Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, June 1, 2017.
Actually, there are 11 updates for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to sip on. Take a look…
11. Microsoft Azure Disaster Recovery: Microsoft has announced a public preview of its Azure Site Recovery platform -- a disaster recovery service for the public cloud platform.
10. Mary Meeker's 2017 Internet Trends: Mary Meeker, now a partner at KIeiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), has released a 355-slide presentation that covers major Internet trends for 2017. ZDNet boils Meeker's thoughts down to a single blog and these five takeaways.
9. Salesforce Venture Capital (For You!): Salesforce's venture capital arm is now investing in IT consulting firms and cloud integrators that specialize in... wait for it... Salesforce cloud deployments. Early benefactors include 7Summits, Arxxus and ATG.
8. MSP Contract & Robotics: Enterprise Integration (EI), an onshore MSP powered by digital robotics, has won five-year managed IT services contract with Covanta, which focuses on sustainable waste and energy solutions. The deal includes Integrated Service Desk, Operations Control, Engineering, Network Management, Cloud Integration, Enterprise Architecture, IT Asset Management (ITAM), IT Service Management (ITSM), Endpoint Refresh and Enterprise Security. Moreover, Covanta will adopt EI's suite of tools, people and processes devoted to digital robotics and advanced automation, the companies said.
7. Research - Security Teams Overwhelmed: A Splunk and IDC research report reveals that security teams are "overwhelmed" by the rising volume of attacks they must discover, track and mitigate. Hmmm... To us, the research reinforces the urgent need for security outsourcing -- and Managed Security Services Providers. Hence, our decision to launch MSSP Alert.
6. Distribution - Security: Tech Data has unveiled an integrated security practice in the Americas. It focuses on five core areas: Endpoint, Identity & Access Management, Perimeter, Data/Application and Security Intelligence. Dig a little deeper and you'll notice that there's a managed security service called Recon. The news surfaces one week after the Ingram Micro TrustX Alliance conference, at which Ingram disclosed that it has 10,000 security partners -- about five percent of whom are full-blown managed security pros that fully address cybersecurity for customers.
5. Earnings - Distribution: Tech Data's Q1 revenue was $7.66 billion, up 28.5 percent vs. the corresponding quarterly last year, the distributor said this morning. Much of the jump involves Tech Data's newly acquired Technology Services business (from Avnet). The overall business results exceeded Wall Street's expectations.
4. Earnings - HP Enterprise: Top-line revenues continue to fall at HP Enterprise, though CEO Meg Whitman says the company continues to perform well amid the shift to hybrid IT solutions. During an earnings call yesterday, Whitman spent some time praising HPE's growing system integrator relationships.
3. Earnings - Palo Alto Networks: Palo Alto Networks' latest quarterly results were stronger than expected, lifting the company's stock about 12 percent in after hours training last night. Revenue in the three months ended in April rose 25 percent, year over year, to $432 million, Tech Trader Daily noted. Channel Chief Ron Myers has focused on next-generation security innovators to drive partner revenues.
2. Service Desks - Artificial Intelligence: How will artificial intelligence reshape help desks and IT service desks? Perhaps you'll gain some clues from KTSL (a Platinum BMC Software partner) and Next IT (an AI company). The duo is partnering to deliver conversational artificial intelligence (AI) across IT Helpdesk and Service Management solutions...
1. Next Week: We're attending DattoCon17 in Denver. Want to potentially meet? Email me ([email protected]). Also, here are five questions we'll ask Datto CEO Austin McChord and the executive team. Send us your questions and we'll strive to weave them into our interviews and resulting content.
