AT&T, Verizon and CA Layoffs Highlight the Weekly Wrap

Life is all about change, right? Take it from a guy who spent election night in Dallas, watching the electoral map go from red to purple.

Sometimes change is fun, and sometimes it’s not so fun change. Take AT&T for example. The company celebrated solid growth at its latest partner summit after making several gambles on the channel. But then there’s CA Technologies, which is giving the axe to hundreds of employees following an acquisition.

Other change isn’t so clear on its yield. That’s the case with Verizon, which is making some sweeping realignments in its operating structure.

But we’ll leave the rest of the prognosticating to you, dear readers. Below we present our most-read articles for the last seven days.  May your subsequent reading and weekend be outstanding.

7. Symantec Said to Be a Thoma Bravo Acquisition Target

We discussed the possibility of a private equity firm buying a security vendor that sells in our space. Reuters reported that Thoma Bravo has approached Symantec to express interest in acquiring it.

That rumor surfaced after a week of M&A news from Symantec, which purchased Appthority andJavelin Networks to enhance its Integrated Cyber Defense platform.

Thoma Bravo has already bought another security vendor in Veracode, nabbing it from Broadcom for $950 million in cash.

The rumors were indeed very juicy, but neither Symantec nor Thoma Bravo offered commented. So as they say in the Navy, this is TBD.

You can find Edward Gately’s story here.

6. Silver Peak Overhauls Partner Program, Adding Incentives, Personnel

SD-WAN provider Silver Peak Systems went a step further with its channel program this month.

The company added the financial incentives, training and tiered objectives that it says are important to ensure clarity and ease-of-doing-business for partners.

It’s possible for partners to snag a 12 percent margin when selling Silver Peak’s EdgeConnect SD-WAN solution to a new client.

Silver Peak’s vice president of worldwide channel sales filled us in on what the changes are, and why they represent a drastic step.

5. Verizon Restructuring Puts Emphasis on 5G

You’ve gotta love a good ole restructuring.

Verizon on Monday announced a big change that offers some insight into its strategy. Remember how Verizon Wireless was its own business unit? Not so any more. Wireless and wireline are both parts of Verizon’s Consumer and Business units. One takeaway we read from pundits is that Verizon is centering its business units on the types of customers its serves, rather than its technologies.

Verizon also rebranded its media unit.

The shadow of 5G lies behind the restructuring. We did some digging to see how it fits in. Check out our initial coverage to learn more.

4. Five9 Vet Takes Reins of Avaya Cloud, UCaaS, CCaaS

Avaya hired Gaurav Passi, previously with Five9, as president of Avaya Cloud, charged with overseeing cloud product development and R&D, operations, business development and product management for Avaya’s cloud-based unified-communications (UC) and contact-center (CC) offerings.

Edward Gately has the story on this one.

3. CEOs Behind Bars? Proposed U.S. Data Privacy Bill Could Put Them There

We wrote about a proposed data-privacy law could potentially land top executives in prison for up to 20 years for misusing Americans’ data.

Now that sounds a little heavy, but one of the channel people we spoke to about it was …

… open to the idea.

The Consumer Data Protection Act would allow consumers to control how their data is sold and shared and let the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) police the privacy of data, Edward Gately reports.

2. AT&T Business Celebrates ‘Breakthrough Bet’ on the Channel

I told you I was in Dallas this week. I was there for AT&T Fusion, where solution providers and the indirect organization they worked with were in celebration mode.

AT&T Partner Solutions posted year-over-year growth on the heels of a big investment. But the messaging of the conference wasn’t just celebratory; AT&T execs challenged partners to invest once again in growth.

Read one of the keynote recaps.

1. CA Technologies Confirms Job Cuts Post-Broadcom Acquisition

And of course, the obligatory layoff piece.

Potentially 300 employees received pink slips from CA Technologies two days following the close of Broadcom buying the company. Newsday cited several employees who said certain New York workers were getting the axe.

Since our story dropped, the rumored number has multiplied.

If you’d really like to soak in the negativity further, here’s our article.