Top of the Week: Fusion Bankruptcy Completion, Verizon Copper Retirement, Telarus Hiring

Fusion Connect exited bankruptcy, and Telarus hired new channel personnel this week.

The Channel Partners editorial team covered a wide variety of stories on our website. We’ve got articles about product launches, technology predictions and multiple hirings. Our top article features a carrier’s request to transition customers from copper to fiber.

We post a weekly recap of the channel’s most interesting news each Friday afternoon. Check out the seven snippets below before starting your weekend.

7. LogMeIn Debuts New App, Tool Marketplace, Latest Integrations

The SaaS company launched an offering that lets users find the tools they can integrate with the company’s unified communications and collaboration products.

GoTo Marketplace brings all the integration applications into a single access point. The senior director of LogMeIn’s UCC strategic alliances program said Marketplace makes it easier for users to “build out their ideal workflow and ultimately work the way they want to work.”

The vendor also updated its integrations for Salesforce Lightning, Theta Lake, Clio, Zoho, Prezi and other platforms.

Edward Gately has the scoop.

6. 4 Emerging Technologies for 2020

TBI‘s new vice president of emerging technologies shared key trends for the upcoming year.

Anish Patel joined the master agent last fall to lead its Tech Gurus unit and help partners adopt next-gen services into their portfolios. We asked him to recommend several areas where partners can differentiate themselves and solve customer pain points in 2020.

Read what Patel had to say.

5. Microsoft, McAfee, Cisco Among Major Vendors in Expanding Endpoint Security Market

CrowdStrike, Symantec and Trend Micro were just a few of the other companies that made MarketsandMarkets’ list.

The endpoint security study concluded that retail and e-commerce will be fast growing verticals in the market over the next four year. The study predicted the market to hit $18.4 billion by 2024, up from $12.8 billion in 2019.

Get details on the study.

4. CloudJumper Chooses Cisco, Lenovo Vet for Newly Created Channel Sales Role

The application and desktop virtualization provider hired Amy Ray as its new enterprise channel sales manager.

Ray will work to deliver CloudJumper’s platform to new partners and distribution channels. She has served as a channel account manager at various other companies.

“Her timing is excellent as an increasing number of channel organizations seek solutions in this space,” said CloudJumper’s president.

Read about the new role.

3. Fusion Connect Exits Bankruptcy, Begins New Era Under New Ownership

The cloud services provider eliminated some $400 million in debt during its chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company, which entered bankruptcy in the summer of 2019 after two large acquisitions performed under expectations, has officially completed the process. It has offered all of its partners a new agreement. Michael Fair, Fusion’s senior vice president of channel and alliances, told us that the company is upholding its commitments to “employees, customers, channel partners and vendors.”

“We will continue to build on the accounts we have earned, whether they were renewed contracts or new members of the Fusion customer family,” Fair said. “We will also focus on developing our relationships with customers and channel partners who demonstrate continued faith in the future of our business.”

Learn about the news.

2. Broadvoice, Intelisys, Windstream Alums Join Telarus

The Utah-based master agent hired two people to recruit and support partners.

G.R. Heryford and Don Gaus will serve the Pacific Northwest and Florida, respectively. Part of their job will be to …… help partners adopt offerings related to cloud, cybersecurity and contact center, which are rapidly growing areas of the Telarus portfolio.

Read our story about the two hires.

1. Verizon to Discontinue Copper Across Wide Area of New York

Verizon is working to move more copper network customers to its fiber network.

The carrier asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to retire copper facilities in various New York locations.  The retirement will take place no earlier than April 10, but Verizon may require customers to migrate services beforehand. According to Verizon, the affected customers can purchase a fiber-based service for the same price.

Get details on the decision.