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ConnectWise threat intelligence sharing platform changes hands

CompTIA plans to use its educational resources to enhance ConnectWise's threat intelligence sharing platform for technology solution providers; more IT channel news.

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Published: 20 Mar 2020

Nonprofit IT trade organization CompTIA said it will assume management and operations of the Technology Solution Provider Information Sharing and Analysis Organization established by ConnectWise in August 2019.

Consultant and long-time CompTIA member MJ Shoer will remain as the TSP-ISAO's executive director under the new arrangement. The TSP-ISAO retains its primary mission of fostering real-time threat intelligence sharing among channel partners, CompTIA said.

MJ ShoerMJ Shoer

Nancy Hammervik, CompTIA's executive vice president of industry relations, discussed CompTIA's TSP-ISAO leadership role with Shoer during the CompTIA Communities and Councils Forum event this week. CompTIA conducted the event virtually after cancelling its Chicago in-person event due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Shoer said CompTIA is uniquely positioned to enhance the TSP-ISAO. "If you look at all the educational opportunities and resources that CompTIA brings to the table … those are going to be integral to this in terms of helping to further educate the world of TSPs … about the cyber threats and how to respond," he said.

He added that CompTIA's involvement in government policy work will contribute to the success of the threat intelligence sharing platform, as "the government is going to be key." ISAOs were chartered by the Department of Homeland Security as a result of an executive order by former president Barack Obama in 2015.

Hammervik and Shoer also underscored that CompTIA's commitment to vendor neutrality will help the TSP-ISAO bring together competitive companies in pursuit of a collective benefit. "We all face these threats. We have all seen some of the reports about MSPs being used as threat vectors against their clients. If we don't … stop that, it can harm the industry from the largest member to the smallest," Shoer said.

About 650 organizations have joined the TSP-ISAO, according to Hammervik. Membership in the organization in 2020 is free for TSP companies.

Shoer said his goal for the TSP-ISAO is to develop a collaborative platform that can share qualified, real-time and actionable threat intelligence with TSPs so they can secure their own and customers' businesses. He said ultimately, the organization would like to automate elements of the threat intelligence sharing, but it may be a long-term goal as AI and other technologies mature.

Wipro launches Microsoft technology unit

Wipro Ltd., a consulting and business process services company based in Bangalore, India, launched a business unit dedicated to Microsoft technology.

Wipro said its Microsoft Business Unit will focus on developing offerings that use Microsoft's enterprise cloud services. Those Wipro offerings will include:

  • Cloud Studio, which provides migration services for workloads on such platforms as Azure and Dynamics 365.
  • Live Workspace, which uses Microsoft's Modern Workplace, Azure's Language Understanding Intelligent Service, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft's Power Platform.
  • Data Discovery Platform, which incorporates Wipro's Holmes AI system and Azure.

Wipro's move follows HCL Technologies' launch in January 2020 of its Microsoft Business Unit and Tata Consultancy Services' rollout in November 2019 of a Microsoft Business Unit focusing on Azure's cloud and edge capabilities. Other large IT service providers with Microsoft business units include Accenture/Avenade and Infosys.

Other news

  • 2nd Watch, a professional services and managed cloud company based in Seattle, unveiled a managed DevOps service, which the company said lets clients take advantage of DevOps culture without having to deploy the model on their own. The 2nd Watch Managed DevOps offering includes an assessment and strategy phase, DevOps training, tool implementation based on the GitLab platform, and ongoing management. 2nd Watch is partnering with GitLab to provide the managed DevOps service.
  • MSPs can now bundle Kaseya Compliance Manager with a cyber insurance policy from Cysurance. The combination stems from a partnership between Kaseya and Cysurance, a cyber insurance agency. Cysurance's cyber policy is underwritten by Chubb.
  • Onepath, a managed technology services provider based in Atlanta, rolled out Onepath Analytics, a cloud-based business intelligence offering for finance professionals in the SMB market. The analytics offering includes plug-and-play extract, transform and load, data visualization and financial business metrics such as EBITDA, profit margin and revenue as a percentage of sales, according to the company. Other metrics maybe included, the company said, if the necessary data is accessible.
  • Avaya and master agent Telarus have teamed up to provide Avaya Cloud Office by Ring Central. Telarus will offer the unified communications as a service product to its network of 4,000 technology brokers, Avaya said.
  • Adaptive Networks, a provider of SD-WAN as a service, said it has partnered with master agent Telecom Consulting Group.
  • Spinnaker Support, an enterprise software support services provider, introduced Salesforce application management and consulting services. The company also provides Oracle and SAP application support services.
  • Avanan, a New York company that provides a security offering for cloud-based email and collaboration suites, has hired Mike Lyons as global MSP/MSSP sales director.
  • Managed security service provider High Wire Networks named Dave Barton as its CTO. Barton will oversee and technology solutions and channel sales engineering for the company's Overwatch Managed Security Platform, which is sold through channel partners, the company said.

Market Share is a news roundup published every Friday.

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