Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Friday, July 13, 2018.
Actually, there are 14 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:
14. AWS Networking vs. Cisco Systems: Amazon Web Services may be gearing up to sell white box networking equipment head-on against Cisco Systems, according to The Information. Cisco's stock fell 5 percent on the report, though similar reports have surfaced multiple times over the past few years.
13. PC Shipments Rise: PC shipments in the second quarter had the strongest showing in six years, driven by stronger demand from business customers, according to preliminary data from Gartner and IDC, The Wall Street Journal reports.
12. Xerox Leasing Unit For Sale?: Xerox is considering the sale of a leasing unit that lends money to customers to rent printers and equipment, to make itself more attractive to potential acquirers following the termination of its $6.1 billion sale to Fujifilm, Reuters says.
11. Partner Program: SYSPRO has launched an ERP partner program called PartnerUP.
10. Talent Part: Key hires and executive moves include...
- GeekTek has hired Erin Fay as COO. She is now formulating a 100-day executive plan to drive internal business expansion and growth. GeekTek is a technology services firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with offices in Denver, Colorado and Hyderabad, India.
- PSA software provider Kimble Applications has named Chris Hamilton as the company’s VP of Customer for Life in North America. Hamilton is co-founder of Clarasys, a global management consultancy firm in London. For the last five years, Clarasys has used Kimble’s software and has seen cost-efficient growth of 40% year over year without increasing the administrative burden, the companies assert.
9. Monitoring: Datadog has unveiled Watchdog, a machine learning-based monitoring capability that identifies hidden issues and anomalies in dynamic, cloud-based applications. The capability is now generally available for all customers on Datadog’s Enterprise APM (Application Performance Monitoring) plan.
8. Microsoft Azure MSP Partner Program: It's finally official.
7. Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams now has a free entry-level version to compete more aggressively against Slack Technologies. Microsoft has used free offers in the past in an attempt to crush such rivals as Netscape (free Microsoft Internet Explorer) and Quicken (free Microsoft Money).
6. Momentum - IT Services Part One: India’s second-biggest IT firm Infosys retained its revenue outlook for the fiscal year to March, with its chief executive upbeat about demand for the company’s services in the key markets of United States and Europe, Reuters reports.
5. Momentum - IT Services Part Two: Fifty-two percent of channel partners are seeing an increase in IT spending across the North American market (including hardware, software, services and cloud) compared to last year, according to OneAffiniti's midyear report. The figures are stronger than a similar survey conducted a few months ago.
4. Managed Security: SolarWinds MSP has enhanced its SolarWinds Risk Intelligence offering with an Expanded Data Breach Risk Scan (ExDBRS), helping users better discover and identify risks from security vulnerabilities stored on endpoint devices, and enhancing regulatory compliance capabilities, the software company asserts.
3. M&A - Distribution: DCC Technology has acquired audio-visual (AV) distributor Stampede Global Holdings of Buffalo, New York, and another AV expert named Kondor of South England. Stampede supplies Pro AV products to system integrators, VARs, retailers and etailers in the US, Canada and the UK. Stampede, which employs 210 people, generated $280 million in revenues for 2017. Kondor distributes audio and mobile accessory products to etailers, retailers and mobile operators in the UK and Continental Europe. Kondor generated revenue of £110 million in 2o17 and employs approximately 250 people.
2. M&A Experts: Mike Dudek and Rich Wisniewski of Zygoquest Group advised Pinnacle Office Group and its owner Gary Plinario on the sale of assets to PopSmart Technologies and its owner Reed Melnick. Terms of the transaction are confidential. It's the latest example of Zygoquest helping to piece together an M&A deal in the office equipment market.
1. Valuation Warning Signal: Healthcare M&A has been heating up for years, but sky-high valuations and rising competition may be causing some private equity (PE) buyers to walk away from the table, HealthExec reports. That could be a warning sign across the M&A market...
