Category Archives for "Managed Services News"

New Horizon Communications bills itself as the “first and only” communications stack provider. As such, the Boston-area-based company is gearing up for what it calls its “stack” reunion at CP Expo.

Here, Glen Nelson, NHC‘s co-founder and VP of marketing and business development, talks about the company’s history and what partners can expect when they meet with New Horizon at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, Nov. 1-4, in Las Vegas. Nelson also discusses network, security and much more about New Horizon Communications and the industry in this far-reaching interview.

It’s been a busy year for born-in-the-cloud distributor Pax8, particularly in terms of acquisitions.

This past spring, it acquired a company that helps improve training for partners. Pax8 also has made a concerted effort to expand internationally, creating even more channel opportunity.

Channel Futures editorial director Craig Galbraith sits down with Pax8 chief revenue officer Nick Heddy to learn more. Heddy also touches on what Pax8 will showcase for its partner community at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo. That live, in-person event is Nov. 1-4, in Las Vegas.

Growing channel partners are always looking at what’s next and new growth strategies. In many cases, these strategies follow the evolution of technology, marketing and sales tools. IoT (internet of things) is the trend following technology. This is not a revolution; it is an evolution of connected device strategies that have evolved since the days of dial-up internet. The adoption of innovative technology is fueling growth and channel partners can contribute to this in a big way.

Creating value-added solutions is what resellers have built their foundation on–leveraging service, hardware and support into meaningful solutions that solve significant business problems. The traditional channel model that has been in IT (information technology), telco and traditional VAR services follows the principles of what IoT needs. It is not technology alone that fuels this; it is the solutions created and the value they bring. This goes back to one of the founding principles of IoT: Save money or make money? Or both? How does enabling technology help companies to save money or make money? There is one single strategy I have seen produce results within the IoT channel.

Educate first, sell second: Thought leadership and education-based marketing/selling is the process of making your prospects better and more informed customers. By investing time, resources and energy in making your customers more educated, you build credibility and trust, and make them more interested in your offer. People want to be more educated in their decisions. They crave the understanding of why they purchased (not what they purchased), and are less likely to simply take a recommendation. Invest time to be an educator and share your knowledge.

Kathy Sierra, author and co-creator of the “Head First” series of books, said it well: “Upgrade your user, not your product. ‘Value’ is less about the stuff and more about the stuff the stuff enables. Don’t build better cameras–build better photographers.”

Consumers today live in a universally accessible digital and immediately gratifying consumer environment. Most are unlikely to buy without some sort of research or simple Google search. Simply typing IoT into Google returns over 1.5 billion hits. 2021 is just over 10 years since the first IoT “concepts” were officially coined. We have all heard the growth projections of connected devices. But the reality is the reseller community has one of the largest potential areas of growth. Value-added resellers and solution providers need to leverage their expertise to educate the market. In return, they should see growth exceeding traditional IoT market expectations.

Be the educator. The IoT marketplace is at your fingertips.

Terra Bastolich is Executive VP of Marketing & Business Development, GetWireless.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.

MSPs, VARs and agents will benefit from the latest round of channel program changes.

Each month we summarize the most intriguing updates that vendors and distributors have made to their programs. And this time around, there’s something for every partner model.

Are you a VAR? Cisco recently improved its Partner Experience Platform (PXP), and Zoom just launched a reseller program. Are you a broker? American Tower and Nord Security are looking to earn your business. Are you an MSP? Multiple cybersecurity providers are building inroads with partners like you. In addition, system integrators and ISVs are seeing new opportunities with companies like Nobl9 and Hexnode.

Scroll through the 16 images above to see the latest changes to channel partner programs.

You can also check out our previous programs roundup if you missed it. We covered Lumen, Spectrum, Intelisys and several other big players in the telco space.

Continuing its M&A spree, Forcepoint is acquiring security service edge (SSE) provider Bitglass.

Bitglass’ SSE platform complements Forcepoint’s data-first secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. Forcepoint will accelerate its efforts to make data security and threat protection technologies easier for organizations to deploy and use.

