5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

For the week ending Dec. 16, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their ‘A’ game to the channel including Palo Alto Networks, Snyk, Nerdio, Kyndryl and Aligned Data Centers.

The Week Ending Dec. 16

Topping this week’s Came to Win list is Palo Alto Networks for its plans to launch major enhancements to its partner program over the next year.

Also making this week’s list are DevSecOps tech developer Snyk and Microsoft virtualization services provider Nerdio for impressive funding rounds at a time when venture funding is tough to find.

Infrastructure services provider Kyndryl makes the list for its continued expansion beyond its IBM roots, offering customers new application modernization services for the leading cloud platforms. And data center services provider Aligned Data Centers is here for a strategic acquisition that expands its reach in Latin America.

Palo Alto Networks To Roll Out Major Partner Program Enhancements Over The Next Year

Palo Alto Networks this week outlined plans to make major enhancements to its global partner program over the next year in response to changes within the company and the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape.

The company, which held its annual Ignite conference in Las Vegas this week, has already begun moving separate global partner programs into its NextWave program to create what Karl Soderlund, head of North America ecosystem sales, called a more “holistic” program.

Palo Alto Networks, which has some 10,000 partners worldwide, plans to offer partners new opportunities to specialize in specific product and service niches as they seek to strengthen ties with the cybersecurity tech developer.

In addition tothe product specializations Palo Alto Networks already offers around Prisma Cloud, SASE (secure access service edge) and Cortex XDR, the company will add specializations in NextGen hardware for firewall, NextGen software for firewall and Cortex XSOAR.

Some of the channel program moves are driven by market changes including widespread migration to the cloud and the increasing use of SASE and ZTNA (zero trust network access) technologies. Palo Alto Networks’ acquisition of 14 companies in recent years and the company’s evolution into a cybersecurity industry powerhouse are also factors.

Snyk Raises $196.5M In Latest Funding Round, Eyes Potential Acquisitions

Snyk, a provider of developer security technology, this week raised $196.5 million in a Series G round of funding that put the company’s valuation at $7.4 billion.

The sizable funding round, which would be impressive even in the best of times, is all the more notable given how financing for startups has all but dried up amid the current recession talk.

The new financing comes as Snyk closes out a 2022 in which the Boston-based company doubled its revenue year over year and achieved a net revenue retention rate of more than 130 percent. The company said it now has more than 2,300 customers including AB InBev, Comcast, Dun & Bradstreet, Manulife and Salesforce.

Snyk said the additional funding will fuel the company’s continued growth and product innovation in 2023, allowing it to enhance and expand its DevSecOps platform organically and through strategic acquisitions.

Nerdio Boasts $117M Funding Round, Plans To Double Its Employee Count

Snyk wasn’t the only company pulling in additional venture financing this week. Nerdio, a provider of Microsoft Azure and desktop virtualization automation services for businesses and MSPs, raised $117 million in a Series B funding round.

CRO Joseph Landes told CRN that the Chicago-based company will use the new funding to double its employee roster (now about 100 employees) over the next year and add sales staff to grow its international presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Brazil, New Zealand and India.

The additional funding comes as Nerdio sees accelerating demand for its Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop and Desktop-as-a-Service offerings.

Nerdio’s Microsoft DaaS management offerings help Microsoft partners deploy native virtual desktops, simplifying the provisioning and management of Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365 and Intune.

Kyndryl Unveils Cloud-Native Services For AWS, GCP And Microsoft Azure

Global infrastructure services provider Kyndryl continues its aggressive expansion since its spinoff from IBM, this week introducing new cloud-native services that help customers modernize applications for use on Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure.

The need for such services is exploding as businesses increasingly adopt cloud-native platforms for their applications, including hybrid applications or modernized legacy applications. Cloud-native platforms are expected to be the foundation for more than 95 percent of all new digital initiatives by 2025, up from 40 percent in 2021, according to Gartner.

The new Kyndryl Cloud Native Services is aimed at helping customers migrate, modernize and optimize their critical workloads in hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Before late 2021 when it was spun out from IBM, Kyndryl was IBM’s managed infrastructure services operation, focused on the IBM cloud and on-premises data centers. This week’s announcement around the three major cloud platform providers demonstrates how quickly the company has set its own course.

Aligned Data Centers Moves Into Latin America With ODATA Buy

Aligned Data Centers struck a deal this week to acquire ODATA, a massive Latin America data center provider, in a move that will make Aligned one of the largest data center service providers in the Americas.

ODATA is one of the fastest-growing hyperscale data platforms in Latin America and the acquisition will provide Plano, Texas-based Aligned with facilities strategically located across Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, as well as additional data centers currently under development across the region.

Once the deal closes, Aligned will have a total of 30 sites at full build-out with an energy capacity of 2 gigawatts. By comparison, Amazon Web Services, the world’s largest data center operator, has some 120 data center sites.

Aligned anticipates rapidly growing data center service needs in Latin America over the next 10 years, and the ODATA acquisition will position the company to capture that business.