Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, August 10, 2017.
Actually, there are 10 timely updates designed 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:
10. Fired Google Employee's Views: Hear directly from fired Google employee James Damore, author of the 10-page manifesto on company diversity, right here.
9. MSP Software Funding: Auvik Networks has raised nearly $12 million to boost its RMM (remote monitoring and management) software platform for MSPs. CEO Marc Morin shares details here.
8. New Army, Navy CIOs: Both the U.S. Army and Navy will have new CIOs as the military attempts to boost cybersecurity, consolidate systems, and move more workloads into the cloud...
7. Cloud Distribution: Tech Data Cloud has agreed to distribute AvePoint (backup, migration and management services for Office 365); Conexlink's MyCloudIT (hosted desktops, apps and data for Microsoft Azure); CloudGenera (establish governance around their cloud usage) and Webair (disaster recovery).
6. Partner Program: ScanSource POS and Barcode has launched the PASS Program, which simplifies the process of adding payment terminals to resellers’ offerings so that they can supply a total solutions package for their customers, the company says. The effort involves a partnership with POS Portal.
5. Microsoft Surface Quality, Reliability Concerns: The breakage rate for Microsoft Surface devices is significantly worse than rival laptops and tablets, Consumer Reports said, adding that it was removing its "recommended" designation for Surface products, Reuters reported. Microsoft disputed the study, saying the company’s return and support rates differ significantly from the Consumer Reports study, Reuters added.
4. Kaspersky, Microsoft Bury the Hatchet: Kaspersky Lab plans to withdraw antitrust complaints against Microsoft, after Microsoft agreed to change the way it delivers security updates to Windows 10 users.
3. Docker Valuation: Docker is set to raise funding at a $1.3 billion valuation, according to multiple reports. Docker's software container platform is increasingly popular with software developers, DevOps teams, and service providers that want to rapidly deploy application updates across on-premises and cloud servers.
2. Cloud Backup, Management: CloudRanger, a simple backup solution for Amazon Web Services (AWS), has made its Server Management Platform available on the AWS Marketplace. CloudRanger now offers its proprietary, automated scheduling and backup policies directly to AWS customers, with all services on one consolidated bill through AWS, the company says.
1. Cloud Management Education: Dozens of cloud management sessions are set for VMworld 2017 in Las Vegas, which kicks off later this month. VMware also is expected to update its Amazon Web Services partnership efforts during the event.