5 Channel Partner Program and MSP News Updates: Thursday 01 April 2021

Here are five (actually, more) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, April 1, 2021. Sip up.

What’s In Our Daily Brew?

A. What’s Brewing Today: Technology News

1. M&A - MSP NOC and Help Desk Services: Sherweb has acquired Global Mentoring Solutions (GMS) for white-labeled MSP help desk & NOC services. The move essentially counters IT By Design and ConnectWise Expert Services (formerly Continuum).

2. M&A - PSA Software: Ingram Micro and CloudBlue have finally confirmed the HarmonyPSA acquisition, which ChannelE2E reported in 2020...

3. MSP Software - Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and Data Protection: A new NinjaRMM 5.1 release supports a new native Apple iPad app, reporting enhancements and tighter integrations with Datto's Autotask PSA (professional services automation) software. Also, Splashtop remote control sessions have strengthened security, and MSPs gain various user interface enhancements, NinjaRMM says. Also: More than 500 partners have adopted Ninja Data Protection since the platform's launch in mid-2020. The platform now protects more than 1.5 petabytes of business data on over 7,500 workstations and 1,200 servers, NinjaRMM says.

4. Windows Server and Network Monitoring: Datadog has extended its Network Performance Monitoring (NPM) platform to support Microsoft Windows servers. The result: Datadog NPM now monitors the performance of network communications between applications running on Windows Server and Linux, providing network visibility across cloud environments, on-premises data centers, and operating systems, the company says.

5. IT Services - Accounting Concerns: Something is amiss at Atos, the global IT consulting firm...

6. Microsoft Azure Communications Services: The new service is now generally available. The result: Partners and developers can "easily add chat, voice calling, video calling, traditional telephone calling, SMS messaging, and other forms of real-time communication to their applications using the same services and technologies that power Microsoft Teams," Microsoft says in blog. Moreover, interoperability into Microsoft Teams is also supported (in preview), according to Microsoft.

7. Funding - Conversational Service Automation (CSA): Uniphore has raised $140 million in Series D funding, bringing the total funds invested in the company to $210 million. The latest round was led by Sorenson Capital Partners. Uniphore is seeking to "disrupt an outdated customer service model by bridging the gap between human and machine using voice, AI and automation to ensure that every voice, on every call, is truly heard," the company says.

8. IoT Regulations - Russia: Smartphones, computers and other smart devices purchased in Russia must come pre-installed with Russian software, according to new legislation in that country, Reuters reports.

B. Channel Chiefs, Partner Programs and Strategic Alliances

1. AWS Monitoring for Partners: Amazon Web Services has launched CloudWatch Metric Streams in order to make it easier for partners to gain CloudWatch metrics faster and at scale, the company says. Early partners include Sumo Logic, the cloud-based SIEM provider that works closely with MSSPs.

2. Partner Program - Multi-Cloud Data Security: Fortanix has unveiled the Fortanix Partners First program, a new channel partner program that "enables resellers to grow their business by helping customers protect their data in the cloud." Also, A10 Networks veteran Scott Hoard has joined Fortanix as area VP of Americas Channels.

3. Partnership - MSP, RPA and IBM Cloud Services: Pyramid Solutions has introduced managed services to support IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation applications and infrastructure. The result: IBM customers can outsource the management of their IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation environments to Pyramid Solutions. IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation "helps automate business operations with an integrated platform of automation capabilities, workflow, capture, RPA (robotic process automation), content services and decision management," the companies say.

4. Partnership - SD-WANs: AT&T continues to grow and evolve its AT&T SD-WAN capabilities, adding new features from Cisco Systems to support remote workers plus FISMA compliance for government agencies, AT&T says.

C. Channel Partner Summits, MSP Conferences and Virtual Events Calendar