Monday Morning Impact – May 16

Published On: May 16, 2016Categories: Buzz, Uncategorized

Arrow Electronics Joins Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program

Arrow Electronics, Inc. has announced its participation in the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program, which is designed to strengthen customer relationships and expand cloud sales opportunities.

Arrow will leverage its global base of value-added resellers and managed service providers to sell Microsoft Azure, Office 365, Enterprise Mobility Suite and Dynamics CRM Online subscriptions in the United States and Europe. The plan also includes value-added services delivered globally to the channel, including cross-vendor solutions, go-to-market playbooks and cloud assessment-migration toolkits, in addition to billing and support services.

“To meet the growing demand of our cloud-based solutions, we’re thrilled to expand the capabilities for cloud providers under the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program,” said Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. “By joining the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program, partners will deepen customer relationships and expand business opportunities in the cloud.”

Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than 100,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network of more than 460 locations serving over 85 countries.

Channel Impact®
Cloud-based solutions are emerging as a major driver of IT alliances. We’ve covered a number of these in the past, and expect this trend to continue into the future.

Unify Expands Channel Program and Service Offerings

Unify has unveiled new programs and offerings designed to accelerate channel partner business growth.

The company has made moves to streamline and simplify the on-boarding process, and has made its large enterprise OpenScape portfolio available through distribution, enabling partners to access these solutions more quickly and at a lower cost.

Additional training courses are now available online, with all OpenScape Business training courses accessible via the web. Unify has also reduced the large enterprise certification requirements by 50 percent, resulting in less investment for taking VUE certification tests. In total, between 20 and 56 days of required training have been eliminated by combining implementation and support certification requirements. Additionally, 11 authorized training partners have been added to Unify’s training portfolio, bringing the total global number to 17.

Unify also introduced a new automated solution for the design, pricing, proposal and ordering process, a new guided selling methodology and workflow integration to request special bids, and a new OpenScape Business software bundle to support customer requests and full solution sales.

In the past year, Unify’s partner base has more than doubled in size to over 2,000 partners in more than 50 countries, along with 13 new distributors.

Channel Impact®
Increased emphasis on solutions selling has become one of the underpinnings of contemporary channel strategy. This approach becomes even more important as companies seek to expand their sales penetration with the channel.

New Research Says Security Breaches Impacting Many Organizations

Nearly three out of four organizations have been plagued by at least one security breach or incident in the past year, with about 60 percent of breaches categorized as serious, according to a new report released today by CompTIA, a nonprofit technology association based in suburban Chicago.

The International Trends in Cybersecurity report also reveals that organizations are altering security practices and policies due to greater reliance on cloud computing and mobile technology solutions.

More than 1,500 business and technology executives in 12 countries were surveyed. The report includes data from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Across all countries surveyed, 73 percent of organizations said they’ve experienced at least one security breach or incident in the past 12 months. Self-reported security breaches were most prevalent in India (94 percent), Malaysia (89 percent), Brazil (87 percent), Mexico (87 percent) and Thailand (82 percent). Organizations in Japan (39 percent) and the UAE (40 percent) self-reported the lowest percentages of cybersecurity incidents.

The percentage of mobile-related security incidents – such as lost devices, mobile malware and phishing attacks or staff disabling security features – was even higher: 76 percent across all 12 countries. Mobile incidents were self-reported at the highest percentages in Thailand (95 percent), India (92 percent) and Mexico (89 percent); and in the lowest percentages in Japan (60 percent), the UAE (60 percent) and the UK (64 percent).

Organizations are taking steps to assess and improve cybersecurity knowledge among their employees. Practices include new employee orientation, ongoing training programs, online courses and random security audits. But the results so far have been mixed. Only 23 percent of organizations rate their cybersecurity education and training methods as extremely effective.

Channel Impact®
This data underscores the fact that security training, as well as security technologies themselves, is rapidly becoming a central component of keeping clients safe.

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