Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Tuesday, May 16, 2017.
Actually, there are 15 updates for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), telco master agents and telco agents to sip on. Take a look…
15. More PC Market Weakness: Q2 is shaping up to be a very weak quarter for the PC market, and overall sales for the year could dip 5 percent in 2017 vs. 2016, according to Cowen & Co.
14. SD-WAN Monitoring: CA Technologies has upgraded CA Performance Management to monitor software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) architectures built on Cisco IWAN and Viptela.
13. Cloud Monitoring: Altoros has unveiled Heartbeat, a monitoring tool created specifically for Cloud Foundry. The tool integrates data visualization, alerts, and the ability to log metrics, measuring real-time status of Cloud Foundry deployments—from IaaS and components to apps and services, the company says.
12. SAP Cloud Competition: CenturyLink has upgraded its managed services for hosted SAP applications. Not to be left behind, Amazon Web Services has made enhancements to better support SAP HANA customers. Keep an eye on Virtustream, a Dell EMC business that also specializes in managed SAP cloud services. Plenty of moves are expected during this week's SAP Sapphire conference in Orlando.
11. Hyperconverged Infrastructure: IBM and Nutanix have inked a multi-year initiative to bring new workloads to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) deployments. The deal combines Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud Platform software with IBM Power Systems. Dell EMC and Lenovo, among others, also have HCI relationships with Nutanix --which is growing fast but facing competition from HP Enterprise's SimpliVity buyout.
10. VMware Users vs. Dell?: VMware's user groups are fuming at being brought under Dell's wing without consultation, and some group leaders are considering action against the leaders of the organization overseeing the groups, according to The Register. Did Dell somehow drop the ball here? Hmmm... ChannelE2E can't say for sure but on the partner front I know Dell EMC Channel Chief John Byrne has been extra careful to gather partner feedback before making concrete moves.
9. IoT Incubator: Tech hub 1871 and Bosch have opened the Chicago Connectory, a new workspace dedicated to Internet of Things ventures, according to The Chicago Tribune.
8. Mobile Device Security: Zimperium, which specializes in enterprise mobile threat defense (MTD), now integrates with Microsoft Azure. The solution delivers real-time, on-device threat detection and remediation for Android and iOS devices. The platform's management console, zConsole, integrates with enterprise mobility management (EMM), security incident and event monitoring (SIEM) and single-sign-on (SSO) solutions. Zimperium deployment options include shared SaaS, dedicated SaaS and on-premise (via an organization's private cloud).
7. Ransomware Lawsuits Against MSPs?: Let's assume you're an MSP that failed to apply Windows software patches to PCs. Can you be held liable for WannaCry ransomware malware? The debate has started...
6. M&A - Mobile Application Monitoring: VMware has acquired Apteligent, which specializes in mobile application performance and engagement insights. The deal appears somewhat related to Wavefront, which VMware acquired last month. The overall goal: VMware wants to offer end-to-end monitoring of cloud and mobile applications.
5. M&A - Managed Print Services: Global Imaging Systems (GIS), a Xerox company, has acquired MT Business Technologies, a Mansfield, Ohio-based multi-brand dealer that provides office equipment, productivity solutions and managed print services to organizations throughout Ohio and South Eastern Michigan. This is the latest in a growing list of GIS acquisitions.
4. Sales Proposal Software: ServicePoint365 is pitching sales proposal management software for Office 365 and SharePoint. It sounds somewhat akin to ConnectWise Sell (formerly Quosal, recently named an Oracle-NetSuite partner of the year) and QuoteWerks.
3. Veeam Partner: Evolve IP, a cloud services company, has been awarded Platinum status in the Veeam Cloud & Service Provider (VCSP) program. The recognition arrives amid VeeamOn 2017, a major customer and partner conference in New Orleans.
2. Veeam CEO Change: Veeam has promoted Peter McKay and Andrei Baronov to the position of co-CEOs, succeeding William H. Largent, who shifts to chairman of the finance & compensation committees. McKay was previously president and COO. Baronov previously was CTO. We'll share more details this week amid our live coverage at the VeeamOn conference.
1. That Special Glow: After Nines Inc., parent of ChannelE2E, is eight months and three weeks pregnant. Our next special delivery arrives on... Well, you do the math.
