managed security services provider (MSSP) market. Tuttle was previously strategic alliances manager at global IT cybersecurity company Myriad360, where he developed partnership programs and managed channel engagement initiatives. He has worked with pioneering IT companies such as Fortinet and Cisco, with specializations in channel development, SaaS solutions, sales, account management, and an ongoing focus on cybersecurity. He will leverage his extensive knowledge of the managed security sector, of advanced AI-powered cybersecurity products, and of the unique state of the evolving threat landscape to further elevate Trustifi’s stature in the marketplace, the company said. Congratulations!

2. PowerPSA Consulting and Empath Partner for Cybersecurity Upskilling: PowerPSA Consulting has entered into a strategic partnership with Empath, an innovative learning management and accountability platform dedicated to upskilling MSP employees. This collaboration will offer members of PowerPSA’s vCISO program – The PowerGRYD – free access to Empath’s comprehensive learning resources, according to a statement from the companies. As part of this initiative, PowerPSA’s Founder, Jesse Miller, has recorded an exclusive course for the Empath platform titled “What is Risk,” introducing essential risk management concepts tailored for MSPs. Wes Spencer, co-founder of Empath, said, "This partnership will give MSPs a huge advantage with training, content and accountability the MSP-verse has never seen before.”

3. Westcon-Comstor Expands Proofpoint Partnership in Europe: IT distributor Westcon-Comstor has extended its distribution partnership with Proofpoint to Germany, Spain and Portugal, offering enhanced email and cloud security solutions to channel partners in those countries, according to IT Europa. The partnership is already active in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Nordics, Italy, Greece and the UK, and is part of a phased rollout across Europe, with further growth expected in the near future. 

4. Defense Tech Sector Investment Stays Solid: A Fast Company piece explores Pitchbook research that showed steady venture capital investment in defense technology firms. Despite softening in other areas, defense tech remains steady or in growth mode. To compare, VCs put $35.8 billion behind startups across 800 deals in 2022, and $34.9 billion invested across 627 deals in 2023. So far in 2024, private investors have bet $9.1 billion on defense tech startups across 228 investments, Pitchbook research shows.

5. Top 250 Vertical Market MSPs Survey Open: Many of the most successful managed service provider (MSP) businesses specialize in vertical markets -- perhaps your vertical is healthcare, financial services, retail, government, education, or something else. To honor your success in one or many of these markets, each year ChannelE2E surveys MSPs to identify and promote the top companies in each of these verticals. (Check out past years' lists here.) The 2024 survey is open now. Here's the link to participate.

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