Top 20 Stories in February: Google Cloud, Microsoft, Dell, More
From Influencers to M&A, February's top stories were loaded. But what was No. 1?
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We chatted with Dave Feliu, channel chief at SupportLogic, about the company’s new Partner Experience Plus, or PX+ program. It provides a white-glove approach to developing partnerships, Feliu said.
In this Q&A, he also discussed what he thinks makes SupportLogic different from other firms competing in SaaS.
You know her from her days at three different distributors, most recently TD Synnex. So you were very interested to learn she’s on her way to VMware as that company’s head of worldwide partner and go-to-market strategy.
We’re talking about Eileen Gibson, who is responsible for VMware’s global growth initiatives for MSPs, VARs and other partners in the company’s commercial business.
Read more about Gibson’s move.
Security provider Cybereason reportedly filed for an initial public offering (IPO), valuing itself at $5 billion.
So said Reuters, which said Cybereason did so privately, citing “people familiar with the matter.” The publication said Cybereason has finalized underwriters for the IPO.
When we reached out, the company said it doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation.
As one analyst told us, this could be a catch-up move since many of its competitors are already public.
Our popular monthly CF 20 segment focusing on providers in a certain technology category struck a chord with you once again.
Last month, we hit cybersecurity again, breaking down the extended detection and response (XDR) segment.
Trusted channel analysts told us who should be on the list and why.
Private investment and M&A have run rampant in the channel the past year or so, with a special emphasis on the agent channel.
Our story on Bluewave Technology Group harnessing $75 million from Columbia Capital and others to buy agents and build a technologty advisory and life cycle management company certainly caught your eye.
Bluewave has acquired five partner firms and now employs more than 50 people.
Learn more about Bluewave and this huge industry trend.
Earlier this year, Kevin Ichhpurani took the reins as Google Cloud channel chief, taking over for Carolee Gearhart.
At the same time, the company committed to combine its “ecosystem and channel sales teams into a single partner organization” to streamline its go-to-market approach.
We wanted some clear takeaways from that, so we snared an interview with Jim Anderson, managing director of the North America partner ecosystem and channels.
Here‘s what he told us.
What happened to the customer?
That’s the question our James Anderson posed in the first of a two-part series (part two still to come) on market development funds and how they are used in the channel.
Hint: Not well, many say.
See his in-depth reporting that has people buzzing.
The hyperscalers increasingly are forming tie-ups with other big industry names, and February was no exception.
One of the latest is between AWS and Dropbox. Users can now buy Dropbox (built on AWS) content collaboration and HelloSign, the company’s e-sign capabilities, through the AWS Marketplace.
Dropbox says it will look to channel partners for “valuable insights for further business and product development.”
Get the full scoop on this partnership.
Nobody likes complexity, unless you’re some math genius.
That’s probably why Dell Technologies decided to overhaul its partner program to make the experience simpler and more consistent.
There’s now just one incentive structure, one tier structure and one set of tier requirements for partners.
You’re going to want details.
A year or so after merging to form ThycoticCentrify, Thycotic and Centrify decided it was time for a new brand. Hence, Delinea was born.
Delinea’s CMO told us “the new brand succinctly conveys to partners and our mutual customers the Delinea vision and clearly states what we plan to do.”
That plan?: Provide privileged access management (PAM) solutions that “deliver seamless security for modern, hybrid enterprises.”
We break it down further here.
Unprecedented is only a good adjective if you’re talking about winning streaks. To associate it with DDoS attacks — not so good.
In a new report, Microsoft Azure said, in following third- and fourth-quarter security trends, DDoS attacks hit record levels.
Furthermore, Azure’s DDoS protection team says it stopped what it believes was the “largest ever reported” DDoS attack in history.
We offered a full breakdown of Microsoft’s report.
Earlier we mentioned the influx of private investment along with an incredible surge in M&A activity so far this year.
Well, you’re interested, as proven in our monthly wrap of mergers and acquisitions. This edition featured purchases by Datto, 8×8, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Zayo and more.
So we mentioned M&A …
In this deal, AppDirect said it’s buying ITCloud.ca, a distributor that expands its footprint and Microsoft capabilities.
The AppSmart marketplace, which the Channel Futures partner audience has the most connection to in the AppDirect portfolio, now has “very solid end-to-end Microsoft capabilities … plus an expanded catalog, which will help partners really become that trusted adviser and earn a bigger share of their end customers’ wallet,” Renee Bergeron, SVP and general manager at AppSmart, told us.
Learn more about the transaction.
Just a week after we reported a shake-up at the top of Rackspace’s channel, we learned that former channel chief Lisa McLin landed at Unisys in a similar role.
McLin’s title is global VP of alliances and channel chief with the technology services and consulting provider.
Read what inspired her to take the job in our Q&A.
Continuing a trend of big M&A, Vista Equity Partners is buying Citrix and combining the cloud computing and desktop virtualization company with Tibco.
It’s a $16.5 billion deal that Citrix said will be a “game-changer” in the desktop-as-a-service market.
Read our full story and see if you agree.
Overall, our most popular recurring monthly segment, this edition of Channel People on the Move featured personnel changes at Vonage, Ingram Micro, Windstream and Rackspace.
Sometimes the speculation draws more interest than the actual deal.
That was the case with Microsoft potentially buying security provider Mandiant, which we’re still waiting to come to fruition.
Bloomberg originally reported the possibility, noting that the purchase would bolster Microsoft’s product lineup and help protect customers from hacks and breaches.
Read more about this speculative deal.
The reveal of our MSP 501 list in June 2021 proved to be our biggest story of the year. So it’s little surprise that the unveiling of this year’s application would crack our top three in February.
We opened up the application process on Feb. 1, asking you if you have what it takes to rank among the top 501 managed service providers in the world.
This is the 15th year of the world’s comprehensive ranking of global MSPs.
Remember what we said about speculation around Microsoft and Mandiant joining forces? Same deal here with Cisco and Splunk.
We followed a Wall Street Journal report saying Cisco has made an offer for the security information and event management (SIEM) company. Together, they would form one of the largest cybersecurity vendors in the world.
Expanding our list from 10 in 2021 to 50 in 2022, we unveiled an exclusive lineup of leaders representing the entire channel.
It’s a diverse group that includes key decision-makers from top vendors as well as technology solutions brokerages and traditional tech distributors. They were hand-picked for the list because of their past accomplishments and the impact they are expected to make in the future.
We recognized two above the rest — Rich Hume of TD Synnex and Chris Trapp of Upstack. Click here to learn why and to see all 50 of our honorees.
Expanding our list from 10 in 2021 to 50 in 2022, we unveiled an exclusive lineup of leaders representing the entire channel.
It’s a diverse group that includes key decision-makers from top vendors as well as technology solutions brokerages and traditional tech distributors. They were hand-picked for the list because of their past accomplishments and the impact they are expected to make in the future.
We recognized two above the rest — Rich Hume of TD Synnex and Chris Trapp of Upstack. Click here to learn why and to see all 50 of our honorees.
Despite being the last full month of winter, the top stories in February were red hot on Channel Futures.
One big reason: the reveal of Channel Futures’ Channel Influencers for 2022. You flocked to see which 50 channel leaders made our prestigious annual list — and why.
The other reason? M&A. And not just M&A. Speculative mergers and acquisitions. Suggestions that Microsoft might buy Mandiant and Cisco is making a play for Splunk.
We determine the top stories in February by tallying online pageviews and the most popular articles in our weekly newsletter. (You can sign up for that here.)
Our slideshow above reveals what story was No. 1 in February. When done, you might want to see our top 20 from January.
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. |
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