5 Channel Partner Updates: 8 September 2016 -

Good morning, channel partners. Here are five technology news updates, insights, chatter, and plenty more to start your day for Thursday, September 8, 2016. Oh my: Actually, there are 28 entries 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… 28. Mergers, Acquisitions and Sales: In case you weren't keeping score, Wednesday was likely the biggest day ever for tech mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs. Michael Dell explained the finalized EMC buyout; Intel confirmed the McAfee spin-off and HP Enterprise confirmed a massive software asset spin-off. All told, about $72 billion worth of IT assets experienced ownership shifts, ChannelE2E estimates. 27. Oracle-NetSuite Buyout Concerns: T. Rowe Price, NetSuite’s largest outside shareholder, said it would not tender its shares in Oracle‘s proposed acquisition of the cloud computing company, arguing the $9.3 billion deal undervalues it, according to Fortune. T. Rowe Price credited Oracle and NetSuite for many of the steps the duo took in the M&A discussions, but the investment firm says NetSuite should seek additional bidders for the company. Oracle will need to win over the investment company to complete the deal... 26. Data Center Acquisition: Stratacache, a provider of digital signage, media distribution and enterprise video acceleration technologies, has acquired a data center and network operations facility in Dayton, Ohio. The facility has 113,000 square feet of raised floor data center and network operations space with capacity for a 550-seat support desk. The location is a former EDS data center that managed multiple GM plants across the region. Financial terms were not disclosed. 25. Orchestration Software Acquisition: ALA Services, an investment firm, has acquired Adaptive Computing, which develops workload and resource orchestration software. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

24. Channel Talent: Unitrends, which develops business continuity solutions, has hired Alex Alvarez as the company's senior vice president of Worldwide Channels and International Sales. Alvarez, a Riverbed veteran, now leads Unitrends' 100 percent channel-focused global sales organization, the company says. 23. Executive Talent: Console, an interconnection company that allows businesses, partners and customers to work more closely together, has named Jef Graham as chairman and CEO. He succeeds founder and former CEO Al Burgio, who shifts to the chief strategy officer role. 22. CEO Exits: Chief executive officer departures jumped to the second highest level of the year, as 109 CEOs announced their exits during August, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The August total was 18.5 percent higher than the 92 chief executive officer departures in July. It was the second highest number of departures in 2016, behind January, when exits reached a two-year high of 131. Computer firms, which include software manufacturers and mobile app developers, announced the third most changes in August with 11. 21. Box and Google Partner: Box and Google have announced a SaaS collaboration partnership that will benefit "businesses of all sizes," according to Google Head of Global Technology Partners Nan Boden. Under terms of the deal, Box will integrate with Google Docs and Google Springboard to deliver a "seamless experience for working and collaborating in the cloud." Box also is working with IBM on a document management development. The moves, announced at the BoxWorks 2016 conference, are part of a broader Box partner push to drive growth. Proceed to page 2 for items 20 through 11. Seriously, it's safe. I know it's September but the water's still warm. Dive in. Go to the next page... Welcome to page 2 of our top updates for today. As promised, here are items 20 to 11. 20. Dropbox and BitTitan Partner: BitTitan has unveiled a go-to-market alliance with Dropbox. The deal will help channel partners and customers to "simplify and accelerate the process of data migration into Dropbox Business," the companies assert. BitTitan, which raised $15 million in Series A Funding earlier this year, is perhaps best known as an Office 365 cloud services enabler. 19. Data Loss vs. Hacker Concerns: Businesses generating more than $100 million in revenue are twice as concerned about losing their private data than they are about hackers disrupting their systems, according to Wells Fargo & Co. survey results tracked by Technology Law360. 18. Ransomware Attack Research: More than 91 percent of MSPs say their customers have recently been victimized by ransomware, and 40 percent experienced six or more attacks in the last year, according to Datto. We'll share more details soon. 17. Cloud PBX Services: Resellers that work with BT's Wholesale and Ventures business will now have access to 3CX Unified Communications solutions. The partnership could help 3CX to push deeper into the United Kingdom market. 16. Workspace as a Service, Part I: Swizznet, which is a Sage Authorized Partner and an Intuit-Authorized Commercial Hosting provider, has deployed independenceIT's software to simplify the delivery of its hosted financial services and accounting applications, the companies say.

