Podcasts

The Buzz: ServiceNow bets on partners to close the gap between AI ambition and AI reality

Podcasts

The Buzz: OMERS-backed Integris targets Australian MSP First Focus, AI agents weaponized for infostealing, M365 E7 launches today

Today’s channel headlines: OMERS-backed Integris announces intent to acquire First Focus, the largest SMB-focused MSP in Australia and New Zealand; NeuShield partners with Ontario-based Data Guards on ransomware recovery that restored 6.2TB in fifteen minutes; and ThreatDown’s ThreatLabs Europe discovers AI agent skills being weaponized to deliver the GachiLoader infostealer. Plus Sublime Security goes 100% channel, Konica Minolta’s AccurioPress C5080, Forescout’s 90-city Mission:Possible partner tour, and Microsoft 365 E7 goes generally available today.

Podcasts

The Buzz: SAS Innovate 2026 special – Viya opens to AI agents, Navigator introduced

A special edition of The Buzz from SAS Innovate 2026 in Washington. SAS opens Viya to external AI agents via MCP, AI Navigator gets automated discovery and lands on Azure Marketplace, and SAS’s chief operating officer gives the most candid AI ROI read of the week. Plus: Microsoft beats Q3 with 40% Azure growth and Copilot at 20 million seats with M365 E7 landing tomorrow, Lenovo acquires Phoenix Technologies’ firmware business, Auvik launches Aurora AI agents for MSPs, and Aviatrix introduces agentic AI containment through the channel.

In The Channel

Do or do not: SonicWall’s Michael Crean on what MSPs keep getting wrong on security

SonicWall’s 2026 Cyber Protect Report frames SMB security failures as seven predictable, preventable sins. In The Channel sat down with SVP Michael Crean – who built one of the early SOC-as-a-service MSSPs before SonicWall acquired it – to dig into what the framework actually means for partners.

Podcasts
Podcasts

The Buzz: AI job cuts top 100,000 for the year, Keeper Security targets phishing at the credential level, and Pia brings zero-touch service desk to Microsoft Teams

More than 100,000 tech jobs have been eliminated industry-wide in the first four months of 2026, with AI cited as a direct cause in nearly half of the cuts. Keeper Security launches real-time phishing defence at the point of credential entry. And Pia’s new Teams-native application brings zero-touch ticket resolution to MSP service desks.

Podcasts

The Buzz: Canadian cyberattacks surge, Microsoft’s AI bundle overhaul lands Friday, and OpenAI goes channel

New CDW Canada and IDC research finds Canadian enterprise cyberattacks jumped 80 percent in the past year, with cloud infection rates at a record high. Microsoft drops new agentic AI-powered 365 bundles on Thursday, May 1. And OpenAI makes a major channel hire, signalling a shift toward building a real partner program.

Channel Programs

Cisco 360, three months in: Canadian partners are responding better than expected

Cisco Canada’s VP of Partner Organization and SMB Sales takes stock of the first quarter of the new Cisco 360 Partner Program – including the partner feedback that caught her off guard, what “Preferred” means now that Gold is gone, and why Canadian partners should start building their adopt-and-renew practices before the incentive structure forces them to.

Podcasts

The Buzz: Acronis launches GenAI Protection, Everpure CEO warns of sustained RAMageddon pricing, and Cisco’s quantum networking milestone

Acronis launches GenAI Protection, giving MSPs a billable way to govern shadow AI across client environments. Everpure CEO Charles Giancarlo publishes an open letter warning of 70-percent average price increases driven by AI-fuelled semiconductor demand – with multi-year disruption likely. And Cisco announces a working Universal Quantum Switch prototype that routes quantum information between incompatible systems without destroying it. Three stories worth your attention to close the week.

Podcasts

The Buzz: HPE expands channel software push, AvePoint highlights AI governance gap, and ESET tracks cyber insurance influence