5 Channel Partner Updates: 9 December 2016 -

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Friday, December 9, 2016.

Actually, there are 12 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…

12. BlackBerry Rebranding: BlackBerry has rebranded its various security software offerings to fit under a single umbrella. The new brand... wait for it... is called... BlackBerry Secure.

11. Managed PaaS Cloud Services: Red Hat OpenShift (platform as a service) is now available on Google Cloud Platform. OpenShift already supports Amazon Web Services, and most pundits think the PaaS offering will also surface on Microsoft Azure soon... With OpenShift Dedicated, Red Hat manages administrative and operational management tasks for customers, freeing them to focus on the development and deployment of their own applications, CIO notes.

10. Software Container Security: Thales' Vormetric Data Security Platform now supports Docker encryption and access controls, the ability to encrypt and rekey data without having to take applications offline, and more. It's the latest sign that partners can potentially wrap managed security services around Docker for customers.

9. Ten Hottest Tech Skills for 2017: They are... actually, I don't know what they are. But ComputerWorld delivers the answer here. And quite a few of them align with core MSP, CSP and VAR skill sets...

8. Annual PC Sales: You know the PC market has been weak in recent years. How weak? The graphic below, charting IDC data, tells the story.

7. Channel Data Management: The Zyme Connect Partner Program has several new partners -- including Perks, Steelwedge and Xactly. Global enterprises, ISVs and systems integrators leverage Zyme's platform to manage sales commissioning, partner incentives, demand planning, partner relationship management (PRM) and more, the company claims.

6. Zenreach Partner Program: Zenreach, which specializes in WiFi-powered smart marketing and consumer engagement, has launched a Partner Program. The program is designed for companies who deliver technology or marketing services to customers in the food and beverage, retail, grocery, hospitality, automotive, sports, and entertainment industries.

5. Cylance Partner Program: Cylance has unveiled its 2017 partner program for channel partners. The security company is well-known among channel partners that have been battling ransomware this year...

4. IoT Monitoring: Swift Sensors, backed by Barracuda Networks' former CEO, has launched a remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform for IoT devices. Here are the details.

3. Dell EMC Retirement: Dell EMC Canada Channel Chief Michael Kerr is retiring on January 31, 2017. His role will transition to Deanna Thomson, CDN reported...

2. Channel Career Moves: Quite a few are unfolding. Some are surprising. Some are not surprising. We'll document a few, sources permitting, in the days ahead...

1. Channel Partner Programs: Plan27 and ProcureIT are the latest companies listed in the ChannelE2E Partner Program Database. Is your company listed? If not, submit here. The database is a free service to the ChannelE2E readership.

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