With the fall conference season in full swing, keeping up with the latest channel news WHILE running your business, WHILE prospecting for new customers, WHILE negotiating travel delays and bad airport food, can be a bit, well, daunting. Not to worry, we’ve got all the industry happenings from the week, from WatchGuard’s new hybrid SASE to Microsoft’s reimagined Marketplace and some new partner programs. Plus, we have some new research that shows MSPs’ AI preparedness is lagging customer demand.
And if you didn’t make it to Proofpoint 2025 or TY SYNNEX Inspire, be sure to check out our show coverage:
- Proofpoint Protect 2025: AI, Agents, and a Real Channel Bet—What MSPs Should Really Care About
- TD SYNNEX Announces New Digital Partner Experience at Inspire ’25
Consider this your cheat sheet to stay ahead of the channel curve.
Happy reading!
Products & Solutions
WatchGuard Debuts a Hybrid SASE Built for MSPs
Cybersecurity vendor WatchGuard Technologies announced FireCloud Total Access, a hybrid secure access service edge (SASE) service designed to make zero trust and cloud-delivered security practical for MSPs and lean IT teams. FireCloud Total Access unifies Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and identity, all managed through WatchGuard Cloud.
FireCloud Total Access extends the protections of WatchGuard’s network security solution, Firebox, to protect users, applications, and infrastructure across the hybrid network.
Part of WatchGuard’s Unified Security Platform, FireCloud Total Access is delivered through a single security agent and integrates with the company’s network defense, endpoint protection, and MFA services. All these layers feed into ThreatSync, WatchGuard’s AI-powered XDR engine.
According to WatchGuard, FireCloud Total Access requires no hardware or complex VPN setup; policies and protections are instantly delivered through WatchGuard Cloud for a fast, scalable rollout. MSPs receive multitenant management, policy inheritance, and out-of-the-box reporting.
FireCloud Total Access is available now with per-user licensing. Partners can access self-service trials and find enablement materials and product demonstrations in the WatchGuard Cloud and through the WatchGuard Partner Portal.
JumpCloud Rolls Out Asset Management Solution
JumpCloud added the JumpCloud Asset Management solution to its directory platform. Now MSPs can create one source of truth for all hardware assets, from procurement to retirement.
The solution provides a unified view of all IT assets. Users can automatically track managed devices throughout the entire process, from procurement to decommissioning, and import any unmanaged devices or accessories. The solution also automates asset discovery and change tracking.
“In today’s complex IT landscape, managing hardware assets is more critical—and challenging—than ever,” said Serhat Can, co-founder and director of product management for JumpCloud, in a press statement. “JumpCloud Asset Management takes the guesswork out of the process, providing a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of all company-owned devices. This empowers IT teams to be more proactive, efficient, and strategic in their asset management.”
JumpCloud Asset Management is available now.
Partner Programs
TeamViewer Launches Global MSP Partner Program
TeamViewer, a remote access and support platform, announced a global MSP Partner Program with a new tiered structure. Purpose-built to support MSPs at any size or stage of maturity, the program is a tailored framework co-designed between TeamViewer and MSPs.
In addition, TeamViewer has created a dedicated MSP Advisory Council to ensure the program continues to develop with MSPs at the heart.
“MSPs play a critical role in shaping the digital future of businesses everywhere,” said Greg Gyves, global MSP director at TeamViewer, in a press statement. “This program is a direct investment in their success, and in a new way of partnering that puts their service offering, scale, and ability to deliver at the forefront.”
Partners joining the TeamViewer program gain access to Tensor, TeamViewer’s multitenant remote connectivity platform for managing distributed IT environments. This is paired with a price book that enables predictable, scalable growth for MSPs. Service creation is streamlined through a structured development framework, enabling MSPs to quickly package and deliver digital workplace services.
To help MSPs assess their capabilities and identify areas for development, TeamViewer has also introduced the MSP Growth Index, a maturity model designed to benchmark digital workplace service delivery. Partners completing the assessment receive a personalized executive report with actionable insights, market comparison data, and a roadmap for improvement.
NetBrain Aims to Accelerate Automated Network Assessments with its New ACE+ Partner Program
NetBrain Technologies, a no-code automation platform for hybrid network observability, introduced its new ACE+ partner program, which enables MSPs to run automated network assessments for customers. It includes free support, training, and access to NetBrain’s automation and AI platform with a library of pre-built automations that check for common issues like BGP stability, OSPF, access control lists, and zero trust violations through NetBrain’s Golden Assessment Library.
Partners can choose from desktop and licensing options:
- ACE+ All-in-One (Desktop): Run assessments supporting up to 1,000 nodes directly from a laptop—no internet required.
- ACE+ Cloud (Partner-Hosted): For the largest customers, partners run the software on their own AWS or Azure cloud instances. NetBrain provides the license and support; partners control the environment.
“Our partners are eager to standardize on a world-class program for delivering network assessments,” said Brian Howard, senior director of North American channel at NetBrain, in a press statement. “We are providing them with the tools to not only grow their business but also enable them to rapidly deliver comprehensive network assessments with gold-standard service to proactively prevent network outages for their customers.”
ACE+ is an unlimited, full-function, cloud-hosted version of NetBrain’s Next-Gen platform. Partners must register assessments with NetBrain as customer demos to access the program. There are no other restrictions on how partners can use assessments and no charge for any part of the program.
