Monday Morning Impact – January 25

Tech Hiring Stands Out in December Jobs Report

U.S.-based IT companies increased employment by a net 22,200 workers while IT occupations throughout the economy grew by an estimated 391,000 positions in December, according to CompTIA, the nonprofit trade association based in suburban Chicago.

The positive tech employment news stood in contrast to a month in which the U.S. economy lost 140,000 jobs, according to today’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Tech hiring continues to bring a degree of stability to a still fragile labor market in an incomplete recovery,” said Tim Herbert, executive vice president for research and market intelligence at CompTIA. “With projections of employer demand for tech talent remaining strong in the year ahead, we hope tech can continue to serve as a catalyst for business and career opportunity.”

The tech occupation unemployment rate was 3% in December, compared to 6.7% for the overall economy. Tech unemployment started 2020 at 3% and ranged from a low of 2.4% to a high of 4.6% during the year.

During 2020 the U.S. IT sector recorded six months of employment growth and six months of job losses. IT occupation employment experienced seven months of growth and five months of declines in 2020. Last month’s addition of an estimated 391,000 new positions represented the largest monthly gain last year.

Industries with the largest number of tech jobs postings included professional, scientific and technical services (38,215), finance and insurance (18,054), manufacturing (14,872) and information (12,406).

Employer hiring for emerging tech job roles and skills reached 57,509 for the month, a slight increase from November. As a percentage of overall technology job postings, emerging technologies accounted for 28% in December, up 6 percentage points over the January 2020 rate of 22%.

Channel Impact^®
The data underscore the relative health of the Information Technology sector.

Intel Unveils New Partner Alliance to Unify its Channel Programs

Intel has launched Intel Partner Alliance, unifying the company’s Technology Provider, IOT Solutions Alliance and Cloud Insider programs into a single offering for the company’s full partner ecosystem.

“The new Intel Partner Alliance will better reflect the diversity of business models among partners and give them the opportunity to maximize program benefits,” said Eric Thompson, general manager of Intel Global Partner Enablement. “We appreciate each of our partners for their continued collaboration to bring new technologies to life for our customers across the world.”

The launch is anchored by a redesigned portal that will incorporate the Intel Partner University and the Intel Solutions Marketplace into one platform.

Key elements of the new Intel Partner Alliance include a stronger focus on a wider variety of partner roles, including field programmable gate array design services, cloud service provider, independent software vendor, distributor, manufacturer, solution provider, original equipment manufacturer and service integrator.

Intel Partner University will feature deeper training to help partners to grow their expertise on a variety of topics, solutions and specialties.

The Solutions Marketplace features new opportunities for partner connections and matchmaking, lead generation and management, and storefront monitoring.

Channel Impact^®
The new program is designed to enhance Intel’s relationship with partners, strengthen interactions among partners, improve customer experience, and accelerate new market opportunities.

Sada Launches Alliance Program to Better Support SaaS Companies

Sada, a Los Angeles-based technology consultancy focused on Google Cloud, has launched a new partner program designed to help Software as a Service (SaaS) companies accelerate their growth and maximize the value of Google Cloud.

Benefits include access to an assigned account manager Google Cloud Platform training, cost optimization exercises, whiteboard sessions, 24×7 support, co-branded marketing collateral, a guest appearance on the Cloud N Clear podcast, sales enablement sessions and materials, and targeted lead-generation.

“With a client list that spans healthcare, media and entertainment, retail, manufacturing, public sector and cloud natives, Sada has the experience to help companies in every industry move to and use Google Cloud,” said Nikki Harley, Strategic Alliance Manager at Sada. “Our SaaS Alliance Program extends that expertise to innovative software companies, so they can scale their business faster and more successfully.”

“Our alliance partners benefit from SADA’s technical expertise, sales and marketing experience, and relationships with Google Cloud,” said CEO Tony Safoian. Our clients win because they’re gaining access to a large ecosystem of technology partners that have been trained to help them achieve digital transformation and maximize their investment in Google Cloud.”

The SADA SaaS Alliance Program officially launched with four B2B cloud-native companies: Cysiv, PacketFabric, Quantum Metric, and Virtru.

Channel Impact^®
The initiative is intended to guide software companies in the use of Google Cloud technology to drive innovation, enhance their product offerings and align on go-to-market strategies.