Canonical partners with global systems integrators
Ubuntu publisher Canonical is targeting global systems integrators with a new partner program; HP Inc. unveiled the HP Amplify program; and other news from the week.
Canonical, publisher of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, is pursuing the 12 largest global systems integrators as it positions itself as an alternative to VMware and Red Hat.
The London-based company this week launched a global integrator program, which spans Canonical's open source offerings for data centers, multi-cloud environments, edge computing and IoT. The Canonical partner program provides pricing discounts through deal registration, as well as aggregated volume discounts across partners' combined customer bases. Other features include an updated portal and dedicated account management, sales, engineering and marketing support resources.
Regis Paquette, vice president of alliances at Canonical, estimates a dozen companies based in the U.S., Europe and India represent two-thirds of the global SI market. Canonical has "selected those 12 as the starting line" for its integrator initiative. "We are really taking a targeted approach," he said.
Canonical in recent years has focused its partner efforts on building closer relations with hardware vendors such as Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM, while also revamping its value-added-reseller strategy. Integrators, however, began to approach Canonical as their customers sought open source alternatives to VMware, Paquette explained. In addition, two large integrators have tapped Canonical's open source technology to build digital transformation platforms.
Those experiences prompted Canonical to launch an integrator outreach effort and develop a program specialized for that partner segment, Paquette noted. As the company builds out its program, cost efficiency is one of its selling points, he said. Integrators can cut their software costs 30% to 50% when they use Canonical's offerings instead of VMware, even when they are rearchitecting an entire platform with opens source, Paquette said.
Regis Paquette
"The more the scope leans toward an Ubuntu-only platform, the more you get to the 50% mark," he said.
In addition, Canonical's status as an independent open source provider has "put us on the map," according to Paquette. He noted that Red Hat is owned by IBM, which operates a multibillion-dollar Global Technology Services business.
HP replaces Partner First program with HP Amplify
HP Inc. revealed plans to replace its partner program, Partner First, with a brand-new global program.
The new program, HP Amplify, aims to formalize HP's increasing focus on data and business outcome-based customer strategies. The company said HP Amplify consolidates its partner products, tools and training into one program and simplifies partner engagement by having two tracks, Synergy and Power. In a press document, HP described Synergy as the "foundational track" for the program with a minimum threshold sales requirement, while the Power track offers additional benefits rewards for partners that "demonstrate deeper collaboration with HP."
HP said the Amplify program will feature innovative ways of measuring partner performance. In addition to sales revenue, partners will be rewarded for developing capabilities in areas such as digital skills, service delivery, e-commerce/omnichannel experiences and secure data collaboration.
HP Amplify is slated to go in effect on Nov. 1, 2020, for commercial partners. Retail partners will transition to the program in the second half of 2021, HP said.
Barracuda aims to simplify SD-WAN for MSPs
Barracuda, a security company based in Campbell, Calif., said its newly unveiled SD-WAN service, built natively on Microsoft Azure, lets MSPs simplify secure connectivity deployments.
Klaus Gheri, vice president of network security and general manager at Barracuda's Network Security Business, said the new offering, Barracuda CloudGen WAN, offers MSPs "reduced complexity." The service provides zero-touch deployment, default configurations and automated WAN management tasks, according to the company.
Gheri said the simplification and ease-of-use features "make it easier for MSPs partners to reduce their labor cost."
MSPs also have an opportunity to wrap their own services around the SD-WAN offering, while providing ongoing management and maintenance. The ability to create a secure access service edge offering in the public cloud is another partner opportunity, according to Barracuda.
Service providers can expect Barracuda CloudGen WAN updates in 2020. Additional security features for on-premises connectivity are on tap for September, while remote access connectivity will be the focus of a November update.
MSP software news
RapidFire Tools, a Kaseya company, launched its Network Detective Microsoft Cloud Assessment Module, which covers cloud offerings such as Microsoft Office 365 and Azure. The module offers client risk and management plan reports and separate assessment reports for Microsoft 365 applications such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams and Outlook Mail, according to the company.
Datto Inc., meanwhile, said the latest version of Datto SaaS Protection, a SaaS backup offering, is now available. Product updates include streamlined client onboarding, the ability to select different cloud retention periods and a new management portal.
NinjaRMM introduced a partner program for reselling its remote monitoring and management product. The company said partners can participate in two tiers, Red Belt and Black Belt, with access marketing and sales support, account protection and other benefits. Partners that sign up in the first year will be automatically enrolled in the highest tier, Black Belt, according to the company.
