5 Channel Partner Updates: 24 August 2016

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Wednesday, August 24 2016. Actually, there are 18 entries for VARs, managed services providers (MSPs), cloud services providers (CSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) and telco master agents and telco agents to sip on. Take a look… 18. HTG, GreatAmerica Partnership: Heartland Technology Group (HTG) is partnering with GreatAmerica Financial Services Corp. to offer peer groups to Unified Communications companies. These peer groups will offer business owners and executives in the Unified Communications industry an environment to share ideas and learn best practices for growing their businesses and developing leaders, the two companies say. On somewhat related news, ChannelE2E will participate in September events hosted by Great America and HTG. Check the ChannelE2E Technology Events Calendar for details. 17. iYogi Lawsuit Hearing: In the Washington State vs. iYogi legal case, a court hearing is set for Sept. 23. iYogi has filed a motion to dismiss, but Washington State expects the case to survive and head to trial around December 2016, a spokesperson for state's attorney general office tells ChannelE2E. iYogi, a global IT services provider that remotely supports consumers, faces multiple lawsuits alleging fraud, breach of contract, lack of payment and more. In at least one case, iYogi's own defense team has resigned -- alleging the IT service provider has been non-responsive. 16. India Venture Capital Slowdown: Funding activity across India's national capital region has slowed down considerably, according to The Economic Times. So far, startups in the area have attracted $170 million in funding -- and the overall funding levels may fall below the $289 million mark of 2014. The high water mark, predictably, was $608 million in 2015, according to VCCEdge Startup Funding Insights. Some pundits worry existing startups and new ventures will struggle to find fresh rounds of funding at reasonable valuations... 15. Mobile App Testing Services: Testin, a Beijing-based start-up that provides one-stop cloud-based testing services to mobile app developers, has completed a US$30 million series C funding round led by an undisclosed investor, according to Chinese media reports. Sort of makes me wonder: What U.S. companies offer cloud-centric testing services? Hmmm... 14. Security Solutions: SecureAuth Cloud Access, which supports multi-factor authentication, single sign-on (SSO), and automated account management for thousands of applications, surfaced today. SecureAuth Cloud Access is a multi-tenant, cloud-based identity service designed to assist enterprise SaaS adoption. 13. SellMyMSP, Part II: Earlier this week we mentioned SellMyMSP -- a consulting firm that helps small MSPs get acquired (Aug. 22, item 12). But how does SellMyMSP assist the process? In a follow-up note, the company mentioned financial consulting services. In particular, the SellMyMSP team can help a small MSP to organize its financial data -- essentially cleaning up the books and associated records in preparation for a potential sale. 12. Data Center Chips: Both IBM and AMD are expected to counter Intel in the data center chip market next week. Keep a close eye on IBM's Power9 chip family, and AMD's emerging Zen technology...

11. Best Buy Consumer IT Services: Best Buy says it's testing a range of new consumer IT services -- some of which will involve Geek Squad, according to CEO Hubert Joly. In a few markets, Best Buy is piloting an in-home advisor program, which involves a free in-home consultation with an experienced technology advisor, who can identify customers’ needs, design a personalized solution and become a personal resource over time. In a few other markets, Best Buy is testing in-store classes on topics such as digital photography, home automation, and IT security. The company also is testing Geek Squad on-demand services, including same day for customers who need immediate technology help or advice, Joly said during an earnings call yesterday. Best Buy largely exited the SMB IT services market when the company sold off mindSHIFT in 2014. Continue to page 2 for the exciting conclusion to this blog. Unlike the three-year waits from Star Wars to The Empire Strikes Back to Return of the Jedi, this blog is not a cliffhanger. You can proceed to page 2 immediately. Welcome to page 2 of our daily update.

Suresh Vasudevan

10. Nimble Storage Is 100% Channel: At first glance, roughly 48 percent of Nimble's business involves channel partners. But CEO Suresh Vasudevan says the actual figure is 100 percent. "But just to be clear, everything that we do the revenue flows through channel partners for us," he said during an earnings call last night. "What we internally distinguish is how many of our opportunities are brought to us by a channel partner that first identifies the opportunity versus how many of the opportunities are identified by our own sales and marketing efforts where we then engage a channel partner. But from a fulfillment standpoint all of our business is fulfilled through the channel, so you're going to find us say that all our business is channel." Nimble delivered stronger-than-expected quarterly results yesterday, and largely credited channel partners for the momentum. 9. Distribution: Avnet Inc. has launched its EMC Reach partner program in the UK. The program helps business partners maximize EMC revenue opportunities while they work towards EMC Silver Tier status and the associated benefits, including higher performance rebates, Avnet asserts. The move comes as Dell strives to finalize the EMC buyout -- setting the stage for a converged company called Dell Technologies. 8. Hyperconverged Data Centers: SimpliVity has unveiled a range of new offerings for midmarket and enterprise data centers. The lineup includes "a high-powered, all-flash hyperconverged offering, a one-click disaster recovery solution, an application-aware backup capability, and increased scalability for VDI that broadens the company’s portfolio for providing top-tier performance and agility for the enterprise, while still being accessible for the midmarket," the company claims. 7. Intuit Channel Strategy: Keep a close eye on new Intuit Chief Marketing Officer Lucas Watson -- a Google and P&G veteran. Watson joined Intuit in July and will bolster the company's channel sales strategy, CEO Brad Smith said during an earnings call yesterday. 6. VMware IoT Partner Strategy: VMware has formed strategic alliances in the Internet of Things (IoT) space with Bayshore Networks, Dell, Intwine Connect, Deloitte Digital, PTC and V5 Systems. Among the moves to watch:VMware in June announced Liota (Little IoT Agent), an open source software development kit (SDK) for building secure IoT gateway data and control orchestration applications. VMware plans to continue to develop IoT-related alliances to help customers address complex IoT use cases across healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, government, CPG and more, the company says. 5. Is Encryption Unstoppable: We've got some new thoughts on Encryption as a Service -- including momentum in the U.S. vs. regulatory concerns in Europe. Stay tuned for more perspectives really, really soon. 4. Palo Alto Channel Momentum: Palo Alto Networks had another good quarter, according to channel checks with resellers performed by Nomura. Roughly 79 percent of resellers ran ahead of plan for the company's most recent quarter. The typically reseller was 5.2 percent ahead of plan, the Wall Street firm said. The security company is expected to announce quarterly results on Aug. 30. 3. Major Veeam Update: Keep an eye on Veeam Availability Platform for the Hybrid Cloud, which apparently addresses enterprise continuity, workload mobility, compliance and visibility. It's a safe bet Veeam will make major noise about the platform at next week's VMworld 2016 in Las Vegas. 2. Tech Earnings Today: Both HP Inc. (HPQ) and Workday (WDAY) are expected to announce quarterly results today. We'll be tracking channel-related news tied to the results... 1. Best IT Media Job In America: That would be mine. Thanks for the role you play in keeping me gainfully employed. More: Read all of our daily 5 Channel Partner Updates. Plus: Subscribe to our daily enewsletter. Thanks to those who already have.