Here are five (actually, more) technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, September 23, 2021. Sip up.
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A. What’s Brewing Today: Technology News
1. Small Business Venture Capital: Intuit has launched Intuit Ventures, a corporate venture capital program that will primarily invest in series B- and C-stage companies that are "solving small businesses and consumers’ biggest problems." Key areas of investment focus will include FinTech, virtual expertise, consumer finance, omni-channel commerce, AI-enabled services and crypto/DeFi.
2. Cloud MSP Investment: Crayon Group has invested in Cloud Direct, and may ultimately acquire the Microsoft Azure Expert MSP.
3. ROI - Cloud Services Adoption: A new Wipro report, “Making Business Thrive: A Cloud Leader Roadmap for Achieving 10x ROI,” outlines best practices for enterprises beginning their cloud journey or seeking to accelerate their results. Among the findings: Roughly 59 percent of companies expect cloud services to increase revenues within two years of adoption, according to a Wipro study. But cloud leaders embrace three best practices to drive positive outcomes. They include:
- Investing beyond the data center and cloud infrastructure in areas that set the stage for better returns;
- engaging senior executives, including the CEO, to sponsor cloud initiatives; and
- developing capabilities and aligning metrics for success.
4. IT Consulting - Accenture Financial Results: Accenture announced Q4 financial results for the company's fiscal year 2021. Among the key metrics to note:
- Revenue was $13.4 billion, up 24 percent compared to Q4 of 2020.
- Net income was $1.44 billion, up from $1.31 billion in Q4 of fiscal 2020.
Looking ahead, Accenture expects revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 to be in the range of $13.90 billion to $14.35 billion, an increase of 18 percent to 22 percent, the company forecast.
B. Channel Chiefs, Partner Programs and Strategic Alliances
1. Cisco AppDynamics Partner Program: Cisco Systems has shifted AppDynamics to a 100 percent channel partner model, the company disclosed in a blog post. Partners can find updated AppDynamics partner program information here.
2. Partner Performance Analytics: HP Inc. has unveiled HP Amplify Data Insights, a new partner platform designed to "turn data analytics into rich insights that inspire new strategies, steer innovation, and anticipate customer needs," the company says. The insights system is now available on the HP Partner Portal.
3. Google Cloud MSP: CloudMile is now a Google Cloud Managed Service Provider. The Singapore-based cloud MSP offers 24/7 monitoring, multi-account management, system performance tuning and monthly reporting.
4. ROI - AWS Training for Partners: More than 90 percent of AWS Partner organizations say their staff’s participation in AWS Training and Certification puts their company in a better competitive position to succeed over the next three to five years, according to a study from Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). AWS commissioned the study.
5. Integration - Secure Payments and IT Sales: ConnectBooster, a provider of secure payment solutions for IT services firms, now integrates with the Zomentum IT sales acceleration platform. The combination will "create new functionality that boosts efficiencies across the 'quote to payment' process and improves the experience for partners and customers," the two companies say.
6. Partner Program - Content Management System (CMS): Brightspot has launched the Brightspot Partner Program. The program is designed for solution partners and digital agencies and consultancies that are "looking to deliver and execute on CMS projects quickly and at scale," the company says.
7. Partnership - Salesforce Platform: Enxoo, a Salesforce partner that supports telecom customers, has developed online applications for Upp, a new UK Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) provider. The relationship includes front- and back-end development of Upp.com, a fully responsive, mobile-ready website that captures data from visitors and customers directly in the BSS.
C. Channel Partner Summits, MSP Conferences and Virtual Events Calendar
- VMware VMworld 2021 (October 5-7, Virtual)
- UiPath Forward IV 2021 (October 5-6, Las Vegas)
- Google Cloud Next 2021 (October 12-14, Virtual)
- Sherweb Accelerate 2021 (October 18-20, Hollywood, Florida)
- Kaseya Connect IT Global 2021 (October 19-21, Las Vegas)
- ChannelE2E’s complete event calendar
- Add Your Annual Event To Our Calendar: Submit it here for consideration.
