Monday Morning Impact – February 15

New Research Measures Confidence in Public Cloud

Barracuda, a Campbell, California-based security vendor has released a new study indicating that IT professionals are becoming more confident in the public cloud, despite ongoing concerns about security.  Overall, the findings indicate that although IT professionals are gaining confidence in the cloud, organizations face growing constraints when it comes to cloud access. More than three-quarters of respondents use multiple cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

Among the highlights, 56% of respondents are struggling to ensure seamless availability and “always-on” access to cloud applications for their organizations. Nearly 70% experience latency and performance issues running SaaS workloads, such as Office 365. More than 70% of respondents are using traditional access methods, such as MPLS, in their organization’s network. More than 60% say their MPLS costs increase heavily due to seasonal workload peaks. More than 70% of respondents have plans to implement an SD-WAN solution in the next 12 months to address cloud-connectivity issues. At the same time, nearly 60% say their organization is hesitant to adopt an SD-WAN solution because of fears that they are complex and expensive.

“As organizations continue to radically transform their infrastructures and rely more on the public cloud, they are uncovering new connectivity and security challenges,” said Klaus Gheri, VP of Network Security at Barracuda. “But by embracing highly flexible secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, organizations of all sizes and types can improve connectivity, simplify management, and strengthen security.”

The report entitled, “Cloud networks: Shifting into Hyperdrive,” is based on a survey of 800 executives, individual contributors, and team managers with responsibility for their organization’s cloud infrastructure. They came from organizations of all sizes in EMEA and the US, across a broad range of industries, including construction, education, finance, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, retail, transportation, and others.

Channel Impact^®
Channel partners can glean a number of useful data points around cloud sales and related security. These can be especially useful among clients or prospects who might still have trepidations about the public cloud.

Datto Rolls out Enhancements to its Global Partner Program

Datto, a Norwalk, Connecticut-based solution provider targeting MSPs, has announced an enhanced Global Partner Program designed to support and reward business growth.

Enhancements include the launch of the Datto Help Center and new support processes, a new unified Datto Community, expanded course offerings in Datto Academy, and renaming the partner tiers to better represent the global partner base.

“Datto’s story is the story of our partners and the MSP community,” said Rob Rae, Senior VP of Business Development at Datto. “The enhancements we rolled out for Datto’s Global Partner Program were built on partner feedback and real-world examples of partner success.”

Datto offers Unified Continuity, Networking, and Business Management solutions delivered through an ecosystem of MSP partners who deliver the company’s solutions to over one million businesses across the globe. In addition to its headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut, Datto has global offices in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Canada, Australia, China, and Singapore.

Channel Impact^®
The updated program is intended to provide MSPs with the resources necessary to drive growth objectives by delivering the necessary technologies, tools, education, and sales and marketing support.

New AppSmart Invest Program Provides Funding to Business Owners

AppSmart, a San Francisco-based division of AppDirect, has announced the launch of “AppSmart Invest,” a new funding program designed exclusively for technology advisors.

The program enables business owners to benefit from an enhanced capital structure while still maintaining full ownership of their business. The program promises fast and fair valuation, upside growth potential, evergreen commissions, and back-office services delivered through the AppSmart Marketplace.

“This state-of-the-art program offers AppSmart’s extensive ecosystem of sales and support to owners,” said Tim Basa, Vice President of Sales at AppSmart. “It gives owners the flexibility to continue growing their businesses without having to exit. In addition to a generous up-front cash amount, they continue to receive long-term residual payments — we call that smart funding.”

Early participants in the program include Global Communications Group, Inc., On Track Communications, US Network, Inc., PSI Network and Netstar Communications, Inc.

AppSmart is a marketplace for businesses and their technology advisors to find, buy and manage interactions with more than 500 technology providers sold through technology advisors, while also providing a workspace for managing these services and a resource for advice, implementation and support.

Channel Impact^®
The program is intended to help channel partners more effectively monetize their businesses.