The Week in Review: AT&T Awards, Cisco Portfolio Updates, More

It was a packed news week – but mostly good news.

In a world where layoffs and security breaches draw the public’s attention, the channel was reading comparably wholesome material this week.

Channel Partners highlights its top traffic-getting articles each week, and we have a solid balance this time around. AT&T doled out dozens of partner awards and gave interesting insights into how its partners are performing. One security vendor made the news with an acquisition. A new study shows the tenuous relationship between MSPs and UCaaS. Speaking of UCaaS, one of its vendors partnered with an SD-WAN provider in a move that sparked intrigue in the channel.

But none of those stories surpassed the top one, which we won’t spoil for you just yet.

We’ve assembled our top stories of the week for you – our dear reader – to get the fix you need before you begin your Friday fade-out.

5. Survey: MSPs View UCaaS as ‘Necessary Evil’

Unified communications are a common staple of most partner portfolios, but not all of its sellers appreciate its true value.

A study conducted by LANtelligence and Corlea Group shows growing MSP adoption of UCaaS with an important catch. According to one expert, most MSPs “don’t see enough value in it and offer it to stay competitive.” For now, the technology is a “necessary evil.”

Well jeez, MSPs. Tell us how you really feel.

Get details on the survey, which took answers from more than 100 MSPs.

4. Symantec Beefs Up Cloud Security with Luminate Acquisition

Symantec added software defined perimeter (SDP) technology with its purchase.

The security company said Luminate Security will ensure that Symantec offers infrastructure-agnostic secure application access. Symantec’s head of product marketing for network security told us that demand for SDP is on the rise, and Luminate’s Secure Access cloud product fits the profile.

The two companies had already been technology partners. Luminate partners have the choice to join Symantec’s partner program.

Edward Gately has the scoop on Symantec’s recent M&A.

3. Presto Tech, BCDR Top AT&T Alliance Channel’s Very Best

AT&T was so pleased with its partners that it added another award level.

The AT&T Alliance Channel added a “platinum elite” category for its Solution Provider Champion awards, which recognized 70 solution providers. BCDR Solutions, Presto Tech Solutions, Spearhead Networks and Nordicom Technologies took home top honors.

Kevin Leonard, who leads the channel program, complimented partners for matching the investments AT&T’s indirect organization has made in the last year.

Check out our recap of the awards.

2. RingCentral Adds Cato Networks to Elite SD-WAN Club

An SD-WAN vendor joined a club of UCaaS-approved providers.

Cato Networks has joined RingCentral’s connectivity partner program, which certifies that Cato’s network maintain a mean-of-opinion (MOS) score requirement of at least 3.8 while running RingCentral’s voice.

The program is just under one year old and already includes heavy hitters like……. VeloCloud, Windstream and Silver Peak.

Learn about Cato’s new accomplishment.

1. Cisco Updates Contact Center Lineup

Cisco rolled out the 12.0 version of its contact center portfolio.

The new version comes with have with a few key enhancements, and those include (get ready for some acronyms), Unified Contact Center Enterprise (Unified CCE) and Hosted Collaboration Solution for Contact Center (HSC-CC).

Cisco also bulked up on remote support, web chat and the available number of agent seats.

Read about the new enhancements, as well as what Cisco’s vice president of customer care told us about them.

Also, check out last week’s top stories in review if you missed it.