Top 20 Stories in February: Layoff Peak, AppDirect-TBI Consequences, Avaya Bankruptcy
Rob Rae moved to Pax8. Also, we recognized the top Channel Influencers. But what was No. 1?
![Top stories Top stories](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt51fa7e9ee2dbbc87/652400c6522e7df5b80eb82d/20-Top-Stories.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Shutterstock
Following up on our coverage of Aveva‘s acquisition by Schneider Electric acquisition in January, this story focused on how the deal will accelerate Aveva’s switch to a subscription-only business model.
Aveva’s plans are to become “the leading provider of software and industrial software applications and data platforms.” This will be accomplished by transitioning to a subscription-based and hybrid cloud business model, the company told us.
Customers can choose if they want to host the software and data on premises or in the cloud, Kerry Grimes, head of global partners at Aveva, told Channel Futures.
Everyone loves awards! So when Verizon let us know who took home its top channel honors, you were interested.
The Verizon Partner Network Recognition program was only established last year and is the carrier’s first such formal partner recognition program.
Ingram Micro and CSG were among the big winners. See who else made the podium.
Pax8 hopes wrangling Rob Rae as its new head of community and partner ecosystems will bring more managed service providers into its fold.
Rae, a longtime influencer in the MSP community left Datto last fall after a long run as the backup and disaster recovery provider’s channel leader.
In a substantial Q&A session, Rae told Channel Futures why he decided to make the move and what he hopes to bring to Pax8.
The launch of the 2023 MSP 501 application got you looking once again at Channel Futures’ honorees from 2022.
If you haven’t yet applied for this year’s edition of the most prestigious ranking of MSPs in the industry, you can now. The application deadline is April 30.
Eric Parizo, analyst with Omdia, considered AT&T‘s acquisition of AlienVault a few years ago to be an “odd fit.” So the news that the carrier might be looking to offload that part of its since-named AT&T Cybersecurity unit didn’t come as a surprise.
While nothing definitive is in the works yet, Reuters reported that AT&T wants to sell the division. It bought AlienVault in 2018 for $600 million.
The publication speculated that AT&T might be looking for a way to offload some debt.
Get the full scoop here.
Dell Technologies, in announcing its 2023 partner program, put the focus on opportunities with its Apex managed service offerings.
Partners’ customers want Dell’s hybrid work and hybrid cloud offers, edge and sustainability initiatives, noted channel leader Rola Dagher.
Also on the table is a new product category called Apex+. The company describes it as a simplified, consolidated partner-delivered offering.
Learn more about Apex+ and what else is new with Dell’s 2023 partner program.
At its Cisco Live event in Amsterdam, the IT giant announced its Webex Suite Named User launch on AWS Marketplace. The move expanded its catalog of SaaS offerings on the marketplace.
Kristyn Hogan, VP, global collaboration partner sales at Cisco, told us the company has had a focus on increasing its routes to market such as that with AWS.
Photo courtesy: nikkimeel/Shutterstock
What seemed like an endless parade of layoff announcements started to cool a bit in February, but there were still a handful that attracted attention.
One was identity and access management provider Okta laying off 300. The company acknowledged that overhiring was a big reason why it needed to make the move.
The layoffs impact 5% of the company’s workforce. Learn more about them.
Ericsson was another high-profile company letting people go.
We told you about how the European telecom giant was cutting 1,400 jobs in its home base of Sweden. The headcount reduction will start as voluntary. It’s part of an effort to reduce costs by about $861 million by the end of 2023.
Proofpoint says its new Element Partner Program will drive channel sales, enhance customer relationships and bolster additional revenue streams.
The security and compliance company works with VARs, MSPs, distributors and MSSPs.
Joe Sykora, Proofpoint’s senior VP of global channel and partner sales, described the program to us.
Global investment firm Francisco Partners is buying cloud security firm Sumo Logic for $1.7 billion. Look for the deal to close in the second quarter.
Sumo Logic is known as fast-growing vendor in next-gen security information and event management (SIEM). It has more than 2,000 customers.
The company works with resellers, systems integrators and MSPs.
Learn more about the transaction.
Observe AI, the contact center AI engine, was another company doing business in the channel to issue layoff notices. Furthermore, sources tell us that Jon Heaps, VP of channels, resigned.
One source close to the situation acknowledged that the upheaval “could impact partners’ ability to sell.”
We couldn’t verify the number of laid-off employees or the degree of impact on the company’s channel. But it’s a quick reversal of fortune for a company that last year raised $125 million and added Zoom as an investor.
This is where you can learn more about the job cuts.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) made a key acquisition to boost its private 5G network play.
The acquiree is Athonet, a cellular network technology provider based in Italy. The company has been delivering 4G and 5G mobile cores since its founding in 2005.