Other news
- Wipro Ltd., an $8 billion consulting and business process services company, cited the "three Cs" as key the current demand environment: cloud, collaboration and cyber. Speaking during the company's quarterly analyst call, Wipro CFO Jatin Dalal said the company is also seeing an uptick in offerings such as virtual desktop infrastructure and SD-WAN, which has become a partner opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wipro reported gross revenue of $2 billion for the quarter ended June 30, a 1.3% year-over-year increase. Net income edged up .1% to $316.5 million.
- Dell Technologies' president of global channel, embedded and edge solutions, Joyce Mullen, announced she is exiting the company on Aug. 14. Dell has not yet named Mullen's successor.
- VMware rolled out new capabilities for VMware Cloud on AWS. Updates include the addition of the vendor's Cloud Director service to VMware Cloud on AWS. The service lets partners divide their VMware Cloud on AWS software-defined data center environments into multi-tenanted resources pools, VMware said.
- 1901 Group, an IT services and solutions provider based in Reston, Va., said it is collaborating with Red Hat to expand FedRAMP authorized automation and migration capabilities to U.S. government agencies. FedRAMP, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, sets cloud security standards for federal government agencies. As a Red Hat Gold and Cloud Services partner, 1901 Group said it has selected Red Hat OpenShift as the key component of a continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline "used to automate the migration of mission-critical legacy applications to the cloud."
- In other FedRAMP partnering news, NeoSystems, an MSP and systems integrator based in Tysons Corner, Va., said it will integrate its FedRAMP Ready FISMA Moderate authorized hosting platform with TIP Technologies' quality management and shop floor execution software offerings. In addition, NeoSystems will become a reseller of TIP Technologies' quality management software.
- Insight Enterprises, an integrator based in Tempe, Ariz., and Intel are collaborating on a contest that will award IT upgrades to three SMBs. The winners of the Connected Workplace Makeover Contest will each receive $50,000 worth of Intel-based technology upgrades and services. The contest is oriented toward resource-strapped organizations that have "struggled to adapt IT systems and processes" amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Entries will be accepted through Sept. 30 with the winners unveiled in November.
- InterVision, an IT service provider based in Santa Clara, Calif., and St. Louis, said it has achieved AWS End User Computing Competency.
- World Wide Technology, a technology solution provider based in St. Louis, joined Nectar Services Corp.'s partner program as a Gold Partner. Nectar Services is a unified communications experience management technology company.
- Data and information management vendor Commvault revamped its Partner Advantage program. The channel initiative offers rebates for partners' wins, growth and performance; greater flexibility across program tiers; deal registration benefits; and new partner seller incentives.
- Alation Inc., an enterprise data intelligence company based in Redwood City, Calif., launched a partner ecosystem initiative. The company's Alation Partner Network consists of systems integrators resellers, and technology partners.
- UJET Inc., a cloud contact center solutions provider based in San Francisco, introduced a channel partner program and disclosed an agreement with PeakView, a contact-center-as-a-service company.
- Pax8, a Denver-based cloud distributor, entered a partnership with Cymulate, a SaaS-based breach and attack simulation platform.
- D&H Distributing, a distributor based in Harrisburg, Pa., kicked off an e-sports certification program, collaborating with the High School Esports League, the Varsity Esports Foundation, the Esports Education Network and the Middle School Esports League. The program is geared to partners focusing on the K-12 market.
- Chicago-based technology distributor Telecom Brokerage Inc. (TBI) added TetraVX's cloud-based collaboration technologies to its portfolio of offerings. TBI said its partners will also have access to services from TetraVX's parent company, Netrix.
- Ensono, a hybrid IT services provider based in Downers Grove, Ill., launched a Mainframe Modernization service offering. The offering aims to help organizations modernize legacy applications to reduce complexity in hybrid IT environments, the company said.
- Channel partners stand to gain from Blancco Technology Group's move to make its Drive Eraser offering available in the AWS Marketplace, according to the data erasure and mobile device diagnostics vendor. A Blancco spokesperson said partners will benefit from consolidated billing and easier procurement through their AWS accounts. The spokesperson also cited a Consulting Partner Private Offer module that promotes channel engagement and allows for the negotiation of private pricing, end-user license terms, and payment schedules before purchasing or subscribing to Blancco's software.
- Lemongrass Consulting, an MSP based in Atlanta, has appointed David Northington, former CEO of cloud consultancy Cloud Sherpas, to its board of directors. Lemongrass focuses on SAP enterprise applications running on AWS. Accenture acquired Cloud Sherpas in 2015.
- Tech Data, a distributor based in Clearwater, Fla., appointed John O'Shea as president of the Americas. O'Shea was previously head of the company's global lifecycle management business unit.
Market Share is a news roundup published every Friday.
Additional reporting by Spencer Smith.