Distribution & Marketplaces
Microsoft’s “Reimagined” Marketplace Unifies AppSource and Azure Marketplace
Microsoft introduced a new marketplace this week that brings together AppSource and Azure Marketplace into a single experience. In a blog post by Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer and CVP, global channel partner sales, said the reimagined Microsoft Marketplace “is a seamless extension of the Microsoft Cloud, making partner solutions discoverable directly within the Microsoft products where customers work every day. Solutions, apps, and agents are provisioned with the same governance and security controls that customers rely upon in the Microsoft Cloud.”
Key features include:
- One single destination to find, buy, and deploy cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents, seamlessly integrated with Microsoft AI platforms.
- A new “AI Apps and Agents” category in Marketplace, designed to meet customer demand and spotlight partner innovation.
- A new resale enabled offers feature, now in private preview, allows partners to create a scalable and repeatable way to expand reach by authorizing channel partners to resell their solutions by geography, with the flexibility to adjust or remove authorization at any time.
- Availability of over 3,000 AI apps and agents that appear directly in Microsoft products, from Azure AI Foundry to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
- Distributor ecosystem integration, allowing distributors to bring Marketplace solutions into their platforms, delivering trusted apps and agents faster, bundled with services, software, and hardware for added customer value. Distributors including Arrow, Crayon, Ingram Micro, Pax8, and TD SYNNEX have integrated the Microsoft catalog into their marketplaces.
Partnerships & Integrations
Seagate and Acronis Announce Strategic Alliance
Data storage company Seagate announced a strategic alliance with cybersecurity and data protection vendor Acronis. This collaboration aims to equip MSPs with secure, scalable archival storage solutions to meet the demands of AI-accelerated, rapid data growth.
Through this alliance, Seagate and Acronis will deliver Acronis Archival Storage, an S3-compatible storage solution for infrequently accessed data, integrated with the Acronis platform. Acronis will incorporate Seagate’s Lyve Cloud Object Storage—an S3-compatible platform—into its archival storage offerings to help MSPs deliver seamless, cost-effective, and compliant storage. Seagate Lyve Cloud offers enterprise-grade security features such as encryption of data in-transit and at-rest, as well as role-based access control, identity and access management, immutability options, and it supports ISO 27001 and SOC 2 standards.
This solution is tailored for MSPs and IT leaders in regulated sectors like healthcare, finance, legal, utilities, public administration, and more.
“Seagate’s global leadership in mass-capacity storage perfectly aligns with Acronis’ goal to offer MSPs the integrated archival storage that prioritizes security, compliance, and cost efficiency,” said Gaidar Magdanurov, Acronis president, in a press statement. “With over 60% of organizations managing over 1PB of data, archival storage is a necessary solution to keep storage costs manageable. Our partners will be able to address the rapidly growing demand for long-term storage of data, and address compliance, legal, and security requirements of their customers.”
M&A – MSPs
CompassMSP acquired Simplegrid Technology, a New Jersey-based MSP specializing in financial services, legal, and healthcare verticals. With the acquisition, Simplegrid gains access to CompassMSP’s national network of more than 350 experts and expanded capabilities while maintaining its trusted relationships and culture. Founded over 40 years ago, CompassMSP was acquired by Agellus Capital and merged with BlackPoint IT Services in February 2025. The Simplegrid acquisition further strengthens CompassMSP’s Northeast presence.
People
Long-time channel blogger, podcaster, and MSP consultant Richard Tubb signed off from his Tubblog this week and is closing the media business after 21 years in the managed services industry. He says his next chapter will still be in the managed services industry, working behind the scenes with vendors, and he plans to keep writing non-MSP books, with his fifth one publishing soon … Barracuda appointed Rohit Ghai as its new CEO. Ghai, who will also join the Barracuda board of directors, was previously CEO of RSA. He succeeds Hatem Naguib, who stepped down as CEO, a role he has been in since 2021 …
… SentinelOne appointed Ana Pinczuk president of product and technology, effective immediately. Her leadership track record spans product and technology leadership roles at HPE, Anaplan, Veritas, and Symantec, as well as senior executive positions at Cisco, and AT&T, and she has served on SentinelOne’s board of directors since 2022. Pinczuk succeeds Ric Smith, who will be departing the company to pursue new opportunities.
By the Numbers
AI Demand Is Outpacing MSP Preparedness
AI is unlocking major growth opportunities for MSPs, but many are struggling to keep pace with customer expectations for readiness, security, and simplicity, according to the third annual Global Managed Security Survey from OpenText.
The survey of more than 1,000 MSPs found that 92% are experiencing growth driven by AI interest, and 96% expect that trend to continue this year. Yet only about half feel prepared to guide SMB customers in adopting AI tools, citing limited resources, tool sprawl, and the challenge of standardizing services across customer environments. This marks a sharp decline from last year, when 90% of MSPs felt ready to meet AI-related security needs—highlighting that the readiness gap is rapidly widening, not closing.
In addition, less than half have built or deployed AI cybersecurity agents for SMB customers.
However, many MSPs are using AI internally to build expertise: 67% use it for customer support, 66% for technical support/ticket triage, and 58% for threat detection and response.
For SMBs, AI expertise has become the third most important MSP attribute, following threat prevention and 24/7 support, according to the report.
MSPs, the AI expertise race is on.
