Congress held a hearing this week on UFOs. It was billed as: “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth.” Several witnesses testified about UAP (the official, less scary name) sightings and what they think the government knows or is not disclosing. But the good news is, since no UAP beamed up your MSP Success team, we’ve assembled some channel news and happenings from the week that you don’t want to miss. This includes new partner programs and offerings from Wildix, Mimecast, and Todyl; what MSPs and vendors got acquired; and new research from Moovila on why project management gaps are costing you time and money. Plus more!
Partner Programs & Enablement
Wildix Launches Sales Elevate Lab To Help MSPs Sell Unified Communications
Wildix, a unified communications as a service (UCaaS) provider, launched Sales Elevate Lab, a hands-on training program designed to empower MSP sales teams in mastering UC&C sales. This new program is open to all sales teams, whether existing Wildix partners or not.
The program includes a Sales Academy, a two-day immersive training session open to all MSPs, system integrators, and Wildix partners. The Sales Academy walks participants through the entire sales cycle, from prospecting to service delivery, using real-world scenarios. In addition, a Mastery Lab is available for top-performing partners. This 12-month lab offers bi-weekly strategic sessions, deal guidance, and marketing insights.
Alberto Benigno, CSO of Wildix, will lead the training. It kicks off with exclusive in-person sessions in May 2025, in Nashville, Barcelona, and Rome. Visit saleselevatelab.com to join the waitlist.
Mimecast Announces Partner ONE MSP Program
Mimecast, a next-gen email security platform, launched the Partner ONE MSP Program. The company says it offers a predictable and simplified program with clear requirements and performance-based pathways to help MSPs grow.
Building on their existing partner program, Mimecast’s MSP program will enable MSPs to take advantage of various automated processes such as API automation capabilities, integration with certain third-party marketplaces, and bulk remediation and action capabilities. The updated partner experience delivers a simple onboarding process, data-driven customer insights, and a new user experience with an improved partner portal design. In addition, it offers a streamlined support process and case routing, plus access to technical team members and senior technical resources. This includes continuous support through the Mimecast Knowledge Hub and 24/7 access to the technical customer support team.
The program also offers a range of training opportunities and a multi-level certification. Partners also get access to new products, bundles, and pricing.
Todyl Rolls Out a New Community
On the heels of September’s launch of its revamped Partner Program, cybersecurity vendor Todyl introduced a new Todyl Community for MSPs. It includes dedicated forums for discussing best practices, tips, and tricks; curated content and featured posts to help MSPs navigate evolving risks and capitalize on opportunities; community-driven events to share expertise, grow skills, and network; and campaigns-in-a-box and enablement kits for effective go-to-market strategies. An upcoming feature is federated search for easy access to information across Community, University, Support, and Knowledge Base.
Distribution & Marketplaces
TD SYNNEX’s StreamOne Gets New Commerce and Security Capabilities
TD SYNNEX introduced several new customer-centric capabilities for its StreamOne cloud platform. These features include:
- Commerce API enables “headless commerce”; meaning that the user interface is decoupled from the back-end ecommerce functionality. This makes it possible to add TD SYNNEX products to partner-built marketplaces and extend ordering and full order management for customers.
- PSA Connectors connect platform data with PSA software, providing differentiated functionality such as billing reconciliation.
- MSPs can integrate best-of-breed tools via the StreamOne open API architecture.
- Real-time synchronized reporting on infrastructure as a service (IaaS) consumption. This enables partners to bill continuously throughout the month rather than waiting until month-end.
In addition, white-label storefronts (pre-built marketplace) let MSPs extend the commerce and capabilities of StreamOne to customers, all under their own brand. There is no deployment required or maintenance costs.
StreamOne is also capable of providing marketplace syndication, simplifying procurement processes for hyperscaler catalogs, starting with Microsoft Azure and AppSource SaaS solutions. This feature will be showcased for the first time at Microsoft Ignite, Nov. 18-21.
Finally, TD SYNNEX is piloting a Security Operations (SecOps) solution that will provide partners with a more comprehensive view of their SMB customers’ Azure security postures. It’s currently available as a limited release to select partners; TD SYNNEX plans general availability for 2025.
Arrow Electronics Adds Customized AI Assistants
Global technology solutions provider Arrow Electronics announced that its ArrowSphere Cloud platform now allows channel partners to create custom AI assistants. The assistants tap their own data, workflows, content, and vendor-specific data to deliver efficiency, cost reductions, and faster market entry.
Arrow introduced ArrowSphere Assistant, powered by ArrowSphere AI, in March 2024. ArrowSphere AI is now infused with hundreds of ready-to-use cases and prompts. AI assistants can be tailored to support the sales lifecycle, from marketing and sales enablement to business support and catalogs.
The expanded ArrowSphere AI capabilities and customized assistant tools are available in limited release to ArrowSphere users.
