Channel investors

Zendesk acquires Smooch for omnichannel communications platform that works with WhatsApp, WeChat, email, SMS & more. $ZEN counters ServiceNow & Salesforce.

By Light Professional IT Services acquires cybersecurity training services contractor Metova Federal for government push.

Champion Solutions Group acquires DirecLogix. Gains Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure cloud and HP Enterprise (HPE) partner expertise.

Vista Equity Partners CEO Robert Smith vows to pay Morehouse College Class of 2019 student debt. Vista Equity owns Datto, LogicMonitor, Ping & more.

Apptio, owned by Vista Equity Partners, buys Cloudability for multi-cloud cost management across Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure & Google Cloud Platform.

Node4, a communications MSP, acquires VMware & Microsoft Azure cloud services partner Secura. This is Node4's fifth acquisition. Here's the strategy.

FirstLight, a fiber-optic, Internet, data center, cloud, and voice services provider, acquires Maine Fiber Company (MFC). Canadian network push expected.

Nerds On Site seeks to acquire four managed IT services providers (MSPs) -- three in the U.S. and one in Canada. Here's the MSP rollup strategy.