Popular Stories: Star2Star Acquisition, New Comcast, Spectrum OfferingsPopular Stories: Star2Star Acquisition, New Comcast, Spectrum Offerings

Sangoma‘s Star2Star acquisition caught the channel’s attention this week.

The transaction, which still requires shareholder approval, comes after a year when interest in UCaaS and CPaaS absolutely skyrocketed. Analysts say Sangoma will compete with cloud communication providers like 8×8, RingCentral and Vonage.

Our editors also wrote about product announcements between two cable companies and Cisco Meraki, an interesting funding program geared toward the agent channel and a mind-blowing statistic about marketing.

Read these seven mini-stories before you start your Super Bowl weekend.

7. New Spectrum Enterprise Network Solution Gives Partners an Edge

Spectrum Enterprise unveiled an offering that will help businesses simplify their IT operations.

Executives said the Managed Network Edge (MNE) solution simplifies network management end to end. The solution uses Cisco Meraki’s cloud-based platform.

“It’s a great opportunity for partners to add the managed network edge to their sales portfolio,” said Michelle Kadlacek, vice president of the Spectrum Enterprise Partner Program.

Learn about the MNE offering.

6. What a Waste! 73% of Marketing Leads Never Contacted by Sales

Sales and marketing people need to come together, according to Mojo Marketing founder and CEO Angela Leavitt.

Mojo Marketing’s Angela Leavitt

Leavitt hosted a webinar in which she discussed the historical divide between marketing and sales departments. She argued that the two parties need to eliminate the silo between them and merge into a unified “growth department.”

She also made some intriguing observations about how marketers in the channel may be changing their tune.

Read about the disconnect between sales and marketing.

5. Cisco Meraki Enhancement Expands Comcast Business Teleworker Solution

Cisco Meraki made the news with a cable provider for a second time. This time, with Comcast Business.

Comcast is using Meraki to enhance an existing teleworker solution. Businesses can now manage remote VPN access and traffic segmentation from the cloud-native Meraki platform. Customers also can add 4G LTE backup through the offering.

Get details on the solution.

4. AppSmart Unveils Ambitious Funding Program for Partners

Channel partners offered praise for AppSmart‘s Invest program.

Invest delivers upfront capital and recurring payments to companies that want funding without the strings that banks and private equity firms typically attach. As a result, participants keep ownership of their business while getting access to much needed funds.

See how the program sets itself apart from that of other companies.

3. Mitel Vet Heading Up Zoom Master Agent Channel Sales in Central Region

Zoom’s Jim McGarry

Jim McGarry, who most recently worked as Mitel’s regional vice president of field sales, landed a new job with the popular video conferencing provider.

Zoom tapped McGarry to help it grow its partner program. He said he’ll meet with partners to educate them on Zoom’s portfolio, in addition to strategizing with them.

“I feel privileged to work with our partners on delivering the Zoom story and value proposition to our collective customers together,” he said.

Edward Gately has the scoop.

2. Channel People on the Move: Avaya, RingCentral, More

A new Vonage channel chief, a new Telarus chief revenue officer and a new LogMeIn chief marketing officer.

Executive editor Craig Galbraith wrote about these appointments and more in his monthly recap of personnel changes in the channel.

Check out Galbraith’s production.

1. Sangoma’s Star2Star Acquisition Creates Rival to 8×8, RingCentral, Vonage

Sangoma‘s acquisition of Star2Star will $437 million and significantly impact the channel.

The move reflects Sangoma’s long-term goal of becoming a cloud services company. In addition, an analyst said the Star2Star acquisition ties in well with Sangoma’s previous purchases of Digium and VoIP Innovations.

Learn about the acquisition.