Products
Cisco Introduces Intelligent, Secure Wi-Fi 7 Access Points
Cisco introduced intelligent and secure Wi-Fi 7 access points and a unified subscription licensing. The new AI-native wireless is location-aware, adapts to any environment, and continuously optimizes, according to the company. With access to Cisco Spaces, a location-based services platform, now included in the subscription license, customers get an operating system to turn their workspaces into smart spaces.
Cisco’s new smart access points are manageable on-premises or through the cloud, with the ability to switch seamlessly between both. Cisco’s unified networking subscription is a single license that covers Cisco’s entire Wi-Fi 7 solution.
In addition, Cisco secures every connection with AI-native device profiling, threat prevention, and advanced wireless security and data encryption. And with Cisco ThousandEyes, customers can assure every connected experience using AI and automation to identify and remediate performance bottlenecks across wireless, owned, and unowned networks.
M&A – MSPs
Corporate Technologies, a private equity-backed national MSP founded in 1981, acquired RSPN, an MSP serving SMBs in the Cedar Falls and Waterloo region of Iowa for more than 30 years. The acquisition expands Corporate Technologies’ national reach to 17 markets in 12 states.
“Our goal in selling was to find the right place for customers and employees. Corporate Technologies will provide significant resources and opportunities for both,” said Mark Stewart, CEO and co-owner of RSPN, in a press statement. “Corporate Technologies was an ideal fit for RSPN due to their focus on service delivery, customer focus, and employee experience,” said Mike Place, president and co-owner of RSPN.
This is the sixth acquisition by Corporate Technologies and its second since Tonka Bay Equity Partners acquired the company in July of 2023.
M&A – Vendors
Silverfort, an identity security company, acquired Rezonate, provider of a cloud identity security solution. The consolidated offering will expand Silverfort’s ability to protect identities across all on-prem assets, cloud identity providers, cloud infrastructure, and SaaS applications. Silverfort will have Rezonate fully integrated into itss platform in mid-2025.
AppDirect, a B2B subscription commerce platform, announced its intent to acquire vCom Solutions, an IT lifecycle management software and managed services company. AppDirect customers will get access to vCom’s AI-powered software platform, vManager, vCom’s suite of IT spend managed services, and vCom’s Buyers’ Club, QuantumShift. vCom’s partners will become part of the AppDirect partner ecosystem under this acquisition, with access to all of the technology solutions supported through the AppDirect catalog.
ICYMI: Thryv completed its acquisition of CRM vendor Infusion Software (Keap) at the end of October. “We’re thrilled to be joining Thryv,” said Clate Mask, CEO of Keap, in a press statement. “Our shared vision for empowering small businesses will allow us to accelerate innovation and provide unmatched support to our clients. Together, we will create a stronger platform that meets the ever-changing needs of SMBs everywhere.”
Integrations & Partnerships
Identify security provider CyberArk is partnering with cloud security provider Wiz. A central component of the partnership is an integration between the CyberArk Identity Security Platform and the Wiz Cloud Security Platform, available to customers immediately. As part of the partnership, CyberArk is joining the Wiz Integration Network (WIN), and Wiz is joining the CyberArk C3 Alliance.
People
N-able added three executives to its leadership team: Jonathan Bartholomew, vice president of channel sales; Bartholomew was previously vice president of global distribution and partner ssuccess at Sophos. Also appointed are Paul Monaghan, vice president of EMEA sales; and Andy Hudson, vice president of international marketing … Syncro promoted Andy Cormier, an MSP industry veteran, to channel chief. Cormier previously served as Syncro’s partner development director. Cormier is also the author of the book, So You Want To Be An MSP … Pathlock, an identity and application access governance provider, appointed Haviv Rosh as chief technology officer. Rosh joins Pathlock from ServiceNow, where he served as global chief architect and VP of R&D for IT operations management (ITOM) … MDR provider Red Canary appointed Todd Chronert as chief revenue officer. Chronert was most recently CRO at Recorded Future, a threat intelligence company. Before that held leadership roles at RSA, Secureworks, and Absolute Software. He will be succeeding Dennis Hon, who is retiring and will remain in an advisory role through Q4.
By the Numbers
Project Management Gaps Cost MSPs Time and Money
Moovila, an AI-driven project automation platform for MSPs, released new research that finds only 30% of MSPs use the project management tool in their PSA. Meanwhile, 50% of executives say PM challenges are impacting profitability. And notably, nearly 70% of MSPs struggle with resource management, leading to project delays and increased operational costs.
According to the report, State of the Industry 2024: MSP Project Management Trends & Impacts, 62% of MSPs recognize project management as a critical component of their operations. Yet over 65% reported difficulties in managing project timelines and meeting client expectations. They identified inaccurate project timelines – often due to shifting schedules and unplanned tasks –as the top-ranked factor negatively impacting the ability to manage work effectively.
Finally, more than 80% of respondents expressed interest in adopting AI and automation technologies to improve PM and reduce manual tasks.