HPE plans to combine Athonet’s software with its own to give enterprises an option to deploy Wi-Fi and private 5G services in a single monthly subscription.
We break down the channel impact in this article.
Broadcom‘s acquisition of VMware is stalled thanks to regulatory delays in Europe, but that’s giving Broadcom CEO Hock Tan time to praise the deal’s benefits for customers and partners.
The company’s boss issued a bunch of positive statements in a blog, including referring to its partner ecocsystem as one “that has been and will remain essential to Broadcom’s broader commitment to maintain, nurture and serve VMware’s existing and future customers, regardless of organizational size.”
Read what else Tan had to say.
Our popular recurring segment once again showed up in our top 10.
This edition of new hires and promotions in the channel included moves at Five9, Lumen, HPE, Fortinet, Comcast, Cato Networks and many more.
Looking for more? Our most recent edition just published this week.
Just five years after emerging from Chapter 11, Avaya, the cloud communications collaboration provider, is back under bankruptcy protection.
Avaya hopes to reduce its debt by more than 75% by making this move. The question, of course, will be if it can maintain the trust of customers and partners during this time of difficulty.
One analyst we spoke with raised “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue.” But after hiring former Vonage CEO Alan Masarek last year, Avaya expressed confidence in its ability to rebound.
Time will tell. In the meantime, read our full story on Avaya’s struggles.
Layoffs rear their ugly head once again at No. 4, this time with the Azure division of software behemoth Microsoft.
The Information first reported that 150 cloud specialists would be among the 10,000 workers that Microsoft acknowledged earlier in the year were on the chopping block. The company made that claim in a filing with the SEC. Expect all of the cuts to happen by the end of March.
Read what Microsoft employees are writing about the cuts on LinkedIn.
it’s one of Channel Futures’ biggest awards programs of the year — our Channel Influencers.
This year we identified more than four-dozen people who are making a huge impact on the channel community. They aren’t just vendor executives; we tapped partners, analysts and consultants for this year’s list.
Among them are our Channel Influencers of the Year: Aryaka’s Craig Patterson and Kaseya’s Fred Voccola.
Read the profiles of our honorees here.
Perhaps the most talked-about story in the traditional agent/technology advisor channel in February was AppSmart‘s acquisition of TBI; in particular, our in-depth look at the final days at TBI before the acquisition.
Via comments from numerous sources, Channel Futures’ James Anderson detailed the behind-the-scenes actions happening at the technology services distributor before owner Geoff Shepstone agreed to sell the company. That included alleged promises of a profit-sharing program that never came to be. Also, many employees claimed to be “blindsided” by many layoffs that occurred as a result of the acquisition.
Read about TBI’s controversial final days.
With any luck, considering the aforementioned decline in news about additional layoffs in the second half of the month, we won’t see as many stories about job cuts in next month’s countdown. But for now…
Our IT-telecom layoff tracker lands at No. 1. It served as a recap of layoffs at nearly 20 companies announced in January alone. Those included Salesforce, RingCentral, Cisco, 8×8, Sophos, IBM, OpenText and many more.
The Channel Futures editorial team also did a deep dive into what all of these layoffs mean for the channel community.
With any luck, considering the aforementioned decline in news about additional layoffs in the second half of the month, we won’t see as many stories about job cuts in next month’s countdown. But for now…
Our IT-telecom layoff tracker lands at No. 1. It served as a recap of layoffs at nearly 20 companies announced in January alone. Those included Salesforce, RingCentral, Cisco, 8×8, Sophos, IBM, OpenText and many more.
The Channel Futures editorial team also did a deep dive into what all of these layoffs mean for the channel community.
Layoffs were about all anyone could talk about in January. They impacted big-name vendors and their channel leaders in droves, dominating last month’s top stories countdown. Fortunately, the quantity of job-cut announcements started to fade in the second half of last month, but they were still a concern.
So you won’t see a top 20 stories countdown bereft of layoff news. But you will see plenty of other headlines that had people talking. Take, for instance, our in-depth analysis of AppDirect‘s TBI acquisition. We went behind the scenes and talked with multiple sources who described the final days at TBI before the acquisition. We think you’ll find what they had to say pretty eye-opening; in fact, many of you already did since it ranked high on our countdown.
Avaya made headlines for its second bankruptcy in less than six years. Channel Futures editor Claudia Adrien detailed the company’s plans to rebound.
We also celebrated in February. We profiled Channel Futures’ Channel Influencers for 2023, those vendor execs, partners, analysts and industry consultants making a real impact on the industry.
Let’s get to it. See our slideshow above for Channel Futures’ top 20 stories in February. They are compiled from our tally of online pageviews as well as results from our daily and weekly newsletters. You can sign up for those here.
Miss last month’s countdown? It’s here.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Craig Galbraith or connect with him on LinkedIn. |
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like