5 Channel Partner Program and MSP News Updates: Thursday 04 February 2021

Here are five (actually, more) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, February 4, 2021. Sip up.

What’s In Our Daily Brew?

A. What’s Brewing Today: Technology News

1. M&A - Searching for Software Acquisitions: L&T Technology Services Ltd (LTTS) is on the prowl in North America and European markets to acquire technology firms with sub-$50 million in annual revenues, The Hindu Business Line reports.

2. Private Equity - Software IPO: Private equity firm Thoma Bravo is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO) of MeridianLink, which could value the U.S. financial software provider at more than $3 billion, Reuters reports.

3. VMware Conferences Remain Virtual: All major VMware conferences for 2021 -- including VMworld and VMware Carbon Black Connect -- will remain purely virtual, the multi-cloud enterprise software company has confirmed.

4. Microsoft Ignite 2021 Confirmed: Microsoft Ignite 2021 is confirmed as a purely virtual conference (i.e., digital experience) for March 2-4.

5. Managed Detection and Response (MDR) for SaaS Applications: Qualys has introduced Qualys SaaS Detection and Response (SaaSDR), which provides a single console for IT and security teams to gain continuous visibility, security and compliance of critical SaaS apps, the company says. The initial release supports Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, Zoom and Salesforce. In some ways Qualys SaaSDR sounds somewhat similar to SaaS Alerts, the MSP-focused software company led by CEO Jim Lippie.

B. Channel Chiefs, Partner Programs and Strategic Alliances

1. Partner Program - Network Operations Center (NOC): INOC has launched a new VISION Partner Program, and hired channel veteran Thomas Hempel as director of partner development. The VISION Partner Program enables partners to offer a "range of capabilities from white-label services to highly customized NOC service offerings." The company did not mention whether it plans to come down-market to support MSPs in the SMB sector, where options like ConnectWise Command, GMS Live Expert, IT By Design and Live Virtual Helpdesk focus their efforts.

2. Partnership - Video Security Services: Cisco Meraki and Openpath have teamed up to provide a combined security platform designed for smart cameras and buildings access control, ZDnet reports.

3. Partner Portal - SMB Network Security: Untangle has launched a new Partner Portal for channel partners.

4. IBM Hybrid Cloud Experts Assist Partners: IBM has formed a team of 100 cloud experts to help partners migrate their solutions to IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and other clouds. The hybrid cloud solutions will leverage IBM’s Red Hat OpenShift as the underlying software.

5. Integration - Multi-Cloud Data Protection: Veeam Backup for Google Cloud Platform is now available. Veeam already offers similar backup, disaster recovery (BDR) and data protection options for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. The Google Cloud support includes a free edition -- which allows up to 10 Google Cloud workloads to be backed up with unlimited restore options and basic support,

6. Distribution - SIEM for Governments: Synnex has agreed to distribute WitFoo Precinct, a SIEM (security information and management) platform, to government partners.

C. Channel Partner Summits, MSP Conferences and Virtual Events Calendar