5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

For the week ending Jan. 20, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their ‘A’ game to the channel including ServiceNow, Dell Technologies, Cloudian, Cyrebro and Innovative Solutions.

The Week Ending Jan. 20

Topping this week’s Came to Win list is workflow automation software developer ServiceNow for stepping up its channel game with a new partner program that expands partner resources and incentives.

Also making this week’s list are managed security services provider Cyrebro for its move to go 100-percent channel, AWS star partner Innovative Solutions for its ambitious growth plans, Dell Technologies for a significant upgrade of its PowerEdge server line, and Cloudian for an impressive financing round at a time when venture funding is hard to find.

ServiceNow Rolls Out Expanded Partner Program With New Incentives, Opportunities

Digital workflow management software developer ServiceNow stepped up its channel game this week, unveiling major changes to the company’s channel program with the goal of expanding incentives, benefits and opportunities for partners.

The redesigned partner program, launched at a partner kickoff event in Las Vegas, includes a new Partner Development Fund and new initiatives to facilitate and expand partners’ expertise, differentiate their skills and maximize their unique contributions, according to ServiceNow.

Within the partner program ServiceNow is creating four distinct modules: Build, Consulting & Implementation, Resale and Service Provider; that the company said will help partners better align their roles and routes to market within the ServiceNow ecosystem. New incentives like the Partner Development Fund will help partners develop their expertise and capabilities. And simplified discounts and rebates will boost growth and profitability.

The company also introduced Erica Volini (pictured) as the company’s new channel chief, succeeding David Parsons as senior vice president of alliances and partner ecosystem. Volini has been senior vice president of partner go-to-market operations at ServiceNow since August of 2021. Parsons, meanwhile, is now senior vice president of ecosystem ventures at ServiceNow.

Managed SOC Firm Cyrebro Goes 100 Percent Channel With Partner Program Debut

Staying on the topic of channel commitment, Cyrebro, which provides managed security operations center services to SMBs, makes the Came to Win list this week with its switch to a 100-percent channel sales model and the launch of its first partner program.

Cyrebro previously worked with MSP channel partners on about half of the deals for its managed SOC service. But Cyrebro, which aims to provide enterprise-class security to small and mid-sized businesses, seeks to accelerate its growth with the help of partners and will now pass along every sales lead to the channel.

The new program itself offers such perks as double-digit margins, market development funds and deal registration while providing partners with opportunities to build their own services around the managed SOC offering. MSP partners will have the option of reselling the managed service or white labeling the service for their customers.

The Israel-based company currently works with about 50 partners and hopes to double that number by the end of this year.

AWS Star Partner Innovative Solutions’ Plan To Win 1,000 New SMB Customers

At a time when many IT companies are cutting back, fast-growing AWS partner Innovative Solutions is thinking big with plans to hire 200 new employees as the company embarks on a charge to win 1,000 net-new small and midsize business customers over the next four years with the help of AWS.

This month the Rochester, N.Y.-based company, which has 150 employees, launched a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement with AWS to align their sales, marketing and delivery teams to accelerate the adoption of cloud services targeting SMBs and startups.

Innovative Solutions, an AWS Premier Tier Services Partner, plans to build out new practices in data analytics and machine learning to support customers while also investing to scale its portfolio and list its solutions on the AWS Marketplace.

Dell’s New PowerEdge Servers Built For AI, Security And Sustainability

Dell Technologies’ prowess in the IT hardware space was on full display this week when it unveiled 13 new servers built around Intel’s newest chips to provide customers more computing power across their networks while using less energy than older models.

Dell said the new servers and related tools are designed to help customers manage the complexities of migrating to a multi-cloud world, including simplifying and automating management tasks to reduce systems administration burdens.

Among the new servers is Dell’s PowerEdge R760 powered by the Intel fourth-generation Xeon Scalable processors. The server boosts AI inferencing by up to 2.9 times while also giving a 20 percent boost to the number of virtual desktop infrastructure users, compared to earlier models.

The new servers’ security capabilities, including a supply chain verification feature, are a major selling point, partners told CRN. The PowerEdge servers support every phase of the zero-trust environment with an enhanced component security verification system and a cyber-resilient architecture designed to detect, protect and recover from security threats.

Cloudian Closes $60M Funding Round, Aims To Grow Hybrid Cloud Storage

Hybrid cloud data management and storage technology vendor Cloudian makes this week’s list for closing a new $60 million funding round at a time when private equity financing has all but dried up.

Cloudian said it will use the additional funding to scale the company and develop technology for a growing range of use cases, including data analytics and hybrid clouds, for its software-defined storage products.

The funding round, which brought Cloudian’s total financing to $233 million, attracted a number of strategic investors including Intel Capital, Silicon Valley Bank and Wilson Sonsini Investments.