This week's 10 most read channel and MSP news stories, columns, blogs, editorials and research involved:
10. NWN Acquires Carousel: Cloud communications service provider NWN Corp., backed by private equity firm New State Capital Partners, acquires Carousel Industries, a major MSP.
9. COVID-19 Passport Policies and Technology Conferences: Major channel partner and MSP conferences (including ConnectWise IT Nation Connect 2021, DattoCon 2021, Kaseya ConnectIT 2021 and Salesforce Dreamforce 2021) expect to resume face-to-face formats this year. One variable for attendees to keep in mind: What type of vaccine passport policies might you encounter while navigating airports, airlines, conference centers and more?
8. Top 100 Vertical market MSPs: The 2021 list covers the top MSPs in financial services, healthcare, government, manufacturing, legal and much more.
7. MSP Software Funding - SuperOps.ai Raises $3 Million: Next up, SuperOps.ai is beta testing a cloud-based MSP software platform that features remote monitoring and management (RMM) and professional services automation (PSA) capabilities.
6. Technology and MSP M&A List: ChannelE2E has tracked more than 240 mergers and acquisitions involving MSPs, IT consulting firms and technology companies so far in 2021.
5. NIST Safe Harbor: A recent federal law plans to reward HIPAA covered entities and business associates for implementing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF).
4. Technology SPACs List: Nearly 90 Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are seeking to acquire and/or merge with technology businesses. Still, pace of newly formed technology SPACs appears to be slowing amid potential SEC concerns.
3. Accenture M&A List: A look at nearly 60 Accenture acquisitions -- which typically involve digital, cloud, cybersecurity, MSP and IT consulting companies.
2. Pax8 Acquires Sea-Level Operations: The cloud distributor seeks to further enhance business, sales and technology coaching for MSPs and channel partners. This is the latest in a growing list of technology companies buying MSP-centric coaching organizations and peer groups. Additional examples include Kaseya buying TruMethods, and ConnectWise acquiring both Service Leadership Inc. and HTG Peer Groups.
1. SBA PPP Loans – Funding Is Gone: Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds from the Small Business Administration dry up before the lending program ends at the end of May. ChannelE2E’s ongoing PPPP updates continue.
