News and Partner Program Updates
Ready for a quick rundown of this week’s MSP news and partner program updates? Scroll on down!
Parallels Introduces New “Elevate Now” Partner Program to Boost Partner Growth and Success
Higher financial incentives, additional benefits, and a new Essentials tier empower Parallels’ channel partners to thrive amid disrupted market conditions
Key benefits from the news release:
- Updated program tiers. In addition to added benefits for existing Silver, Gold, and Platinum partners, Parallels has introduced a new Essentials tier, tailored for smaller partners who may not yet meet the minimum deal size requirements of higher tiers. This entry-level tier provides resources and support to help these partners grow and advance through the program. Plus, a new partner portal offers streamlined access to vital resources, empowering all partners to maximize program benefits and succeed.
- Expanded partner benefits. Higher discounts, enriched support, faster onboarding, and free enablement and certification across all program tiers ensure partners can more easily grow and thrive.
- Increased profitability. The updated discount model emphasizes new business generation, offering higher margins for resellers, while enabling partners to manage and fully benefit from customer renewals.
JumpCloud Eliminates Shadow IT Threats With New SaaS Management Solution
New solution tackles shadow IT, boosts security, and optimizes SaaS usage from a unified platform.
Key features from the news release:
- Discover shadow IT:Use the JumpCloud browser extension to identify and track SaaS apps and accounts. You can also integrate it with platforms like Google Workspace and Microsoft Entra ID.
- Block unauthorized apps:Reduce security and compliance risks by blocking unapproved apps. You can also guide employees toward IT-approved alternatives.
- Expand SSO coverage:Connect apps to JumpCloud single sign-on (SSO). This will enhance secure access and simplify user authentication.
- Track SaaS usage:Generate reports to identify underutilized apps and reduce unnecessary spending.
- SaaS discovery: Access advanced discovery capabilities for adding manual apps and native SaaS connectors. Examples include Google Workspace, GitHub, and Atlassian.
Boom Collaboration and Image Star Partner to Expand North American Reseller Channel
To handle growing demand for Postgres in the enterprise, EDB and the EDB Postgres AI platform extend support for channel partners looking to deliver enterprise-grade, hybrid data management for their customers who want secure, at-scale, and compliant AI and data platforms.
Key quote from the news release:
“The market for video conferencing solutions is rapidly growing, but too few channel resellers are seizing the opportunity. When Covid shut down offices, video meetings became the new norm, driving a sea change in conferencing hardware to incorporate video. But, many resellers and users still remain wary of video meeting equipment that was historically difficult to setup and operate” – Philip Crean, chief commercial officer, Image Star
AvePoint Launches the Next Generation of Elements to Modernize Managed Services for MSPs
AvePoint Elements automates insights, secures data, and accelerates profitability and efficiency for Managed Service Providers building security-centric practices
Benefits for MSPs from the news release:
- Enhanced operational efficiency: AvePoint Elements integrates with AvePoint’s award-winning compliance and data protection solutions and features seamless API integrations, enabling automation and remote management for efficient service delivery.
- Increased profitability: AvePoint Elements automates manual tasks and simplifies transactions between partners and their customers, empowering MSPs to focus on value-added services and lower their operational costs.
- Seamless scalability: AvePoint Elements offers centralized management for multi-tenant configurations so MSPs can deploy, track and enforce security and compliance across multiple tenants. Using automation to scale, this enables MSPs to increase total volume of data managed and secured and standardize their onboarding process for new customers.
- Advanced security and control: With proactive security monitoring and automated policy enforcement through AvePoint Elements, MSPs can ensure robust protection, compliance and premium data security to all customers from one platform.
Zyxel Networks Offers Partners a Risk-Free Trial of Nebula Cloud Management Solution for Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses
After the 60-day evaluation, partners have the option of purchasing the solution at 40% off the standard street price.
Key quote from the news release:
“This demo kit program gives our valued partners a no-risk opportunity to experience the numerous benefits that can be realized by managing the network with our Nebula Cloud Management solution. The ability to manage customers, networks, and devices on a single pane of glass can be a game-changer for resellers and solution providers and this program gives them the ability to see how Nebula can save them time, make them more efficient, and potentially grow their businesses.” – David Soares, vice president channel sales and marketing North America, Zyxel Networks
HPE Introduces Next-Generation ProLiant Servers Engineered for Advanced Security, AI Automation and Greater Performance
HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12 portfolio meets federal security certification standards, boosts IT productivity with AI-driven insights and drives 65% power savings
Key quote from the news release:
“The new HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12 servers give organizations – spanning public sector, enterprise and vertical industries like finance, healthcare and more – the horsepower and management insights they need to thrive while balancing their sustainability goals and managing costs. This is a modern enterprise platform engineered for the hybrid world, designed with innovative security and control capabilities to help companies prevail over the evolving threat landscape and performance challenges that their legacy hardware cannot address.” – Krista Satterthwaite, senior vice president and general manager, Compute at HPE
Acronis H2 2024 Cyberthreats Report Unveils Rise in Ransomware, AI-Driven Attacks, and Malware Risks
Global analysis reveals a 197% increase in email-based attacks, rise of APT-linked ransomware targeting MSPs, and heightened malware activity
Other key findings from the full report:
- Acronis blocked over 48 million malicious URLs at endpoints in Q4 2024—a 7% increase from Q3 2024.
- 31.4% of all emails received in H2 2024 were spam, with 1.4% containing malware or phishing links.
- 1,712 ransomware cases were reported in Q4 2024, with notable activity from RansomHub, Akira, Play, and KillSec, accounting for 580 victims. The Cl0p ransomware group emerged as a key threat in December, with 68 reported victims.
