The term “Nor’easter” seems so quaint now that we have “Bomb Cyclone!!!” (yes, you need three bangs for urgency) to describe the same situation. We’re still waiting for the first mention of Snowpocalypse, but we expect that to appear Saturday morning. Since weather boffins are talking feet of snow rather than inches in many places like New York City and Boston, please read these newstips before you burn them to keep warm while your power is out.
Big brand news. HP has a new line of All-in-One PCs built for our modern Zoom/Teams/Webex world, enhanced by HP Presence conferencing and collaboration tools. Goodies include a 5MP camera with HP Auto Frame and dynamic voice leveling. Both the 23.8″ and 27″ diagonal screen models are powered by a 12th Gen Intel processor, and NVIDIA graphics upgrades are available.
Microsoft and FedEx signed a multiyear deal to weave FedEx network intelligence and more into Microsoft Dynamics 365 to provide a “logistics as a service” approach to retailers, merchants, and brands. Data from FedEx will be analyzed by Dynamics 365 modules.
Other product news. MSP360 released MSP360 Managed Backup 5.7, which supports Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, an economical place to put rarely accessed data that users sometimes need in milliseconds.
Cybersecurity demands constant testing, hence the new PenLogic penetration testing service that IGI Cybersecurity has added to its catalog. The yearly comprehensive test service includes monthly maintenance testing.
Patch management is a pain on a daily basis, but perhaps the new Ivanti Neurons for Patch Management can help. The cloud-native tool handles devices managed in the cloud or on-premises. For users, the Ivanti Neurons Digital Assistant improve the user experience and adds AI support.
Wildix released x-bees, a browser-based communications tool to help increase sales. It tracks potential buyers with AI-powered analysis and works with Salesforce and Gong.io.
Check Point revved up its Harmony Connect Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), which adds zero-trust connectivity, improved connectivity speed, and more security with device posture validation.
LG is now calling its interactive displays LG CreateBoards (pictured), and has added optional extras such as mounts, mobility carts, and Open Pluggable Specification (OPS) support.
Colonial Surety added entry-level SMB Cyber Liability Insurance offering $50,000 of available coverage for as little as $175 per year. Customers can sign up in less than three minutes to add coverage immediately.
CONTACT Elements for IoT upgraded a range of features, and added the new Shopfloor Navigator. Track KPIs in real time, automate event reports, and reduce your workload on the shopfloor.
Non-product vendor news. The red carpet leading to the front door at Sherweb is for new VP of Sales Jim O’Driscoll.
KnowBe4 promoted a quartet of employees to new executive and C-level positions.
- John Just – chief learning officer
- Tony Jennings – executive vice president of international and global channel sales
- Mike Santos – executive vice president of global customer success
- Mark Patton – executive vice president of engineering
The Welcome Wagon escorted Elizabeth McIlhany to Pax8 as the new senior vice president of product. But wait, there’s more! Pax8 is now offering cloud print management tech from Printix too. One more! Pax8 also earned Indirect Provider Plus (IP Plus) authorization from Microsoft.
When Pax8 finished with the Welcome Wagon, AVANT borrowed it to greet Doug McWilliams as inside channel manager and Phil Chandler as senior channel leader.
Online is the new water cooler, so the new ConnectWise Virtual Community will mix executives, experts, and peers in shared online spaces.
A long list of enhancements to the Acronis #CyberFit Partner Program include financial aid and benefits, collaboration with sports teams, a dedicated partner account manager, competitive migration platform, and more.
Aryaka now has a single comprehensive program for worldwide channel partners of all types. Hello to the expanded Aryaka Accelerate Agent Partner Program.
Proofpoint can now provide advanced threat detection capabilities in addition to email protection and information archiving through its Canadian Data Centre.
Wasabi Technologies and Axis Communications partnered to offer cloud storage for the AXIS Camera Station VMS. Less costly than traditional cloud video storage providers.
Kodak Alaris and ABBYY linked more tightly to integrate Alaris’ information capture solutions with ABBYY’s cloud-based intelligent document processing.
Ingram Micro has bought Keenondots to add extra automation to its CloudBlue platform’s ordering, provisioning, and billing processes.
SAP will acquire a majority stake in Taulia to give companies better access to liquidity and improve their cash flows and strengthen SAP’s CFO Office tools.
Samantha Jacks joined UPSTACK as vice president of commissions operations. Aaaaand, UPSTACK acquired teXium, a technology consulting firm serving medium to large enterprises worldwide.
This week’s stats ticker:
Proofpoint’s 2022 Cost of Insider Threats Global Report identified the costs and risks of malicious insiders. Affected organizations spent, on average, $15.4 million annually on overall insider threat remediation and took 85 days to contain each incident. Over 1,000 IT and IT security practitioners around the world said the frequency and cost of insider threat categories that include carelessness, maliciousness, and cybercriminal credential theft hit every responding organization. The root cause of most incidents is the negligent insider, including careless contractors, but malicious or criminal insiders accounted for 26% of incidents and cost an average of $648,062 per incident. Credentialed theft incidents have doubled in the last two years, and cost an average of $804,997 per incident, and each takes longer to resolve. Financial and professional services have the highest average cost after an episode, with financial services spending an average of $21.25 million.
Weekend at Bearnard’s. In the town of Carlow, Ireland, anyone who wishes to start collecting a pension must appear in person at the Post Office. Perhaps after a Netflix movie binge, two young men, one on either side of an older man, “walked” into the Post Office.
Post Office staff questioned the group, causing the two young men to flee, leaving behind, you guessed it, a dead man. There’s no truth to the rumor they stored the unidentified man in the Dead Letter Office while awaiting authorities.
Photo: 20th Century Studios
