C3 SD-WAN, Huawei Indictment Lead the Week's Top Stories

Welcome to February.

January, along with its government shutdowns and polar vortexes, has come and gone. OK, maybe the last two things haven’t exactly gone for good, but you get the point. The point is: We’re one-twelfth of the way through 2019.

So with a busy January in your rearview mirror and perhaps a festive Super Bowl party in the cards for this weekend, take a walk through the previous week with us. Our top stories included a funding opportunity for Zerto/Microsoft partners, a new SD-WAN platform and another classic telco legal showdown with the Department of Justice.

7. C3 Launches SD-WAN with VMware’s VeloCloud

VeloCloud is back in the news with a service-provider partnership.

The VMware-owned company lent its SD-WAN platform to Cloud Computing Concepts (C3), which on Wednesday announced its own solution. SD-WAN will improve the quality of C3’s cloud-based services by increasing network agility and improving application performance.

C3’s CEO wants the company to become a  “single-source partner of choice” and recently made an acquisition with that goal in mind.

I wrote about the news as well as the directions in which the companies are moving.

6. SD-WAN Provider Cato Networks Gets $55 Million, Defying ‘Rigid’ Carriers

Cato announced the end of a big investment round that brings its total venture capital funding to $125 million.

The monies will pour into numerous aspects of the organization – including go-to-market and engineering – and the overall intended effect is to advance up-market. The four-year-old company has attracted numerous small business clients with its multifaced cloud-based platform, but Cato and its partners are attempting to draw larger enterprises.

Read CEO Shlomo Kramer’s comments.

5. Zerto, Microsoft Partners to Get Funding for Proofs of Concept

The disaster recovery provider is giving select partners the opportunity to receive funding to develop new customer strategies. Zerto partners who are certified Microsoft resellers can apply to earn $1,500-$15,000 from Zerto to create proofs of concept.

The new program encourages partners to increase their sales of Zerto products in conjuction with Microsoft Azure deployments. One executive called Zerto a top-five independent software vendor (ISV) for Microsoft.

Read Todd Weiss’ article on the subject.

4. CenturyLink’s Miller Among 4 New Alliance of Channel Women Board Appointees

The Alliance of Channel Women (ACW) added four members to its board of directors as two incumbents departed.

Established channel leaders from MasterStream ERP, Office Depot, CenturyLink and Powernet joined the group, which was formerly known as Women in the Channel. Most of them are no stranger to the big stage, especially Lisa Miller, who plays a leading role in CenturyLink’s partner program.

At the same time CNSG’s Shaquille Fontenot and OnSIP’s Helene Kidary said goodbye to the leadership team.

Get the full lineup of WIC board members.

3. Citrix Vets Join Instart to Build Multichannel Sales Organization

Startup Instart assembled a go-to-market team that includes a channel veteran.

Instart, which provides a “digital experience cloud” for improved application performance, hired Tom Flink as chief revenue officer. The company named three other new executives, but Flink will be responsible for building Instart’s sales team.

He previously served in channel at Forcepoint, Citrix and RES Software, and made his way into the Channel Partners Circle of Excellence five years ago.

Read more about the appointments and the company.

2. Huawei Indictments Raise New Questions About T-Mobile-Sprint

U.S. Department of Justice slammed Huawai with a 10-count indictment, charging it a litany of unethical and illegal business practices.

The DoJ accused the telecommunications manufacturer of stealing trade-secrets, wire fraud and … … obstruction of jusice. These alleged misdeeds took place from 2012-2014.

The plot thickened with claims that Huawei transgressed against T-Mobile. One advocate addressed concerns that T-Mobile and future bedfellow Sprint are deeply “entangled” with Huawei products as they build their 5G apparatus.

Read the juicy details of the Justice Department’s accusations.

1. Plantronics Continues Video Momentum with Polycom Studio

Plantronics followed up on its acquisition of Polycom by debuting a plug-and-play video bar.

“Polycom Studio” allows employee users can package Polycom’s HD audio and video quality into a USB device when they use video collaboration services on their computers.

The announcement marks Plantronics’ entrance into the huddle room video industry.

Edward Gately has the scoop.