5 Channel Partner Program and MSP News Updates: 17 August 2021

Here are five (actually, more) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, August 17, 2021. Sip up.

What’s In Our Daily Brew?

A. What’s Brewing Today: Technology News

1. Talent - MSP Software: NinjaRMM has hired Centrify and Cisco Systems veteran Shane Stevens as chief technology officer. Other recent hires include Chief Revenue Officer Dean Yeck. The executive appointments come as NinjaRMM continues to extend its IT management software beyond RMM (remote monitoring and management) to include BDR (backup and disaster recovery) and other IT automation capabilities for MSPs and IT professionals. Also, NinjaRMM has relocated its headquarters from California to Texas. NinjaRMM raised $30 million in growth equity funding, led by Summit Partners, in March 2020.

2. MSP Government Contract: NTT DATA has won a $15.4 million contract to deliver end-user support services for Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) – a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center and the largest U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) laboratory in the United States Midwest.

3. M&A Plan - Smart Infrastructure: Siemens is considering acquisitions in building management software and electric vehicle charging to accelerate growth at its Smart Infrastructure (SI) division, Reuters reports.

B. Channel Chiefs, Partner Programs, Strategic Alliances & Integrations

1. Pitch Event - Channel-Ready Startups:  CDW has launched PitchIT, a quarterly event for tech startups across the U.S. to pitch their channel-ready products and solutions to CDW’s channel and technology experts, the company says.

2. Talent - Channel Marketing: Secure mobile networking company CyberReef has named Rachel Turkus as VP of marketing and channel management, a newly created role "supporting strategic growth through IT and telecom channel partners," CyberReef says.

3. Distribution: D&H Distributing has agreed to distribute Jabra's technologies as part of  D&H’s Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) portfolio of integrated business solutions for channel partners. The agreement also encompasses PanaCast, Jabra’s line of video collaboration solutions. This covers innovations like the PanaCast 50 intelligent video bar, which combines top-flight audio with a panoramic 4K camera to help companies seamlessly navigate the hybrid workplace.

4. Partner Program - Cyber Risk Ratings: Black Kite has launched the Black Kite Aviator partner program. The program "enables IT solutions providers to bolster their portfolio of cyber risk services and help customers secure their supply chains," the company asserts. More than 50 companies have already signed on to the Aviator program, Black Kite adds.

5. Integration - Avaya and Microsoft Azure: Avaya and Microsoft have inked a strategic relationship. The result: Avaya OneCloud CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) now integrates with the voice, video, chat and SMS capabilities of Microsoft Azure Communication Services for combined global reach, scale and functionality. Also, the two companies announced:

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