Now’s the time to order that case of aspirin and double the Tier 1 staff to handle the oncoming tsunami of Windows 11 questions from clients. Early indications are positive, as in it won’t be Windows Vista, but will it provide a solid platform for years like Windows XP? Maybe double that aspirin order.
News from the heavyweights. Find some new wall space for new partner specialization tags from Microsoft. Choose one or all:
- Microsoft Azure VMware Solution advanced specialization
- AI and Machine Learning in Microsoft Azure advanced specialization
- Cloud Security advanced specialization
- Hybrid Operations and Management with Microsoft Azure Arc advanced specialization
- Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure with Microsoft Azure Stack HCI advanced specialization
Congrats to Satya Nadella, now promoted to the role of board chair at Microsoft. Add this to the CEO title he’s held since 2014. The company’s share price is up $219 since then, so maybe a promotion was in order.
Intel offers up the Infrastructure Processing Unit (IPU), a network device filled with a Xeon-D chips, FPGAs, and ASICs that’s designed to take microservice-based overhead off of server CPUs, speeding processing and communications. Test units are in the field now.
Everyone with a Google account can now access Google Workspace, including Gmail, Chat, Calendar, Docs, and more. Businesses get more goodies.
Optimized for a 40% higher price-performance ratio, the new Tau VM family from Google Cloud uses the 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processor.
Chuck Whitten joins Dell Technologies as co-chief operating officer, starting August 16th.
Security news. D&H Distributing’s latest offerings for MSPs are password management tools (pictured) from Password Boss, now a D&H partner.
Blackpoint Cyber’s newest MDR add-on, Blackpoint LogIC (Logging with Integrated Compliance) is on the street now.
Following the “”better together”” rule, Check Point expanded its Cloud Native Security Platform with its Check Point CloudGuard Workload Protection.
Ransomware criminals attack everything, so Veritas updated its Enterprise Data Services Platform to extend ransomware protection to containerized environments on Amazon S3.
Compliancy Group partnered with eMDs, a unit of CompuGroup Medical, to offer HIPAA compliance to users of eMD’s electronic health record and practice management software.
Cybercriminals regularly attack AWS cloud accounts, so Vectra Detect for Amazon Web Services offers threat protection and response.
Navisite’s cybersecurity services now include a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) offering to provide on-demand access to security pros.
LogMeIn’s LastPass Business (formerly LastPass Enterprise) includes new tools. In a nod to the modern distributed workplace, LastPass Business now includes Families as a Benefit at no additional cost.
Forcepoint will acquire Deep Secure, mostly for its defense-grade Content, Disarm, and Reconstruction (CDR) capabilities.
Cowbell Cyber (insurance) now offers MSSPs access to its underwriting tools.
Other product news. Ooma Office Pro now includes Caller Info Match, which pulls in caller info from popular CRMs.
Sherweb launched an early adoption program for C2 MSP, an all-in-one IT service management tool.
Ranging from 5,200 to 7,000 lumens, the eight new PowerLite laser projectors from Epson are ready to go for education, signage, and more.
After a three-year rest, the gaming laptop Razer Blade 14 (pictured in all its awesomeness) returns, now sporting an 8-core AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor for speedy game play.
Formerly Toshiba, Dynabook Americas pulled the curtains on the next generation of Tecra A Series laptops with the 14-inch Tecra A40-J and 15-inch Tecra A50-J.
Everybody wants to move servers to the edge, then they get surprised at how dirty and chaotic the edge is. To restore order, the new Western Digital Ultrastar Edge server line includes a MIL-spec version.
HPE GreenLake Cloud Services folded in the Qumulo File Data Platform to handle unstructured data as a service.
Non-product vendor news. N-able (formerly SolarWinds MSP) added a CMO position and welcomed Jeff Nulsen (pictured) to fill it.
Employee engagement player Crewhu welcomes Ryan Denning as vice president of sales.
Blackpoint Cyber welcomes a new VP of Product, Paul Barnes.
Poly rolled out the red carpet for Warren Schlichting as the new executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Armis made room at the big table for Michael Carpenter of CrowdStrike to join its Board of Directors.
Software-defined storage company StorONE welcomes Bill Cordero as vice president of worldwide sales, and asked him to launch the new PartnerONE program.
Veeam launched a subsidiary to serve government customers. Say howdy to Veeam Government Solutions.
TeamViewer and SAP partnered up to drive the digital transformation of workplaces and processes in industrial environments using TeamViewer Frontline, an AR-based workflow and remote support suite.
Poly became an investor and partner with CLIPr, a video analysis and management platform using AI and machine learning.
ViewSonic jazzed up its channel offering with new financial incentives and tools to drive growth as the world transitions back to the office and classroom.
Ping Identity has a new Sales Certification Program to help its Global Partner Network identity sales opportunities and more.
AVANT’s CableQuote, powered by CableFinder, gives partners a way to complete the quote-to-contract process in minutes, and can be accessed on any device.
Claro Enterprise Solutions has been certified as an AWS Direct Connect Partner.
Adaptiva believes its new Adaptiva Academy self-directed training portal for customers will reach 40% more users.
This week’s stats ticker:
The Dell’Oro Group’s 1Q21 Data Center Capex Quarterly Report found that worldwide data center capex is recovering with 7% growth in 1Q21. This is the highest level of growth since the start of the pandemic a year ago. However, it will take until, 2H 2021 for cloud hyperscalers, still slowed by the current digestion cycle, to surpass 20% growth. Top server vendors by revenue include Dell, HPE, and Inspur, while white box vendors lost share during the cloud softness. The top 10 cloud service providers are projected to increase data center capex by 18% in 2021.
Ransomware: The True Cost to Business, from Cybereason, surveyed nearly 1,300 security pros and found that more than half of organizations have suffered ransomware attacks. 80% that chose to pay a ransom demand suffered a second ransomware attack, often by the same cybercriminals. Attacks caused a significant lost of revenue to 66%. 35% of companies that paid a ransom demand paid between $350,000 and $1.4 million. 7% ponied up more than $1.4 million. 53% reported brand and reputation damage, and 32% lost C-Level talent as a result of the attacks. Surprisingly, 26% of attacked organizations closed for at least some period of time.
Bon appétit, Mr. Bezos. Heavy (and bald) is the head that wears the crown of World’s Richest Man. More than that, the glittery crown fascinates the crazies.
Need proof? Change.org has a petition, signed by hundreds so far, urging Jeff to buy the Mona Lisa, and then eat it. Yes, “”gobble da lisa,”” as one signer implores. There’s no mention if he must eat it dry, or if he can use a dipping sauce.
No wonder Bezos will take one of the first trips to outer space when they become available on his Blue Origin rockets. Unfortunately for him, the crazies will still be here to welcome him home. Maybe the trip will give him some new perspective.