Cisco Empowers Service Providers to Reimagine Networks for AI
Cisco Agile Services Networking architecture provides the blueprint for service providers as they look to enable AI connectivity and monetize assured services.
Key quote from the news release:
“The AI revolution is a massive potential tailwind for service providers. AI, and especially the advent of AI agents, will mean an incredible influx of new digital workers who will be working together and communicating constantly. Cisco’s Agile Services Networking is the blueprint for service providers as they look to capitalize on the opportunities of AI by meeting the demand for high-bandwidth, secure, and energy-efficient connectivity.” – Jeetu Patel, EVP and chief product officer, Cisco
EDB Strengthens Partner Program to Accelerate Postgres® and AI Adoption Worldwide
To handle growing demand for Postgres in the enterprise, EDB and the EDB Postgres AI platform extend support for channel partners looking to deliver enterprise-grade, hybrid data management for their customers who want secure, at-scale, and compliant AI and data platforms.
Key quote from the news release:
“Every day, customers and partners ask us how to merge their data and AI in new and existing workloads. It’s a complex process, and this portal gives our ecosystem access to the content, tools, and processes that make this a much easier reality. EDB, as the leader in Postgres contributions, is making it easier for us to do this through this portal with EDB Postgres AI.” – Mahdi Tehrani, senior product & alliance management, Redington
Meter enters strategic partnership with Microsoft to advance high performance networking
Meter enters a multi-year partnership with Microsoft to collaborate on advancing networking to be more efficient, secure, and AI-ready
Key quote from the news release:
“As AI continues to reshape our world, modernizing global networking infrastructure isn’t just important—it’s imperative. Meter’s vision for faster, more resilient, and secure networks represents the kind of ambitious thinking needed to drive the industry forward. We’re backing Meter’s bold mission to rebuild networking from the ground up and transform an essential industry.” – Jason Graefe, corporate vice president, ISV’s and digital natives, Microsoft
ConnectWise Partners With Auvik for its Premier Network Monitoring Upgrade
Centralized network monitoring provides broader visibility and real-time alerting, allowing you to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues as soon as, or even before, your client is impacted.
Key info from the blog post:
“This upgrade option gives ConnectWise RMM partners access to all the most advanced Auvik network monitoring capabilities, with the ability to leverage the existing RMM client, site, and permissions structure and the added flexibility to choose the feature set needed on a site-by-site basis. To simplify your workflow, we’re consolidating deployment, features, billing, support, and visibility through ConnectWise and the Asio platform.”
Hackers Ramp Up Efficiency, Speed, and Scale in 2024, Targeting Business of All Sizes
12-month analysis led by Huntress’ industry-defining security team reveals ransomware groups maximizing profits with quick, widespread attacks
Key trends from the full report:
- Education, healthcare, and technology industries were top targets: Education was the most targeted industry by hackers in 2024, making up 21% of all attacks, followed by healthcare (17%) and technology (12%). Hackers used tactics like credential theft, abuse of remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools, and malicious updates disguised as legitimate software to infiltrate educational institutions.
- Infostealers drove initial access and ransomware attacks: Infostealers accounted for nearly a quarter (24%) of all observed incidents, highlighting their role in harvesting credentials, financial data, and sensitive information.
- Hackers maximized efficiency with automation: The majority (87%) of attacks in 2024 were automated or helped by automated tools, with hackers using malware, scripts, and other automated methods to conduct widespread, low-effort campaigns efficiently.
- Phishing attacks grew more sophisticated: Phishing is still a key tool for initial access and reconnaissance, with attackers moving towards more sophisticated tactics like QR code phishing and Living Off Trusted Sites (LoTS). QR code phishing—where users are sent an email with a QR embedded that directs to a malicious site—accounted for 8.1% of phishing emails, while 7% involved LoTS, a tactic that abuses legitimate platforms to share malicious documents.
Halcyon Teams Up with Pax8 to Empower Partners to Combat Ransomware
Halcyon announces strategic partnership with Pax8, aiming to enhance market outreach and fortify businesses against the ever-growing threat of ransomware.
Key quote from the news release:
“Halcyon is designed to seamlessly integrate with other Pax8 Marketplace vendors, addressing the critical security gap posed by ransomware. Our strategic partnership with Pax8 will provide operational resilience to partners and their customers, ensuring swift recovery in the face of a ransomware attack.” – Chris Catanzaro, VP of global MSSP and channels, Halcyon
Protect AI Launches Channel Partner Program Aimed at Security and AI Focused Resellers and Distributors
Company offers comprehensive resources to help partners capitalize on lucrative new revenue opportunities for securing critical AI systems and applications
Key quote from the news release:
“The need for AI security solutions is at an all-time high as enterprises deploy GenAI at scale. “The Protect AI Partner Program provides partners with the resources and incentives needed to deliver safe, secure, and trusted AI solutions, drive revenue, and grow their businesses in the rapidly evolving field of secure and trusted AI.” – Ian Swanson, CEO, Protect AI
Dataminr Launches Global Partner Network, Empowering Partner Growth with Leading AI Platform
Comprehensive program helps partners grow with proven artificial intelligence technology and solve customers’ complex risk management challenges
Key quote from the news release:
“The Dataminr Partner Network represents a transformational leap in how we’re empowering partners to seamlessly integrate the value of our AI platform into their existing solutions and offerings Whether you’re a channel partner looking to expand your AI solutions or a platform partner wanting to leverage Dataminr’s API to solve more complex challenges, the Dataminr Partner Network provides the tools, resources, and incentives you need to drive measurable business impact and help customers manage risks in an ever more complicated world.” – Matthew Harrell, chief partner officer, Dataminr
