HPE partner program spans the as-a-service ecosystem

Moving to a cloud and as-a-service world

The Partner Ready Vantage program intends to help partners expand their capabilities as they move into cloud services and adopt the as-a-service model, said Jesse Chavez, HPE's vice president, worldwide partner programs and operations. The program will be "inclusive of the entire partner ecosystem" and also unify HPE's hybrid cloud and Aruba partnering efforts, he said. HPE will roll out the program over the next couple of years.

Shedding partner labels, Partner Ready Vantage is organized around Build, Sell and Service tracks. HPE designed the Build track for partners that seek to integrate with HPE technology, said Beth Jensen, director, worldwide channel partner programs at Aruba, an HPE company. The Sell tier supports partners reselling HPE's as-a-service portfolio, providing tools and training to grow recurring revenue streams. And the Service component works with partners to deliver services and provides opportunities for partners to build customer success, managed services or professional services practices, Jensen said.

Partners can participate in one track or all three.

The program overhaul trend

The HPE partner program update resembles other vendors' moves of late. In March, Microsoft announced the upcoming launch of its Microsoft Cloud Partner Program, which covers partners that sell services, develop software offerings or focus on devices. IBM's partner ecosystem approach, meanwhile, aims to accommodate partners that sell IBM products, embed IBM technology in their own offerings or build services around IBM's portfolio.

HPE, for its part, said it will not compel partners to join Partner Ready Vantage, letting them continue to do business within the similarly named Partner Ready program. Partner Ready Vantage differs from Partner Ready in that the former is designed to help partners build new capabilities to accelerate their as-a-service business lines.

The idea is to work with partners at their current state of evolution. HPE is "doubling down" to support partners pursuing as-a-service offerings, but will accommodate those not ready for that step, according to Hope. "They're more than welcome to stay within our existing Partner Ready program."

Kaseya-Datto deal closes

Kaseya, an IT and security management software company in Miami, last week completed its acquisition of Datto.

The $6.2 billion transaction brings together two companies that sell software for running MSP businesses. Both companies offer remote monitoring and management (RMM), professional services automation (PSA) and other service provider offerings. The company plans to invest in and support Datto products, in addition to its own offerings, going forward.

With the deal done, Datto product pricing will decrease 10% on average on new purchases, according to Kaseya. Some product pricing will remain the same, as is the case for Datto's networking line, but Datto RMM and Datto PSA list prices will drop in excess of 10%, the company reported.

In other moves, Kaseya said it plans to provide at least 17 workflow integrations within the first month of the acquisition's closing date. Those will include an integration between Kaseya's IT Glue automated documentation product and Datto's business continuity and disaster recovery offering, a Kaseya spokeswoman said. That linkup, slated to arrive in mid-July, will track the backup status of configurations.

Mission buys development firm

Mission Cloud Services, a cloud managed services provider based in Los Angeles, has acquired Dozen Software, an application development services firm.

Dozen Software, based in Nashville, Tenn., uses AWS for its development projects, a focus that dovetails with Mission's status as a premier-tier AWS services partner. The software developer covers a range of vertical markets and company types, from startups to enterprises.

Such customers increasingly call for service providers to layer bespoke software on top of public cloud platforms. "Mission has seen increased demand for software development services from customers, prospects and from AWS," said Jonathan LaCour, CTO at Mission Cloud Services. He said the Dozen Software purchase provides much-needed capacity to meet accelerating demand, while also providing Mission's AppDev practice with additional skills to support more software stacks and use cases.

Chris Downs, CEO at Dozen Software, becomes Mission's AppDev practice lead.

Kyndryl partners with Oracle, Veritas

Kyndryl, an IT services provider headquartered in New York City, has added Oracle and Veritas Technologies to its partner lineup.

Under the Oracle alliance, Kyndryl will serve as a delivery partner for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Kyndryl said it will also provide new services that use Oracle technologies to help customers modernize and migrate their applications and databases to the cloud. Kyndryl will provide IT infrastructure services around Oracle Cloud at Customer, which enables customers to use OCI for on-premises deployments, and Oracle's Exadata database cloud service.

Kyndryl's partnership with Veritas will focus on data protection and recovery across multi-cloud environments. Kyndryl will offer Veritas' data management offerings as a managed service.

Since spinning out of IBM in November 2021, Kyndryl has forged relationships with cloud platform providers, including AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft.

Other news

• Most business are anchoring their digital initiatives in the cloud, according to a Deloitte study. Eighty-eight percent of senior cloud decision makers polled by the consulting firm cited cloud as the cornerstone of their digital strategy. Multi-cloud use has become the norm, with 79% of respondents reporting the use of two or more cloud providers. The results also point to the potential for increased adoption of industry clouds: 95% of respondents agreed or completely agreed that industry clouds will enable the transformation and automation of industry-specific business processes.
• Thrive, an MSP in Foxborough, Mass., has acquired DSM, a Florida company that provides managed services to government agencies in the state, local and education sector. DSM marks Thrive's third acquisition in Florida in the past six months.
• Nitel, a technology service provider in Chicago, has agreed to purchase Garland, Texas-based Hypercore Networks. Both companies provide network-as-a-service offerings such as SD-WAN. The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks, according to Nitel.
• DoControl, which provides an automated data access controls platform for SaaS applications, launched a partner program for global systems integrators, national solutions providers, value-added resellers, cybersecurity consulting firms and MSPs. Features of the Accelerate Channel program include dedicated channel and solutions engineering team resources, sales incentives and a not-for-resale platform for selling and marketing uses.
• Avant, a technology distributor in Chicago, has added Netacea, a bot detection and mitigation company, to its security portfolio. Avant will offer Netacea's bot management product to its network of trusted advisors.

Executive appointments

• GTT Communications, a cloud networking provider in McLean, Va., appointed Blaise Brady as vice president, partner development. Brady, who joins GTT from QOS Networks, will cultivate the company's relationships with national partners and technology solutions brokers.
• DartPoints, a digital infrastructure provider in Dallas, appointed Jackie Steinberg as channel chief. Steinberg was previously regional partner development manager at AT&T.