Monday Morning Impact – September 5

Radware H1 2022 Report: Malicious DDoS Attacks Climb 203%

Radware, a New Jersey-based provider of cyber security and application delivery solutions, today released its First Half 2022 Global Threat Analysis Report, indicating that Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have tripled during the first six months of 2022.

“The threat landscape saw a marked shift in the first half of 2022,” said Pascal Geenens, director of threat intelligence for Radware. “As Russia invaded Ukraine, the cyber focus changed. It shifted from the consequences of the pandemic, including an increase in attack surfaces driven by work from home and the rise of underground crime syndicates to a ground swell of DDoS activity launched by patriotic hacktivists and new legions of threat actors.”

The first six months of 2022 were marked by a significant increase in DDoS activity across the globe. Attacks ranged from cases of hacktivism to terabit attacks in Asia and the United States.

The number of malicious DDoS attacks climbed 203% compared to the first six months of 2021, according to the report. There were 60% more malicious DDoS events during the first six months of 2022 than during the entire year of 2021.

During the first half of 2022, patriotic hacktivism increased dramatically. Both established and newly formed pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian cyber legions aimed to disrupt and create chaos by stealing and leaking information, defacements, and denial-of-service attacks.

“No organization in the world is safe from cyber retaliation at this time,” Geenens warns. “Online vigilantes and hacktivists could disrupt wider security efforts driven by nations and authorities. New legions of actors could introduce extreme unpredictability for intelligence services, creating a potential for spillover and wrongful attribution that could eventually lead to an escalation of the cyber conflict.”

Outside of the war realm, retail and high-tech topped the list of industries for most web attacks.

The mid-year report leverages intelligence provided by network and application attack activity sourced from Radware’s Cloud and Managed Services, Global Deception Network, and threat research team.

Channel Impact^®
The data suggest that the global political climate increases risks at widely ranging levels.

VMware Rolls Out Next Evolution of Partner Connect

VMware has announced the launch of its next evolution of VMware Partner Connect – the company’s global partner program. The new framework is intended to align to today’s cloud, services, and solutions-centric business models. When comparing VMware’s most profitable partners to the worldwide averages: more than 80% of revenue from their VMware practice is driven from services (cloud, managed, professional); services profit is 1.5X higher; and professional service days revenue is more than 2X higher, according to the company.

“VMware has applied learnings from thousands of partners to drive the next evolution of Partner Connect and help partners perform while they transform,” said Tracy-Ann Palmer, vice president, Partner Experience, Programs and Investments at VMware. “We now have one unified partner program that will be more flexible and efficient, with simpler paths to progression and more tools to help manage partners’ VMware business. We’re optimizing incentives and programs to help partners take their SaaS and subscription businesses to another level and capitalize on cloud-centric business models and economics.”

The updated program features a new point system, simplified tiering, a business model orientation, and a stronger emphasis on self-service and automation. Partner Connect will reward partners for different ways they create value, including both performance and capability activities. Progression in the program will be based on the new points system rather than a complex mix of IT pathways. Partners that progress to the new Pinnacle tier will experience greater financial benefits and VMware engagement, including managed account coverage, joint business plan development, and access to higher-level programs.

Additionally, Partner Connect will now support four different business models under a single program: Solution Services, Solution Builder, Cloud Solution Provider, and Solution Reseller. VMware will deliver a new self-service dashboard that provides partners with visibility into where they stand in the Partner Connect program. Partners will be able to track their progression, incentives earned, competencies achieved and other valuable telemetry for managing their VMware business.

With the new Partner-Led Customer Success Specialization, partners now have three options to execute Customer Success. Partners can build their own comprehensive offering through the Specialization, collaborate with VMware on Customer Success activities, or resell VMware Success 360. These options enable partners to guide customers through all the stages of their multi-cloud journey with VMware solutions, while providing a consistent method of working with customers to help them continually realize value and achieve outcomes faster.

A new demonstration lab has also been added.

Channel Impact^®
The enhancements are intended to recognize and reward partner capabilities and performance while delivering an elevated partner experience.

Ingram Micro Cloud Launches New Program to Help Partners Grow Their Customer Bases

Ingram Micro Cloud has announced the launch of its latest initiative toward more streamlined customer success, the Ultra Membership Program.

Aimed at the full range of channel partners, but perhaps best suited for growth and solution-oriented VARs and early-scale MSPs. Ultra is a paid structured membership program designed to grow partners faster, while streamlining customer success and driving value. At $199 per month, the subscription’s benefits are split across four distinctive categories:

“Ultra Insights,” which provide partner specific lead opportunities, end customer retention reports, whitespace analysis to visualize key growth areas, skill enablement and access to certification courses; “Ultra Automation” which supplies free user licenses for the CloudBlue Professional Services Automation tool (CloudBlue PSA) white-label marketplace PRO, and advanced integrations of their current PSA, ERP, or CRM tools; “Ultra Knowhow”, which is a certification program; and “Ultra Exclusives” which provides access to special channel incentive programs, practice development engagements, and certification vouchers.

“Partners seeking advanced insight into their recurring and consumption-based business and requiring consulting to take action on this data and the automation tools to scale, will be delighted to find that the ULTRA Membership Program is their one-stop-shop for actionable, big-picture, strategic thinking,” said Eric Gitter, executive director of global customer success, Ingram Micro Cloud.

Channel Impact^®
The new subscription program is now available through the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace in the United States and Canada and is designed to help VARs and MSPs expand their customer networks and increase profitability.