Channel Partners’ Top 12 Stories in December

Some familiar stories popped up in our December top-stories recap.

Three – that’s right, three – posts that you liked in November were back for another run at our top 12 last month; in fact, two of them were again in the top three.

Among them: AT&T decides to shed some legacy services in a handful of states; Dell EMC teases what partners can expect from its combined partner program come Feb. 1; plus, highlights from ShoreTel and WTG events.

Per the norm, our list features a combination of the most-read stories on our website and from our weekly newsletters.

What was No. 1? Click through our gallery to find out!

Looking for more top stories? Click here to see our most-read posts in November.

Follow executive editor @Craig_Galbraith on Twitter.

OK, let’s get the doom and gloom out of the way first.

Our semiannual layoff tracker recapped a tough year that some former employees had at places like CenturyLink, Level 3, Verizon and Microsoft. In most cases, the companies cited restructuring or that cuts would better support the business over the long haul.

Dell EMC gave partners a glimpse of how they will fit into the newly merged company’s unified partner program.

Cheryl Cook, vice president of global channels and alliances, told us that she and her colleagues are busy categorizing partners from the Dell Partner Direct and EMC Business Partner Program in the new partner program that will launch Feb. 1.

The fine details for eligibility requirements and revenue thresholds are forthcoming, but Dell EMC notified partners about a fairly straightforward way to determine whether they will be in the Authorized, Gold, Platinum or Titanium tier of the unified program. Those in good standing in the previous programs will fit into the equivalent level with Dell EMC.

More details are here.

In a post we’ll no doubt review for accuracy at the end of the year, we polled some industry insiders about what they think is in store for the channel in 2017.

From digital transformation to business strategy, here’s what these experts had to say after peering into their crystal balls.

We introduced you to Craig Stilwell, new VP of worldwide partner strategy and sales at Citrix.

He is tasked with strengthening the company’s commitment to its partners, and supporting their long-term success and profitability.

Stilwell has been with Citrix for 17 years and has a long history of sales and channel leadership, having served as vice president of Americas channel sales and field operations.

Click here for the full scoop on Stilwell.

Master agent WTG welcomed agents to the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage, California, for a couple of days of relaxation, education and networking.

WTG devoted the first day to vendor presentations, allowing sponsors like 8×8, Birch and Cal Net Technology Group to showcase their products to the agents.

Day two featured a panel of IoT experts. Our recap and gallery showcase it all.

You like reading about newbies.

Our profile of 10 hot startups in the channel community cracked our top 12 in November and again in December.

Several are storage providers; others offer cloud migration, analytics, data-center services, security — or a combination of two or more of these hot services.

Want to see who we featured? Click here.

When a big telco says it’s shutting down some legacy services, the Channel Partners audience sits up.

In December, it was AT&T’s turn. The Dallas-based behemoth asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to discontinue numerous legacy TDM-related services in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

In its FCC filing, AT&T said there is no market demand for these service options. The telco said it “currently has no customers that subscribe to these service options and has not had any requests seeking these service options in the previous two years.”

Read more about the move here.

At Ingram Micro ONE in Las Vegas late in November, CEO Alain Monié talked about what to expect doing business with the company going forward, a glimpse at 2017 and beyond for the distributor, and partner opportunities ahead.

When asked if the company’s $6 billion acquisition by Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co. is a positive, Monié had this to say:

“It’s good for channel, it’s good for you, and it’s good for us. I think there are things that are absolutely not going to change, such as the way we partner with you, the way we’re trying to help you get the most with your customers, with the vendors — that is not going to change. But a number of other things are going to change in that we’re going to be in an environment where we can invest faster and we can take higher risks … without Wall Street watching every quarter, which kind of limits the ability to invest in higher technologies at a faster pace. So on one hand things are not going to change, but on the other hand it’s going to be a very good way for us to accelerate our investments and bring to you technologies and business models that, until now, were difficult to put in place.”

Learn more about the acquisition and read the full Q&A here.

More than 1,000 ShoreTel partners gathered for the ShoreTelOne Global Partner Conference at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Don Joos, ShoreTel’s president and CEO, told partners his company has come a long way from being “just a phone company” and has aggressively pursued transformation to make interaction “simple on every level.” The company shared strategy and got partners on board with its mission.

View images and a get a recap of the event – including who took home awards – here.

Our monthly Channel People on the Move segment struck gold again, coming in at No. 3.

This edition featured new hires and promotions at MegaPath, TBI, Electric Lightwave-Integra and more.

Our combo of Case Study Challenge submissions, first published in April, attracted a lot of eyeballs last month.

Contributions from AlienVault, Cryptzone and Effortless illustrated some great ways to beat complaints about security.

This story has legs.

Late in November, reports surfaced that Avaya is nearing a deal to sell its call-center business and could be heading toward chapter 11 bankruptcy. It would become our top story in that month as well as our most-read story in all of 2017.

Buyout firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice is among the potential buyers of the call-center business, the Wall Street Journal reported. The sale could yield about $4 billion for Avaya.

If the sale happens, Avaya could use the proceeds to pay back some of its senior debt, while other creditors could swap debt for ownership in a reorganized company upon its emergence from bankruptcy, the article said.

Read the full story here.