Palo Alto's Purchase, Windstream's Pickle Lead the Weekly Wrap

A bankruptcy story always draws eyeballs.

Declaring bankruptcy of course isn’t as dismal a situation as you might expect; after all, I read this morning that Cindy Lauper and Walt Disney filed for bankruptcy, and they turned out just fine. I grew up associating the bankruptcy with the “Dumber and Dumber” scene where Lloyd and Harry found themselves at wit’s end.

As those fellows found out, there’s always a way forward. Avaya was happy to learn that lesson as well.

But when one of our industry’s biggest vendors is mulling the possibility of bankruptcy, you can expect people to sit up and notice. The company has by no means decided on the route, but a “surprising” court decision is forcing it to assess its options.

Bankruptcy speculation along with some M&A news and an in-depth cable column, packed our shortened work week with plenty of action. Give our top five list a read, dear readers, and enjoy your weekend.

5. Palo Alto Networks Shelling Out $560 Million for Demisto

Details on the partner impact are hazy, but we learned that Palo Alto will buy Demisto in order to improve its analytics and automation capabilities.

Palo Alto aims to make its threat prevention and response time “immediate,” and sees the security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) provider as strategic step in accomplishing that.

Demisto is known for how it helps customers respond to more threat alerts without involving more humans.

Palo wouldn’t comment on how the deal and subsequent integration will affect partners. We know that it will probably close by the end of next month.

Get details on why Palo Alto is making the purchase.
4. Momentum Telecom Expanding Portfolio With Metro Optical Purchase

Momentum Telecom said it would buy Metro Optical Solutions, which provides managed network, data and internet solutions.

The deal lets Momentum partners sell fiber-based connectivity in addition to several other Metro Optical solutions. Both companies have a channel presence, and Metro typically serves enterprise and carrier end customers.

Read about the recent acquisition.
3. Partner Wins Legacy Telco’s Customer Amid Managed SD-WAN Boom

Although everyone in the channel seems to be talking the talk of SD-WAN, some partners are truly walking the walk.

MNJ Technologies shared with us the story of how they displaced a major carrier that was serving a national electrical contractor. Cost savings, security provisioning and support were three major factors in the upheaval.

That story fit in nicely with a recent study by Global Market Insights (GMI), which predicted a high annual growth rate for managed SD-WAN services.

I wrote a little ditty about the study and MNJ’s story.
2. Comcast, Spectrum, Other Cablecos Dial Up Big Channel Plans

Craig Leddy laid out the first of his Cable Connection columns.

He wrote about the plans and priorities major U.S. cable providers have set in 2019 for their business customer units. Topics in his article include fiber network expansion and the “move up-market” to serve larger customers.

Comcast Business and Spectrum Enterprise in particular got shout-outs.

Check out Leddy’s column.
1. Windstream Bankruptcy a ‘Potential Response’ After Court Defeat

The shocking news came out Tuesday that…… Windstream must pay one of its bondholders about $310.5 million.

Aurelius Capital Management contended that Windstream breached a contract when it spun out copper and fiber assets into a real estate investment trust. An Aurelius statement accuses the CLEC of “playing fast and loose with its noteholders.”

Windstream’s CEO vowed to fight the district court’s decision, and one analyst told us bankruptcy might be on the table as a strategy.

Edward Gately penned the week’s top story; you can get all the juicy details from him.