Staying informed is a constant challenge. There’s so much to do, and so little time. But we have you covered. Grab a coffee and take five while you nibble on these tidbits.
This is the final edition of Channel Bytes for 2023. All of us at CDN wish you a wonderful holiday season, and a Happy New Year. See you in 2024.
DGSI publishes national procurement standard
The Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) has announced the publication of the Canadian national standard for Agile and Open Procurement of Digital Solutions, CAN/DGSI 108. Now accessible for public use, the standard defines minimum requirements for the preparation, development, and execution of challenge-based, agile, and open procurement procedures related to digital solutions.
This milestone, the institute said in a statement, “represents a significant achievement in the ongoing effort to streamline and enhance the procurement process for digital products and services across the entire Canadian landscape.”
Adobe abandons its acquisition of Figma
This week, Adobe and Figma announced that they have called off their US$20 billion deal in which Adobe would have acquired Figma’s product design platform, as a result of regulatory pushback in the U.K. and EU. As a result, Adobe must pay Figma a reverse termination fee of US$1 billion in cash.
“Adobe and Figma strongly disagree with the recent regulatory findings, but we believe it is in our respective best interests to move forward independently,” said Shantanu Narayen, chair and CEO, Adobe. “While Adobe and Figma shared a vision to jointly redefine the future of creativity and productivity, we continue to be well positioned to capitalize on our massive market opportunity and mission to change the world through personalized digital experiences.”
Cisco to acquire security vendor Isovalent
Cisco has announced its intent to acquire Isovalent, an open source cloud native networking and security vendor, to bolster its secure networking capabilities across public clouds. Details of the transaction were not released.
The acquisition of Isovalent, a release stated, “will build on the Cisco Security Cloud vision, an AI-driven, cloud delivered, integrated security platform for organizations of any shape and size.”
Said Jeetu Patel, executive vice president and general manager of security and collaboration at Cisco, “Together with Isovalent, Cisco will build on the open source power of Cilium to create a truly unique multicloud security and networking capability to help customers simplify and accelerate their digital transformation journeys.”
Fortinet partners with Hub350, Kanata North Business Association
Ottawa-based cybersecurity firm Fortinet recently signed a partnership with Hub350 and the Kanata North Business Association (KNBA).
“As Fortinet continues to invest and expand in Ottawa, this partnership with Hub350 and Kanata North further demonstrates our commitment to the region’s growth and the success of Ottawa’s vibrant technology community,” said Bill Park, the firm’s vice president for Canada federal and national capital region sales.
With the launch of the partnership, Fortinet said it “will gain immediate access to Hub350 office space at the core of Kanata North technology park, and facilitate two co-branded lunch and learn sessions in collaboration with Hub350 and Kanata North to further cybersecurity and technology initiatives.”
Spera Security to join forces with Okta
Cybersecurity vendor Okta this week signed a definitive agreement to acquire Spera Security, an identity security platform, a move it said will broaden its identity threat detection and security posture management capabilities.
According to Okta, ”Spera will equip customers with richer insights and technology to elevate their identity security posture management, and quickly identify, detect, and remediate risks.
“It will also allow our customers to uncover threats and misconfigurations not only within their IdP, but also directly within other SaaS and infrastructure applications (i.e. AWS, Salesforce, GCP, GitHub). This will enhance customers’ ability to identify and break down identity silos across the tech stack, such as partially offboarded users or non MFA admins.”
The company went on to say, “the acquisition continues our investment in secure identity product offerings and furthers our vision to free everyone to safely use any technology.”
HCM vendor Ceridian set to rebrand in January
Human capital management (HCM) technology vendor Ceridian plans to change its name to Dayforce, a move expected to become effective next month. The company made the announcement at its INSIGHTS 2023 conference in October.
“The focus on the Dayforce brand signals the ambitions and opportunity of the company – to increase its leadership in cloud HCM as it enables more organizations to realize their full people potential, operate with confidence, and unlock quantifiable value,” the company said.
“As Dayforce, the company stays true to its brand promise, ‘Makes Work Life Better,’ but is expanding how it is done through new innovations and best-in-class experiences across every stage of the customer journey.”
Saudi-based center3 acquires CMC Networks
center3, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi-based telecom company stc, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CMC Networks, a South Africa-based networking solutions provider.
“This acquisition exemplifies our strategic commitment to enter key markets with significant growth potential,” said Fahad Alhajeri, chief executive, center3. “Our previous investment in 2Africa Cable, coupled with this acquisition, underscores our conviction in Africa’s essential role in center3’s future growth. We are excited about the possibilities that CMC Networks will bring including its wealth of knowledge, capability in the African region and promising growth in the Middle East.”
CMC Networks currently services 51 out of 54 countries in Africa and 12 countries in the Middle East, plus regional hubs in key interconnect locations across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific.
