Monday Morning Impact – November 17

By Ken Presti, Senior Consultant, Channel Impact

Accuvant and FishNet Security Announce Merger Agreement

Accuvant and FishNet Security, two prominent channel organizations focused on security services and solutions, have announced plans for a merger.

Although financial terms are undisclosed, current investors of both organizations, including existing management, the private equity firm Sverica International and FishNet Security’s corporate owner, Investcorp, are maintaining minority equity interests while Blackstone Private Equity Funds will maintain majority ownership in the combined company.

Upon closing of the transaction, Accuvant chief executive officer Dan Burns will become the chief executive officer of the new, combined company, and current FishNet Security CEO Rich Fennessy will remain onboard as an advisor to assist in the integration effort.

“The leadership of both companies realized that we had been trying to solve many of the same problems for our customers, but in slightly different ways,” said Burns. “When we put the two companies together, we will add strength to our similarities and options with our diversity, creating more value for our customers.”

The new, combined company will have more than 1,400 total employees, including more than 650 consultants and engineers stationed across 60 offices throughout the United States and Canada. Benefits of the move are expected to include a broader suite of services and expanded reach throughout North America.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015 pending relevant regulatory approvals.

Avnet Technology Solutions Introduces Avnet Cloud Toolset

Avnet Technology Solutions has launched a new tool set designed to help managed service providers and resellers govern, consolidate, manage and track cloud accounts across multiple cloud providers. By leveraging the newly unveiled Avnet Cloud Toolset, partners will be able to ensure that their Amazon Web Services (AWS) and (IBM) SoftLayer customers are provided with visibility into cloud spending and invoices that accurately track individual and aggregate cloud usage for their organizations.

“One of the benefits of cloud computing is that its services can easily be purchased by individuals within a company to meet their most immediate business needs,” said Tim FitzGerald, vice president of Cloud Solutions, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. “However, this makes it extremely challenging for companies to obtain a comprehensive view of their cloud spending, identify ways to maximize their cloud investments and create a system to monitor usage and spending within areas of their business. The Avnet Cloud Toolset enables partners to solve this challenge for their customers. With the Avnet Cloud Toolset, they will be able to provide cloud consumption details at a departmental level and a transparent enterprise view.”

The system leverages a series of dashboards and customizable reports to provide an aggregated view for partners to track all cloud service usage across their accounts and share this information with their customers.

The Avnet Cloud Toolset is initially available in the U.S. and Canada.

Amazon Web Services Updates Partner Program

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a number of new program enhancements at its reinvent conference in Las Vegas last week.

Highlights included two new partner programs to provide better support and training for managed service providers and consultants, respectively. Training also emerged as a high priority across the board as the company rolled out new training resources for its Premier and Advanced partners, as well.

AWS will offer to fund as much as half of professional services fees for eligible partners, as well as usage fees for specific types of projects.