As part of this acquisition, Forcepoint plans to integrate its secure access service edge (SASE) platform with Bitglass’ SSE combination of cloud access security broker (CASB), secure web gateway (SWG), zero trust network access (ZTNA), cloud security posture management (CSPM) and data loss prevention (DLP) managed from a single cloud-based console. it has more than 300 points of presence globally.

The acquisition should close later this year. Forcepoint didn’t say how much it’s shelling out for Bitglass.

Huge Opportunity for Forcepoint Partners

Parag Patel is Forcepoint‘s senior vice president of channel sales.

Forcepoint’s Parag Patel

“As we work through the integration process in the coming weeks, we’ll be communicating more to partners,” he said. “But this does present a huge opportunity for Forcepoint partners who will be able to resell Bitglass in addition to Forcepoint solutions.”

Bitglass is a SSE leader, Patel said. Its platform secures access to and usage of information as organizations transform to the cloud.

This is Forcepoint’s third technology acquisition this year, Patel said. The company is on a mission to strategically build, partner and acquire technologies that deliver the “industry’s best-in-class SASE architecture.”

It previously acquired Cyberinc and Deep Secure.

Bitglass Partners Welcome

“Bitglass’ partner ecosystem is now a subset of Forcepoint’s, and we welcome partners wanting to build stronger relationships with Forcepoint,” Patel said. “There are no immediate changes to the current sales process for Bitglass. But we will engage with all partners and provide further details as we work through the integration process.”

Manny Rivelo is Forcepoint’s CEO.

“Complexity is the enemy of security,” he said. “IT teams today are faced with the reality that securing a hybrid work environment is even more complex than the move to work from home was last year. With the acquisition of Bitglass, Forcepoint will be accelerating our ability to address customers’ widespread need for enabling hybrid workforces to safely access and use information everywhere – in the web, cloud and data center – more easily than ever before.”

Look no farther than this month’s top 20 countdown to see the impact cybersecurity is having on the channel.

The topic of ransomware comes up twice. First, a report that it jumped a staggering 55,000% in the second quarter. That’s not a misprint. Then, another report citing the FBI’s reluctance to hand over a ransomware decryption key to Kaseya’s MSPs and their customers.

More cyber: Our list of the top email security providers was hot. Also, a DDoS attack on Bandwidth and other providers got your attention.

In all, five stories about cybersecurity were among our most popular in September. But there’s a lot more here. The Xposure Inclusion & Diversity Council demanded that the industry drops the term “master agent.” Citrix named a new channel chief among rumors it’s on the auction block. Zoom and Five9 saw hopes of a merger come to a close. And Gartner released its latest Magic Quadrant showing who it thinks is best in WAN.

So, which topic is No. 1 in our top 20 countdown for September? You’ll have to click through our slideshow above to find out.

If you’re a managed service provider (MSP) in the business of providing IT services to small and medium businesses (SMBs), the threat of ransomware ranks high on your list of ongoing concerns. While massive ransomware attacks on large enterprises grab the biggest headlines, MSPs know that their smaller clients remain at the greatest risk: SMBs comprise 75% of all ransomware victims, according the U.S. Justice Department.

Consequently, most MSPs are busy trying to get their clients to subscribe to modern cybersecurity and data protection services–and well they should. Clients that don’t have basic cyber protection are a costly risk to MSPs for several reasons:

• They’re expensive to support, being much more likely to suffer cyberattacks that their MSP will spend profit-draining days and weeks in containment and recovery operations.
• Given the ability of many ransomware strains to spread beyond the initial target, they introduce increased cyber risk to every business in a client’s tech supply chain, including the MSP.
• If the client carries cyber insurance, its carrier may try to recover ransomware attack damages from the MSP–even if the SMB’s failure to invest in adequate defenses led to the breach.

