Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Monday, January 22, 2018.
Actually, there are 12 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…
12. Xerox Ownership Debate: Xerox Corp.'s first- and third-biggest investors, billionaires Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, have formed an alliance and plan to encourage the printer and copier giant to explore a potential sale, according to The Wall Street Journal.
11. IBM-Salesforce Partnership: IBM and Salesforce are partnering more closely to integrate IBM Cloud and Watson services with Salesforce Quip and Salesforce Service Cloud Einstein, the two companies say.
10. Partner Program: ZeroStack Inc., which develops on-premises cloud technology, has launched the ZeroStack Cloud Innovation Partner Program.
9. Talent: SD-WAN specialist Aryaka has hired Big Switch veteran Claudio Perugini as senior VP of global channels.
8. VoIP for MSPs: Uplevel Systems has added support for enterprise-class voice-over-IP (VoIP) to its SMB IT-as-a-Service platform. The goal: Empower MSPs to deliver complete voice and data networking services and remote management on a pure subscription basis with no upfront capital investment by customers, the company says. Uplevel added managed security services to its small business appliance in November 2017. The base Uplevel Systems appliance for MSPs and SMBs surfaced in 2016.
7. WhatsApp for Small Business: WhatsApp Business is a free-to-download Android app for small businesses. The new app will make it easier for companies to connect with customers, and more convenient for WhatsApp's 1.3 billion users to chat with businesses that matter to them, according to the social media company.
6. Small Business Vacation Time: Nearly half (48 percent) of U.S. employers with two to 500 employees say they would, on some level, support legislation requiring paid leave. Not surprisingly, a whopping 71 percent of those SMB owners are millennials, according to a Paychex survey.
5. IT Services Momentum: IT services firm Computacenter said on Monday its 2017 adjusted pretax results were set to beat its expectations, driven by strength across Germany, the United Kingdom and France, according to a report. Computacenter has been active on the M&A front, acquiring TeamUltra -- a ServiceNow partner -- to help drive next-generation ITSM revenues. The deal ranked among the Top 100 M&A Transactions for 2017.
4. M&A: ADP has acquired WorkMarket, a cloud-based workforce management solution provider that allows companies to build and manage a workforce across W-2 employees, 1099 contractors, vendors and other types of workers. The deal, rumored for several weeks, was confirmed this morning. Financial terms were not disclosed. WorkMarket is particularly popular with technology companies seeking IT service provider expertise for specific projects.
3. M&A - Managed IT Services: Hilltop Consultants Inc. has acquired the assets of SumaTech Consulting, a Washington D.C-based Managed IT Services firm, the two companies have confirmed to ChannelE2E. We'll share more details later today.
2. M&A - Managed IT Services Part Two: Evergreen Services Group has invested in Executech, an MSP in Utah. Executech will continue to operate independently, with Eric Montague continuing as CEO, and with all management and staff remaining in place. Executech's revenues were $13.5 million in 2016, representing a 176 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over a three-year period, according to Inc. 5000 survey results. We'll share more details later today. This is Evergreen's second investment in recent weeks. The earlier deal involved Wolf Consulting of Pennsylvania.
1. Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs for 2018: We'll unveil the list and research during our February 15 webcast. Register now to join us.
