Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Friday, December 30, 2016.
Actually, there are 11 timely entries 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. Russia vs. U.S. Hacking Standoff: Russia is set to expel 35 U.S. diplomats in response to the U.S. making a similar move against Russia. The back-and-forth started after the Obama administration accused Russia of hacking activities designed to influence the U.S. election... Will there be a detente once President-elect Trump is in office? Hmmm....
10. Slowing Huawei Growth?: Huawei leadership, in a memo to employees, predicted slowing 2016 growth in China and expressed concerns about economic uncertainties for 2017. Time to panic? Perhaps not. The networking giant's final growth numbers for 2016 vs. 2015 will likely exceed 30 percent or so...
9. Huawei's Latest Acquisition: Huawei has acquired HexaTier for $42 million, according to multiple reports. HexaTier is a startup focused on database security. The company's expertise includes blocking SQL injection attacks.
8. Amazon WorkMail: Amazon continues to quietly Microsoft Office 365, Exchange, Google Gmail and G Suite. An Amazon WorkMail update adds support for Outlook 2016 for Mac and the IMAP protocol. Rumors of a potential Amazon WorkMail partner program have circulated since the platform launched in January 2016.
7. Cloud Management: SIS has launched CMP -- short for cloud management platform. CMP is built on VMware vCloud Director and OnApp. CMP supports "fully automated, enterprise-grade cloud services with self-service provisioning and flexible billing" for the company's 1,300 customers, SIS claims.
6. MSP IT Contract: Two municipalities in Illinois appear set to embrace managed services from Prescient Solutions. The deal, valued at about $185,000 annually, would offer IT managed services to Oswego and Yorkville, according to the Chicago Tribune.
5. SMBs Upbeat About 2017?: Roughly 46 percent of SMB owners expect the operating environment for their businesses to improve in 2017 -- that’s up from 30% two years ago, after the last congressional elections, according to a Wells Fargo survey. Just over half the owners said actions that President-elect Donald Trump and Congress will make their companies better off, the LA Times reported. Meanwhile, 26% said the government's actions would have no effect on their businesses, and 17% said their businesses would be worse off, the newspaper added.
4. Family Business Dysfunction: Eighty percent of family owned businesses are "a total mess," according to Adam Sonnhalter, a coach who assists SMB owners. By mess, he means that family dynamics and those relationships are taking precedence over the needs of the business...
3. Coca Cola Closes Incubator: Coca-Cola has shut down its Founders program, which sought to work with entrepreneurs and invest in startups that would benefit the beverage giant in some way, according to an Innovation Leader report. The incubator, launched in 2013, has backed eight companies, including Wonolo, an on-demand staffing startup, and Hivery, a predictive analytics venture that can optimize pricing and selection in vending machines, Innovation Leader reported.
2. Final Reminder for 2017 Predictions: You'll find all of our technology predictions for 2017 listed right here. Within the next 48 hours or so they'll start coming true (or not...).
1. Happy New Year: Thanks for reading ChannelE2E, and thanks to our sponsors for their support throughout 2016. We appreciate all of the feedback, news tips, insights and suggestions you've shared with us this year. Now, onward and upward for 2017. Happy New Year.
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