The pressure on MSPs to upgrade such clients to more robust cyber protection services is clearly increasing. Yet many SMBs are reluctant to incur even modest upgrade costs. Present your client with a proposal for a services tier that includes anti-ransomware defenses, and they’re likely to raise some typical objections:

• “We thought we were already protected.” The client falsely hopes that a legacy antivirus solution that relies on signature matching to detect known malware is still adequate to counter the ransomware threat. (As every cybersecurity pro knows, it’s not–thanks in large part to the sheer volume of new iterations of ransomware that are generated daily, overwhelming signature-based defenses.)
• “We’re too small; our data isn’t valuable enough to target.” The reality is that cybercriminals cast a very wide net these days. Many threats are automated, making it trivially easy to strike at SMBs. Attackers also know that even small businesses, faced with the prospect of staying offline for days or weeks from a ransomware attack, are likely to pay up. So-called double-extortion tactics, in which the attacker steals data before triggering the encryption attacks and threatens to leak it online if the ransom isn’t paid, further ratchet up the pressure.
• “We have no budget for an upgrade.” This shortsighted notion ignores research from Cisco Systems that shows that one in five SMBs that suffer an attack will spend between $1 million to $2.5 million to recover from it. The contention that they can’t afford a modest increase in their monthly MSP charges to protect their business from an existential threat reflects a poor understanding of their risk environment.

In a world where cybercrime is spiraling upward–research firm Cybersecurity Ventures projects its global impact to reach $10.5T by 2025–MSPs should be increasingly reluctant to carry SMB clients that won’t make basic investments to reduce their cyber risk. Veteran MSP advisor Erick Simpson puts it in more blunt terms, encouraging MSPs to conduct what he calls “The Conversation,” in which the MSP gently lays out the case for why it’s no longer optional for the client to upgrade their cyber defenses–and seriously considers ending the relationship if the client refuses.  Click on Page 2 to continue reading…

CSG has acquired DGIT Systems for enhanced quote and order capabilities to help communications service providers (CSPs) deliver 5G digital services.

CSG provides customer engagement, revenue management and payment solutions. DGIT provides configure, price and quote (CPQ), and order management solutions for the telecom industry.

The combined solution gives CSPs the flexibility to innovate and implement new digital services, the companies said.

CSG didn’t say how much it is paying for DGIT Systems.

Natural Extension

Ken Kennedy is CSG‘s COO and president of revenue management and digital monetization. He said few CPQ products address the specific needs of the telecom industry like DGIT’s does.

CSG’s Ken Kennedy

“DGIT’s products make processes easier through automation and intelligence, rather than simplifying functionality and limiting the capabilities of the CSP to take to market,” he said.

CSG has partnered with DGIT for many months and has seen “positive interest and results from our combined solutions,” Kennedy said.

“It was a natural extension to bring DGIT into CSG,” he said. “Our powerful CPQ and order management capabilities significantly reduce provisioning and billing errors, which are two of the leading causes of customer dissatisfaction for CSPs.”

More Innovation in the Works

As CSG continues to innovate the product line, DGIT customers will benefit from ongoing product enhancements and deeper integrations, Kennedy said. Those integrations will drive greater customer experiences and grow revenues.

Greg Tilton is DGIT’s founder and CEO.

“DGIT’s strategic partnership with CSG highlights the value of our combined portfolio to the communications market,” he said. “This acquisition brings the advantages of global scale and a world-leading monetization portfolio to both DGIT and our customers. Together with CSG, we can help CSPs thrive in today’s digital-first world.”

AT&T will take advantage of Frontier Communications‘ fiber in order to serve off-network enterprise customers.

The companies announced a multiyear network deal that lets AT&T use Frontier’s fiber-optic connectivity. The companies also said AT&T will use Frontier’s Ethernet work to connect cell towers to AT&T’s 5G core network.

The Frontier relationship will help AT&T pursue its goal of reaching 30 million locations with fiber by the end of 2025. As of Sept. 30, more than 2.5 million U.S. business customers were using AT&T’s fiber network.

AT&T Fiber Network Map. (Source: www.att.com)

On the other hand, Frontier has stated a goal of passing 10 million locations with fiber by the end of 2025. Frontier’s fiber network touches 25 states, some of which are gaps in the AT&T footprint. A cursory glance at both companies’ coverage maps shows that Frontier covers certain Southwest and Northeastern states that AT&T doesn’t touch.

