7 Hot Stories: Big UCaaS Dispute, Sierra Ransomware, Telarus M&A and the End of an Era

UCaaS and security made headlines in the Channel Partners Online website’s last full week.

We’ve hit the end of an era, friends. As of Thursday, April 1, the Channel Partners and Channel Futures editorial teams will be together once and for all on the Channel Futures website. As a result, all of our-in depth coverage of telecom services and the agent channel will continue on Channel Futures as we replicate the industry convergence occurring all around us.

In the meantime, check out these seven hot stories from our website.

7. RingCentral Buying Kindite for Enhanced Security Capabilities

The UCaaS vendor bought part of encryption provider Kindite to bolster its security.

The goal is to help RingCentral’s end-to-end encryption attain maximum privacy. RingCentral’s chief information security officer said Kindite will provide an important foundation for UCaaS vendor’s security strategy.

“This will reduce our time to deploy next-generation security for RingCentral customers and is part of the ongoing investments we make in ensuring our customers are safe and secure,” she said.

Edward Gately has the scoop.

6. TBI Event: How 4 Channel Partners Made the Pivot to Cloud

You can’t just snap your fingers and sell cloud-based services. You need to make the investments.

So said four agents, who talked about the evolution from telecom-focused to cloud-focused sales at the TBI NextGen Virtual Connect event. For example, some shared how they hired cloud experts to bolster their credibility.

Read our recap of the event.

5. Sierra Wireless Ransomware Attack Shuts Down Operations, Production

It doesn’t appear that Sierra‘s ransomware attack impacted customers.

The IoT vendor discovered the attack on Saturday, March 20. Clearly it affected Sierra in a big way, as the company shut down its operations and withdrew its financial guidance.

However, the company publicly stated that its internal IT systems operate in a different silo from that of its end-user products. Thus, all signs point to partners and customers being unaffected.

Learn about the incident; then, go in-depth on the topic in Ed Gately’s cybersecurity roundup on Channel Futures.

4. Coffee with Craig and James Episode No. 91: MSP 501, SAP Channel Chief

We talked about the newly released MSP 501 application on our latest podcast.

Craig Galbraith and I hosted MSP 501 editor Allison Francis, who previewed this year’s leaderboard. We also spoke to SAP chief partner officer Karl Fahrbach about SAP’s channel and its competition in the cloud ERP market.

Check out the podcast.

3. RingCentral-Zoom War of Words Continues as Court Issues Temporary Restraining Order

RingCentral made the news again in its battle with Zoom. As we previously reported, Zoom is trying to stop RingCentral from selling its services. The companies had signed a reseller agreement, but RingCentral launched its own video conferencing solution and is migrating many of its customers from Zoom to the new offering.

Furthermore, it looks like RingCentral can keep doing this, as the U.S. District Court ruled that RingCentral can continue selling Zoom services — for now.

Read the latest installment of the legal dispute.

2. Watch Out Cisco, RingCentral, 8×8: Intermedia Going Public

UCaaS provider Intermedia is launching an IPO.

You’ll find Intermedia listed on the Nasdaq as “INTM” with a starting share price of between $23 and $26. An analyst said the vendor has been building its IPO dreams for the last five years.

See the news.

1. Telarus Buys Master Agent, Hires ScanSource Exec, Says Goodbye to Blohm

The Utah-based firm has enjoyed a busy, busy, busy March.

Telarus welcomed a new vice president of supplier management while waving farewell to its executive vice president of strategy. But one can’t talk about Telarus without mentioning its acquisition of Chorus Communications. Philadelphia-based Chorus works with subagents as well as direct customers.

We covered all of the news updates from Telarus.