5 Channel Partner Updates: Tuesday 28 October 2019 -

Here are five (actually, far more…) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, October 29, 2019.

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A. What’s Hot Today

1. ConnectWise IT Nation – Complete Daily Coverage: It’s all right here.

2. Microsoft Cloud Licensing Concerns: The International Association of IT Asset Managers (IAITAM) has expressed concerns about Microsoft's Office 365 self-service licensing strategy. The association alleges:

“This is the road to chaos and monumental waste, particularly if other software makers follow suit. By basically bypassing all controls on licensing and purchases within companies, it will be incredibly difficult to know what has been purchased, who has purchased it, when it needs to be renewed, what needs to be ‘patched’ and which software is no longer being protected against hackers. The result will be a rat’s nest of confusion, bad records and huge fines.”

ChannelE2E has reached out to Microsoft for comment about the IAITAM concerns.

3. Private Equity - MSP Lawsuit: Presidio is striving to press forward with the company's sale to private equity firm BC Partners -- despite lawsuits claiming the midmarket IT solutions provider misled investors about the deal. Presidio has filed additional disclosers with the SEC in order to press forward with the company sale.

4. Private Equity - New Tech Fund: KKR has gathered more than $2 billion to invest in fast-growing technology companies as it further expands beyond the mega-deals that made its reputation, Bloomberg reports.

5. M&A -- SaaS Application Management: CoreView has acquired Alpin, a solution for identifying and managing SaaS applications. CoreView helps partners and customers to monitor cloud usage, costs, renewal schedules, policy enforcement, security and configuration vulnerabilities, as well as the ability to identify unapproved SaaS applications in use within an organization, the company says.

6. Funding - Apple Device Management: Kandji has announced commercial availability of its Apple MDM (mobile device management) solution and $3.4 million in seed funding after more than two years in stealth mode.

7. AWS vs. Azure - Pentagon Contract: Within hours of Amazon losing a lucrative Pentagon cloud-computing contract to rival Microsoft, there were hints that the Seattle giant would challenge the decision, Bloomberg reports. The AWS challenge will likely focus on the Trump administration's distain for Amazon...

8. Multi-Cloud Management: Aviatrix, a five-year-old provider of networking and security services for multi-cloud enterprises, has raised $40 million in Series C funding led by existing investor CRV.

9. Talent - ERP Professional Services: Unit4, a provider of in people-centered enterprise resource planning (ERP), has named:

Billy O'Riordan as senior VP, professional services;
Frank Dorrien as regional professional services director for North America; and
Francis Quinn as project governance leader for North America.

10. SMB Voice Communications - MSPs: Cytracom, a provider of voice solutions built for MSPs, has announced Business Messaging. The solution provides team messaging for Cytracom system users combined with the functionality of SMS to communicate with any user on a mobile device, the company says.

11. SolarWinds Quarterly Earnings: They're due to surface on Wednesday. SolarWinds CEO Kevin Thompson has been known to announce MSP software milestones and, on occasion, acquisitions during the earnings call. Among the areas to watch: Potential progress with SolarWinds Service Desk, an emerging alternative to ServiceNow's IT Service Management (ITSM) software platform.

12. Managed IT Services - Government Contract: Unisys has won an IT services contract with the U.S. Department of Defense that could be worth as much as $214 million over four years. The fixed-price contract involves a single base year, followed by three one-year option periods, Unisys says.

13. Service Desks and Compliance: Talkdesk, a cloud contact center for enterprises, has earned new certifications for information security and business continuity -- covering such areas as ISO/IEC 27001:2013 and ISO 22301:2012, respectively.

B. Partnerships and Strategic Alliances

1. Cisco and Perch Security: Details are in this Cisco Systems blog.

2. Cisco SD-WAN Partner Strategy: Cisco Systems' latest SD-WAN partner perspectives are here.

3. IT Service Desk Automation: Ayehu and Rulai are partnering to deliver a self-driving IT issue resolution offering powered by artificial intelligence.

4. Cloud Workspace as a Service - The 20: CloudJumper has inked an expanded partnership with The 20 -- which is an MSP cooperative. The relationship now includes a heightened focus on Cloud Workspace Management Suite software licensing to The 20's network of MSPs.

5. MSP Discounts - The 20: Beachhead Solutions, a provider of loud-managed PC & mobile device encryption, security, and data access control for MSPs, announced discounted pricing for all The 20 members.

6. Distribution: Ingram Micro has agreed to market, promote and sell InFocus projectors and collaboration solutions, including the new JTouch 4.0 interactive displays and Mondopad 4.0 to channel partners throughout the United States, the companies say.

7. Channel Talent - SD-WANs: Bigleaf Networks has hired channel veteran Eric Brooker as senior director of national partner programs. The company also recently raised $21 million in Series B Funding to fund such areas as a master agent channel program.

8. Cloud Marketplace - Data Protection: UBX's cloud desktop, disaster recovery and private cloud service offerings are now listed in the UCXMarket -- an enterprise cloud marketplace.

9. All Partner Programs: Search the comprehensive ChannelE2E Partner Program Database here. Also, submit your company information here and your partner program can be listed in the database.