15. Workspace as a Service, Part II: Dizzion Inc., which specializes in End User Computing (EUC) and hosted desktops, has raised $6.4 million in Series A1 Funding. Also, ViaWest Co-Founder Roy Dimoff joins Dizzion’s board of directors. Dizzion will leverage new resources to grow its staff, expand its partner program and further refine virtual desktop technologies for verticals like healthcare, financial services and insurance, the company said. Dizzion's move comes as several desktop as a service (DaaS) providers seek funding and/or potential exits, ChannelE2E has heard. Recent moves include Neverfail (formerly Artisan Infrastructure) acquiring Vertiscale. 14. Office 365 Training: VisualSP will launch an Office 365 training solution at the Microsoft Ignite 2016 conference later this month. 13. Managed Security Services, Part I: Netsurion has partnered with CoCard, which will resell its managed firewall services. The partnership will help participating merchants fortify their networks against hackers by adding PCI compliance and network security to CoCard’s trusted merchant processing, a spokesperson says. Like a co-op, CoCard is comprised of independently owned and operated ISOs. Its 70+ offices will offer Netsurion’s services to their 15,000 small- to mid-sized merchants across the U.S., the spokesperson adds. 12. Managed Security Services, Part II: ReSource Point of Sale has been named a Gold Partner to resell Netsurion’s Brand Guard services, bundled with its own end-to-end technology solutions. RPOS customers can now benefit from remote managed network security, PCI compliance and secure Wi-Fi to strengthen weak links in their POS networks, a spokesperson says. 11. MSP Dashboards: LogicNow, part of SolarWinds MSP, has launched Automation Manager -- a new MAX Remote Management dashboard feature. Automation Manager is an integrated scripting tool that eliminates the need for MSPs to write code and create powerful custom scripts that can be used for automated tasks and script checks, the company asserts. Proceed to page 3 for items 10 through 1. That page is safe to view, too. So go on to the next page now. Welcome to page 3 of our top updates for today. As promised, here are items 10 to 1. 10. MSP Business Continuity: dinCloud -- which specializes in hosted virtual servers, desktops and storage -- has selected Continuum's R1Soft Server Backup Manager (SBM) to provide continuous data protection services. dinBackup provides backup and snapshot capabilities as a self-service to customers who choose to self-manage or work with channel partners to manage backups. The service runs in a hosted private cloud for each customer, powered by dinCloud. R1Soft SBM is deployed by more than 1,800 web hosting providers, protecting nearly 250,000 servers worldwide, Continuum says. 9. MSP Software in AWS, Azure: ManageEngine's client management software, Desktop Central, is now available in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure marketplaces. The company also delivered Linux patch management and other feature enhancements. 8. Asset Management: Asset Central, part of the LANDESK IT Asset Management Suite, and LANDESK Service Desk have received PinkVERIFY 2011 certification from Pink Elephant, an IT Service Management education and consulting provider. This brings LANDESK’s verification to the maximum 16 processes available, the company claims. LANDESK has received new life from current owner Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm that has been investing heavily in the IT management software company. 7. Break-Fix Services: ServiceCentral and RepairQ have inked a partnership to integrate their respective software. Large OEMs, carriers and repair/refurbishment depots leverage ServiceCentral's service operations software. RepairQ develops software for retail repair service management. Together, they will offer end-to-end service network solutions for enterprises managing post-sales service operations. 6. IoT Management: Software AG has inked an OEM partnership with Cumulocity, an Internet of Things (IoT) application enablement platform vendor. Software AG's Digital Business Platform now provides the foundation for enterprises to "securely integrate, link and scale to a network of millions of connected devices, distributed globally over thousands of tenants," the company claims.

5. Distribution: The Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) has appointed Michael Long as the organization’s new chairman. Long is president and CEO of Arrow Electronics. Meanwhile, SYNNEX President and CEO Kevin Murai previously was the GTDC's chairman. The Global Technology Distribution Council is an industry consortium representing the world's leading tech distributors. GTDC members drive more than $135 billion in annual worldwide sales of products, services and solutions through diverse business channels, the organization says. 4. Flash Storage Sales Tool: Nimble Storage has launched SiteAnalyzer, a cloud-based tool that enables reseller partners to examine non-Nimble end user storage environments and propose specific storage solutions, the company says. Nimble specializes in predictive flash storage solutions. 3. Security Partnership: Atos, the massive IT consulting firm, has agreed to offer Guidance Software's forensic security products to customers worldwide. Together, Guidance and Atos will deliver service-based solutions to help organizations find, assess, respond to, and remediate hidden cyber threats within their networks, the two companies say.

2. Breaking News: MapR Technologies has promoted Matt Mills from COO to CEO, the company announced moments ago. He succeeds John Schroeder, who will assume the role of executive chairman. Schroeder will remain involved fulltime with the company, continuing to partner with Mills while focusing on product vision and strategy, investor relations, and industry & customer relationships. Mills, an Oracle veteran, joined MapR last year to accelerate the big data software company's push toward a potential IPO. 1. Meet ChannelE2E On the Road: We're attending a range of IT channel partner conferences in the weeks ahead. If you'd like to potentially meet us this month at HTG IT Channel Summit 2016; GreatAmerica Connection Point, Autotask Community Live 2016 or Continuum Navigate 2016 then simply email me the request ([email protected]). More: Read all of our daily 5 Channel Partner Updates. Plus: Subscribe to our daily enewsletter. Thanks to those who already have.