Frontier’s Fiber Network Map. (Source: www.go.frontier.com)

AT&T’s Scott Mair

“With Frontier building out its own fiber network where we are not building, we’ll be able to work together to provide large business customers with the high-speed, low-latency data connectivity they need to grow and thrive,” said Scott Mair, AT&T’s president of network engineering and operations. “As demand for broadband connectivity grows, we will be able to plug and play into Frontier’s network to support businesses and help grow our 5G mobility network for consumers.”

Mike Shippey, Frontier’s executive vice president of business and wholesale, said the business customers will benefit from the combination of “two complementary networks.”

Frontier’s Mike Shippey

“As part of this deal, we’ll use our expanding fiber network to provide AT&T high-speed connections for large enterprise customers and the expansion of its 5G mobile network across our markets,” Shippey said.

Background

Both companies highly value their fiber offerings. AT&T scored first in Vertical Systems Group’s latest fiber locations leaderboard, and Frontier finished ninth.

Frontier vowed to make fiber the center of its business earlier this year.

“At this pivotal moment in the company’s evolution, we look forward to rapidly expanding our fiber footprint, delivering enhanced customer service offerings and value, and accelerating our efforts to build Gigabit America,” CEO Nick Jeffery said.

AT&T has long hailed the depth of its fiber services. Earlier this week, AT&T’s Rick Chapes labeled fiber one of the company’s key pillars in a message to partners.

“Fiber is at the forefront as a key enabler for technologies and capabilities,” Chapes told Channel Futures.

This isn’t the first wholesale relationship between AT&T and Frontier. The companies in 2011 teamed up to let Frontier resell AT&T’s wireless network.

AT&T will take advantage of Frontier Communications‘ fiber in order to serve off-network enterprise customers.

The companies announced a multiyear network deal that lets AT&T use Frontier’s fiber-optic connectivity. The companies also said AT&T will use Frontier’s Ethernet work to connect cell towers to AT&T’s 5G core network.

The Frontier relationship will help AT&T pursue its goal of reaching 30 million locations with fiber by the end of 2025. As of Sept. 30, more than 2.5 million U.S. business customers were using AT&T’s fiber network.

AT&T Fiber Network Map. (Source: www.att.com)

On the other hand, Frontier has stated a goal of passing 10 million locations with fiber by the end of 2025. Frontier’s fiber network touches 25 states, some of which are gaps in the AT&T footprint. A cursory glance at both companies’ coverage maps shows that Frontier covers certain Southwest and Northeastern states that AT&T doesn’t touch.

Frontier’s Fiber Network Map. (Source: www.go.frontier.com)

AT&T’s Scott Mair

“With Frontier building out its own fiber network where we are not building, we’ll be able to work together to provide large business customers with the high-speed, low-latency data connectivity they need to grow and thrive,” said Scott Mair, AT&T’s president of network engineering and operations. “As demand for broadband connectivity grows, we will be able to plug and play into Frontier’s network to support businesses and help grow our 5G mobility network for consumers.”

Mike Shippey, Frontier’s executive vice president of business and wholesale, said the business customers will benefit from the combination of “two complementary networks.”

Frontier’s Mike Shippey

“As part of this deal, we’ll use our expanding fiber network to provide AT&T high-speed connections for large enterprise customers and the expansion of its 5G mobile network across our markets,” Shippey said.

Background

Both companies highly value their fiber offerings. AT&T scored first in Vertical Systems Group’s latest fiber locations leaderboard, and Frontier finished ninth.

Frontier vowed to make fiber the center of its business earlier this year.

“At this pivotal moment in the company’s evolution, we look forward to rapidly expanding our fiber footprint, delivering enhanced customer service offerings and value, and accelerating our efforts to build Gigabit America,” CEO Nick Jeffery said.

AT&T has long hailed the depth of its fiber services. Earlier this week, AT&T’s Rick Chapes labeled fiber one of the company’s key pillars in a message to partners.

“Fiber is at the forefront as a key enabler for technologies and capabilities,” Chapes told Channel Futures.

This isn’t the first wholesale relationship between AT&T and Frontier. The companies in 2011 teamed up to let Frontier resell AT&T’s wireless network.