Master agents featured in three of our top five stories this week.

Intelisys and Telarus, two of the largest companies identified by that moniker, made appearances on the Channel Partners website. Intelisys honored a top-tier sales partner, and Telarus announced multiple personnel changes. It won’t shock us if their rivals are busy on the news wire next time around.

Our weekly Friday recap has everything for you: market research, a product update, a webinar and a layoff story.

We assembled the seven stories that generated the most traffic this week. Finish your assigned reading and then commence your weekend as soon as possible.

7. Cisco, SonicWall, Sophos Among Leading Next-Gen Firewall Players

Allied Market Research listed leaders in the industry and estimated its growth.

The next-gen firewall market equated to about $2.6 billion two years ago, but researchers project it to exceed $6 billion by 2025. The study offers some interesting subsets, including that health care will grow in adoption faster than any other industry (16% compounded annual growth).

Check out our recap of the report to find out which 10 vendors AMR highlighted as industry leaders.

6. Webinar: Are You Experienced? How CX Matters in Today’s Market

A couple of experts shelled out advice for making your clients happy.

Carolyn April, director of industry analysis for CompTIA, and Brian Gilman, vice president of product marketing at Vonage, teamed up to unpack the latest data on customer experience. April shared CompTIA research about tools, sales processes and support strategies.

The 56-minute webinar is available on demand.

5. Telarus Promotes 3, Shakes Up Model to ‘Go Deeper’ with Partners

The Utah-based master agent turned its six geographical sales regions into three.

The idea is to reduce the amount of time it takes to get resources and support to customers, as the company deepens niche specialty practices like contact center and cybersecurity. Telarus tapped three longtime employees to run the West, Central and East regions as area vice presidents.

Check out our analysis of the changes.

4. Zoom Unveils Device Support, Channel Programs

Zoom Video Communications bolstered its Zoom Rooms offering and announced new opportunities for channel partners.

The company launched device support and enterprise management for the conferencing system, which already featured video and audio and wireless content sharing. Zoom wants to create a “completely frictionless” experience for the businesses that sell the solution.

Logitech, Yealink and Lenovo are some of the hardware vendors shipping Zoom Rooms kits.

Edward Gately composed a little ditty on the subject.

3. Intelisys Honors Boston-Based Partner for $1 Million Milestone

it’s always nice to see a channel partner catch the spotlight in a sea of news about vendors.

Blue Front Technology Group is Intelisys’ 19th platinum partner, meaning that it is earning more than $1 million per month in transactions associated with the master agent. The two companies have worked together since 2011, and Blue Front’s owner said his firm has undergone a significant transformation to develop an IT practice.

Read all about the award-winner.

2. Ribbon Communications Cuts Jobs in ‘Restructuring Initiative’

We’re back to a layoff story, unfortunately.

Ribbon Communications, in an attempt to “streamline” its operations, will reduce its workforce. The company said in a statement that it plans to consolidate …… “duplicative” facilities and refocus any leftover resources into its research and development. The move will impact Ribbon’s north Texas site and its global software laboratories.

Get details on the downer news.

1. CenturyLink, Verizon Alum to Lead Telarus’ Cybersecurity Practice

Telarus made our list twice this week.

The master took a big step developing its specialty practices by tapping Dominique Singer to lead its cybersecurity practice. Singer, as vice president of business development for security, will work to expand virtual engineering tools and education for partners — and generally make them look more credible in the eyes of customers.

The folks at Telarus enjoyed a working relationship with Singer when he directed CenturyLink’s IT solutions and security unit.

Learn more about what Telarus is doing with its specialty practices.