Windstream, AT&T, Cisco Among the Week’s Best
The news never stops.
The Channel Partners crew groggily returned from Philadelphia late last week after a successful Channel Partners Evolution, but the industry plugged along as it always has. A steady stream of product announcements, channel program updates and expert analysis keeps the news front interesting. So we’ve compiled seven of the week’s hottest stories to keep you up to date.
Frankly, it was an encouraging few days. Often, our most-viewed posts can have an “if it bleeds, it leads” element to them, but this week’s selection shows an engaged audience. Readers flocked to trend pieces about cybersecurity and software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN). Our most-read story was a humanizing profile piece on a channel leader.
So pat yourselves on the back, dear readers; you have excellent taste. Below are the seven biggest stories from our site this week.
7. McAfee Achieves Cloud Security Vision
McAfee’s CEO said that the acquisition of Skyhigh Networks establishes the “cloud-native” capabilities of the security company. He made the statement at the MPower Security Summit, where McAfee’s channel leader briefed us on the company’s partner strategy.
Learn more about McAfee’s “vision.”
6. Cisco Promotes Sage to Global Position
The networking giant has a new vice president of global distribution sales. Andrew Sage moved up within the organization to take the position and will report to the recently hired Oliver Tuszik. Sage is a company man, having worked for Cisco since 1999.
Lynn Haber has the story.
5. 10 Security Advances that Could Change the Game
The latest installment of our “In Focus” series looks into the crystal ball of cybersecurity. It features interviews with ThreatConnect, Webroot and Imperva executives. A few predictions and rumors we heard: consolidation in the security information and event management (SIEM) market, chip manufacturers “rethinking” their designs, and the prevalence of machine learning and AI.
Check out the gallery.
4. Windstream Enterprise Rolls Out Enhanced XCaaS
Yeah, sorry. Another acronym. But XCaaS in this case is the service Windstream enhanced this month. The offering includes an updated combination of Mitel’s UCaaS and CCaaS (contact center as a service) products. It’s no surprise readers were interested in this story, as Windstream is a popular name in the channel and there might not be a hotter topic than UCaaS.
Edward Gately, our resident unified communications expert, did a write-up.
3. Channel Partners Evolution Expo Hall Gallery
We continue to roll out content from last week’s show. Our galleries usually draw eyeballs, and the CP Evolution show-floor edition proved tantalizing. The gallery shows the interactions between exhibitors and partners, as well as the live stage sessions at the Channel Partners Studio and Channel Futures Theater.
Check out the pictures.
2. SD-WAN Roundup: The Battle Among CloudGenix, Talari, InSpeed, Bigleaf, Versa
This week we made progress cutting through the marketing hype that is the software-defined wide area network. We covered the SD-WAN Thunderdome at Channel Partners Evolution, where Talari, CloudGenix, InSpeed, Bigleaf and Versa fielded blunt questions from moderators and the audience. The moderators forced the vendors to give simple answers to the same uniform questions, allowing the audience to see how the SD-WAN platforms are different.
To learn more about the Thunderdome or to catch up on the rest of the world of SD-WAN, read the latest installment of the roundup.
1. Channel Influencer Spotlight: The Surprising Journey of AT&T’s Zee Hussain
While many stories focus on new technologies and business models and complicated acronyms, we like to highlight human side whenever possible. We took an in-depth look at the life and career of the channel chief and senior vice president of AT&T Partner Solutions. We published the profile of Zee Hussain one year after he took the helm of the carrier’s indirect channel. Hussain made a remarkable journey to where he is today. We interviewed him as the eighth and final honoree of our Channel Influencer awards.
Read the article.
