Channel Brief: Security Update, Microsoft, Amazon Choose France and More

A. Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News

Happy Monday, folks! Hope you had a great weekend!

We're kicking off something new for you this week -- we know that cybersecurity and protecting your end customer companies from cybercrime has grown into one of the most important trends for MSPs. Especially in 2024, you're stepping up to help protect customers' IT estates from cybercriminals and cybersecurity attacks. With that in mind, each week we’ll bring you an assortment of stories from our affiliate site, MSSP Alert, that focuses on some of the top news, trends and insights in cybersecurity for service providers. Check out our first edition here!

We're also following the annual 'Choose France' initiative -- and it looks like Microsoft, Amazon, Accenture and GSK, among others, are investing large sums to develop their workforces and increase their presence there.

Dr. Vivian Lyon has a great piece in Forbes that outlines three steps to building a holistic AI strategy for your business, especially when it comes to leveraging AI for cybersecurity. And website builder and e-commerce platform Squarespace is being taken private through a $6 billion-plus acquisition by UK private equity firm Permira.

Finally, congratulations to Nerdio's founder and CEO Vadim Vladirmirskiy -- he's been named a finalist in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, Midwest award.

Are you an MSP that partners with public cloud service providers? It's time for you to step up and get recognized. ChannelE2E opened its annual Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs survey. This is the survey that we use to create our annual Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs ranked list. Here's the link to participate.

And don't forget to submit your idea for a session at the upcoming MSSP Alert Live event! MSSP Alert Live is the premiere cybersecurity event for MSPs and MSSPs. (You can submit your proposal here.) We’re looking for speakers like you who want to share insights and experience and wisdom with peers.

Please check out our industry Mergers and Acquisitions list, updated daily, with an archive that goes all the way back to 2020. Check out the whole thing here. Scroll down for a quick view of upcoming in-person channel and MSP events at the bottom of this post (while we spiff up our industry calendar behind the scenes. It will return!)

And please send your news tips, information, and industry chatter to senior managing editor [email protected].

1. ServiceNow, Microsoft AI Alliance: At ServiceNow Knowledge last week, ServiceNow and Microsoft announced they are combining their generative AI capabilities. The new ServiceNow Now Assist and Microsoft Copilot integration combines the intelligence of Now Assist with ServiceNow’s AI-powered workflows and Microsoft Copilot within Microsoft 365 to eliminate friction for employees, the companies said. For example, Copilot will be able to hand off employee requests to Now Assist in Microsoft Teams. Now Assist will provide employees with responses to questions as well as recommend actions and next steps in a conversational manner. These actions combine Now Assist’s domain knowledge of the enterprise and awareness of the user’s context and organizational data from Microsoft 365 chats, email, calendar, and files. The companies said future capabilities will also enable such experiences as allowing employees to engage Copilot for Microsoft 365 from ServiceNow to create documents, such as a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint, based on ServiceNow prompts.

2. Nerdio's Vladirmirskiy Named Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist: Vadim Vladirmirskiy, founder and CEO of Nerdio, was named an Entrepreneur of the Year 2024 Midwest award finalist by Ernst & Young (EY), the company said. This award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs located in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Vladirmirskiy was selected as one of 30 regional finalists by a panel of independent judges. Nerdio is a Microsoft cloud and virtualization management solutions provider based in Chicago, Illinois. After co-founding IT services company Adar, Vladimirskiy founded Nerdio to address the needs of managed service providers and enterprises looking to build cloud practices in Microsoft Azure. Under Vladimirskiy’s leadership, Nerdio raised $117 million in its Series B led by Updata Partners at the end of 2022 and doubled its annual recurring revenue in 2023, influencing more than $225 million of Azure consumption annually. The regional award winners will be officially announced on June 12, 2024.

3. Building an AI Cybersecurity Strategy: If you're thinking about building out a cybersecurity practice -- as many MSPs are -- and considering how you can leverage AI to help, there's a good piece in Forbes from Dr. Vivian Lyon that discusses how to set your AI strategy to make sure you succeed. With these three simple strategies, you can more easily integrate AI into your cybersecurity practice.

4. Microsoft, Amazon, Accenture Invest Billions in France: Amazon plans to invest more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion U.S.) in its French operations to create more than 3,000 permanent jobs in the country. Amazon and other companies, including GSK and Accenture also plan to announce billion-dollar investments as part of the country's annual "Choose France" event, which begins today. Microsoft, too, is planning investments in France, to the tune of 4 billion euros, Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith told France's Le Figaro paper, Reuters reported. Smith said much of the investment would focus on the AI sector and that Microsoft would set up a data centre in the French city of Mulhouse.

5. Squarespace Goes Private in $6.6B Permira Deal: Website builder Squarespace will go private in an acquisition by U.K.-based private equity firm Permira. Squarespace was founded in 2004 by Anthony Casalena, and, as TechCrunch explains, is best known for its no-code platform designed to help SMEs and freelancers build websites, blogs and online stores. In 2021, Squarespace raised $300 million on the back of a whopping $10 billion valuation and filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Over the next few years, the company’s valuation went into freefall, dropping to a low of $2 billion in 2022, TechCrunch said, but stock rebounded this year after strong earnings.

MSSP Alert Live Call for Papers and Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs

MSSP Alert Live CFP: Are you a thought leader in managed services or managed security services, or do you have a unique approach to an important topic that could help other MSPs or MSSPs? We’re looking for speakers like you to be part of our MSSP Alert Live program for 2024. MSSP Alert Live, the premiere cybersecurity event for MSPs and MSSPs, has opened its call for papers. (You can submit yours here.) We’re looking for speakers like you who want to share insights and experience and wisdom with peers.

Time for Cloud MSPs to get recognized: Are you an MSP that works with public cloud providers? It’s time to get recognized for your work. ChannelE2E opened its annual survey for the Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs. If your MSP practice includes working with a public cloud provider, this survey is for you. Participation is free. The survey closes in June. Submit your MSP today here for recognition! Our list will be released this summer.

B. In-Person MSP and Channel Partner Events