5 Channel Partner Program and MSP News Updates: 06 April 2022

Here are five (actually more) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, April 6, 2022. Sip up.

What’s In Our Daily Brew?

A. Today’s Technology, Channel Chief and MSP Partner Program News

1. Diversity (or Lack of Diversity) In the IT Channel: Is the IT channel making progress in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion? This Q1 2022 Diversity Report from Dave Sobel offers a reality check.

2. Private Equity and Software: Thoma Bravo has completed fundraising for Thoma Bravo Credit Fund II at $3.3 billion in total available capital, including leverage. The credit platform invested more than $2.0 billion into 39 unique portfolio companies. The private equity firm did not say if or how the credit platform aligns with current MSP software portfolio companies such as Barracuda, ConnectWise, N-able and Sophos, among many others.

3. Funding - Small Business Credit Assessments: Uplinq Financial Technologies has raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding led by N49P and Surface Ventures. Uplinq's platform allows banks and lenders to "deliver financial inclusion for their small business customers across the globe," the startup asserted.

4. IT Service Management (ITSM) - ServiceNow Partner: 3CLogic has expanded its ServiceNow partnership. The relationship enhances ServiceNow's ITSM software platform  with additional voice-enabled features.

5. Remote IT Support Software: TeamViewer Tensor and TeamViewer Frontline are now available through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace and Microsoft AppSource.

6. Microsoft Partner Focus: Improving, a digital services company backed by private equity firm Trinity Hunt Partners, has formed a Microsoft-focused team in partnership with Microsoft.

7. MSP Cloud Marketplace - Email Security: Pax8 has agreed to distribute solutions from Check Point’s email security group, formerly Avanan.

8. Partnership - Deloitte and VMware: The global IT consulting firm and the software company announced the Deloitte VMware Distributed Cloud (DVDC) practice.

9. Partner Program - Networking: Adtran has launched a Broadband Partner Program. The program combines Adtran's fiber broadband access expertise with channel partner support.

10. Partner Program - Threat Hunting: Hunters has launched a Partner Certification Program and the Hunters Partner Hub online portal.

11. Partner Program - Colocation Services: NFINIT, a provider of hybrid cloud solutions, connectivity, and colocation, is "streamlining its go-to-market strategy with a channel-first approach," the company said.

12. Google Cloud - Data Management: Google announced numerous Google Cloud data management enhancements. Key moves include a preview of BigLake, a data lake storage engine that "removes data limits by unifying data lakes and warehouses," the company asserted.

13. Device as a Service: everphone, a device-as-a-service startup, is providing 60,000 Hyundai Android tablet computers to underserved households across America. This effort, which will take place over a 12-month period, is part of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program in partnership with network connective provider Go Technology and mobile device management provider EBF Inc., according to everphone.

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