CRN -- Managed Services News for VARs and Technology Integrators

Head-To-Head: ThinkPad X1 Carbon Vs. Surface Book 2 *
Apple Struggling To Cut Back On Use Of Samsung Displays In iPhone: Report *
Dell EMC CTO: 'Highly Diffused And Distributed' IT Environments Are The Future *
Symantec: We're Excited About Browser Isolation *
Pivotal CFO: We Will Continue To Aggressively Invest In Partners As A Public Company *
5 Companies That Came To Win This Week *
5 Companies That Had A Rough Week *
7 Major VMware vSphere 6.7 Features That Partners Need To Know *

CRN Managed Services News

CRN Exclusive: ConnectWise Taps Ex-Tech Data CEO For Board Slot As Company Considers Outside Funding Options

Former Tech Data CEO Steve Raymund will help ConnectWise think through the pros and cons associated with an initial public offering, taking venture capital or borrowing from banks as it looks to grow.
Denali Advanced Integration CEO Majdi Daher On Giving Back, Global Expansion And His Vision To Be The 'FedEx of IT'

Denali CEO Majdi Daher spoke with CRN about the solution provider's 25th year anniversary, the company's commitment to give back, global expansion and his vision to make his company the 'FedEx of IT.'
10 Things You Need To Know About Office Depot's Eye-Popping CompuCom Acquisition

Systems integrator CompuCom will join forces with Office Depot in a deal that creates an estimated $40 million in annual cost synergies between the two companies. Here are 10 keys to the acquisition.
Continuum CEO: The Lines Between MSP, MSSP Are 'Absolutely Gone'

Continuum CEO Michael George said the security services offered by MSPs to their clients must go beyond backup and disaster recovery to include comprehensive protection and robust remediation.
Hacker To Continuum MSPs: Simulate Attacks Against Your Clients To Prepare Them For Bad Guys

High-profile hacker Kevin Mitnick said mock phishing emails or phone calls should help inoculate customers against legitimate bad actors who attempt to pull off attacks similar to the simulations.
CRN Exclusive: Continuum Unleashes Robust Managed Security Bundle To Help MSPs Keep Clients Safe

Continuum's two new security offerings will help MSPs customize their security profile to address specific customer threats and respond to breaches by leveraging the vendor's security operations center.
CRN Exclusive: Kaseya Unveils Automated Office 365 Billing Tool To Boost MSP Margins

Kaseya executives said the company's new automated billing offering will dramatically reduce the amount of time MSPs have to spend manually reconciling backend Office 365 invoices.
Distinguished Xerox Partner Just-Tech Buys Apple Valley Office Products To Accelerate Managed IT, Custom App Businesses

This deal is the second acquisition in the past six months by Just-Tech, a La Plata, Md.-based solution provider.
Continuum CEO: Words Can Not Express 'Sorrow' For All Those Impacted By Las Vegas Mass Shooting

Michael George, the CEO of MSP platform provider Continuum, which is holding its Navigate 2017 conference in Las Vegas this week, said the company and its partners will endure in the wake of the "immoral acts against mankind."
CRN Exclusive: New Signature Star David Geevaratne Joins BitTitan To Anchor Channel Sales Offensive

In his new job, New Signature Co-Founder David Geevaratne is committed to showing BitTitan's channel partners exactly how to leverage the platform for more than migrations to Office 365.
General Datatech, Using Predictive Analytics, Might Fix Your Next IT Issue A Month Before It Happens

The Dallas-based solution provider said its SAP HANA platform has enabled a faster, more streamlined ITOA experience that allows for predictive analytics via machine learning tools.
From Biotech To Beer: 5 Ways HPE Partners Can Be Midsize Enterprise Problem-Solvers

HPE Chief Creatologist Joe Batista at the Midsize Enterprise Summit discusses midmarket workload case studies that include IoT for football fans, layer optimization for a brewery, and hyper-converged infrastructure for a biotech firm.
Webroot Exec: Partners Should Get Back To Security Basics And Double Down on Backup, Patch Management

Webroot VP David Dufour said channel partners can get distracted by news reports around Jeep hacks and data exfiltration and lose sight of the more mundane day-to-day threats their customers face.
Autotask Execs Aim To Help MSPs Prosper With A Platform That Adds Value, Context To Business Data

With one connected experience across PSA, RMM, file sync and other functions, Autotask says it frees up time for solution providers to focus on end users.
President Clinton To Autotask MSPs: Tech Interdependence Creates Enormous Opportunity For IT Sector

Former President Bill Clinton told Autotask Community Live that IT executives must respond forcefully to unanticipated threats while not losing sight of why they got into the business in the first place.
Gartner: 5 Key Technology Trends For Midsize Enterprise Companies

At the Midsize Enterprise Summit, Gartner research director Mike Cisek highlights a handful of alternative approaches IT decision-makers should consider as midmarket budget and staffing limitations continue.
CRN Exclusive: Autotask Finds MSPs Grappling With More Endpoints, Data Security Challenges

Autotask's Pat Burns says the transition to the cloud and the increased prevalence of users with multiple devices have boosted the number of endpoints MSPs have to manage.
NinjaRMM Readies Outbound Sales Push, International Expansion And More Visibility Under Channel Vet Daumard

Francois Daumard, a channel executive with previous stops at Microsoft, Apple, IBM and AVG, said NinjaRMM offers a unique tool, user experience and can rise to meet the demands of the channel.
HP Partners Pumped Up For Future Sales Growth; Security Innovation Is A Huge Sales Driver

HP partners tell CRN that the future in services centered around HP's printing and personal systems, particularly in security, looks bright.
Channel Sales Chief Jensen Kicks Recurring Revenue Strategic Selling Into High Gear With HP University

HP University is aimed at getting partners to drive multiyear strategic services deals instead of transactional hardware-based sales.

Slide Shows

	Head-To-Head: ThinkPad X1 Carbon Vs. Surface Book 2 The CRN Test Center compares the latest editions of the workhorse laptops from Lenovo and Microsoft. Here's how Lenovo's 6th gen ThinkPad X1 Carbon compares with Microsoft's Surface Book 2.
	5 Companies That Came To Win This Week For the week ending April 20, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their 'A' game to the channel.
	5 Companies That Had A Rough Week For the week ending April 20, CRN looks at IT companies that were unfortunate, unsuccessful or just didn't make good decisions.