Channel Brief: Wiz Acquires Dazz for CNAPP, Cloud Remediation

If you rely on Microsoft's dedicated licensing and certification site for information, well, you'll have to look elsewhere come January 1, 2025.

The Register reported today that Microsoft is sunsetting its software licensing info and education site, which it currently promotes as "a complete and up-to-date resource for anyone who needs to learn about Microsoft licensing."

The site Microsoft will close, Get Licensing Ready, can be very handy if you're trying to navigate the complex world of Microsoft software licensing. As of today, the site offers over 50 training modules plus documentation.

But Microsoft has decided not to keep it around in its current form, The Register said, and the site will close on January 1. "Indeed, visitors to the site currently see a pop-up that explains, "Microsoft will be ending support for licensing certifications through this platform and phasing out the Get Licensing Ready resource."

Users have until December 1 to complete any active modules and download certificates. If you’re a user of the site, get cracking: Redmond warns it is "unable to provide copies of certification after December 31st, 2024," The Register said.

The good news is that the content currently available on the site will be "relocated" to microsoft.com/licensing. Microsoft also said it will add "new AI capabilities to further enhance learning and engagement." What those "new AI capabilities" are remains to be seen.

As always, drop me a line at [email protected] if you have news to share or want to say hi!

Grab your coffee. Here's what you need to know today.

Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News

1. Emma raises $17 million in Series A: Cloud management platform emma announced its $17 million Series A funding to expand its reach into the U.S. market, the company said in a statement. The funds will be used to continue emma’s rapid innovation and bring new features to the platform, including AI accelerators, enhanced security, broader cloud integrations, and more robust automation capabilities, the company said.

2. Wiz acquires Dazz for CNAPP, cloud remediation: Last week, cloud security provider Wiz acquired Dazz, a provider of unified security remediation and application security posture management (ASPM), the companies said in a statement. This acquisition follows the launch of Wiz Code in September and makes Wiz a "multi-product company." Dazz’s capabilities include smart risk prioritization and remediation, which will simplify how customers strengthen their security posture, according to the company. Security and engineering teams can mitigate threats more effectively, and vulnerability management teams will get a unified remediation platform, according to Wiz.

3. Blancco names new CEO: Blancco just announced that Lou DiFruscio has been named the data erasure software company's new CEO. He will succeed Matt Jones, who will remain an advisor to the company and its board of directors after more than six years at the company’s helm. DiFruscio, who is based in Boston, has spent the last 30 years entirely in the tech community, with leadership positions across multiple organizations in the security and IT space, including Invicti Security, SmartBear, AccuRev and Empirix. Congratulations!

4. Resolute CS acquires iceblue: Connectivity solutions provider Resolute CS has acquired iceblue, a managed internet services provider. This strategic transaction underscores Resolute CS's commitment to transforming how the industry procures and manages connectivity by leveraging intelligence, automation, technology, and a customer-centric approach, the companies said in a statement.

5. Keepit names Fahad Qureshi new VP of sales for America, ANZ: SaaS data protection firm Keepit has named Fahad Qureshi as its new vice president of sales for America and ANZ. Qureshi's goal is to establish the Americas as a leading market for Keepit’s cloud-native data protection solutions, the company said in a statement. Qureshi joins Keepit from Lumafield, where he served as head of sales. Prior to Lumafield, he was at Qumulo, where he dedicated nearly eight years to growing the company’s enterprise presence. With additional experience from key roles at Maginatics and GroupLogic, Qureshi brings over 15 years of industry knowledge and driving revenue growth. Congratulations!