Coffee Briefings deliver our entire audience – the IT administrators and channel partners as well as the C-Suite – the most complete news package with the latest headlines, interviews, and social media chatter. These briefings drop on Tuesday and Friday mornings. If you missed the last briefing, you’re in luck, because you can find it here. Today’s Coffee Briefing is delivered by ITWC editorial director Alex Coop.
What you need to know right now
It’s what you need to know right now in the world of IT and tech – ’nuff said. (Often taken with a side of Hashtag Trending)
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending
The U.S. labour board dunks on Google for allegedly spying on workers who were organizing employee protests and firing them, LinkedIn gets chatty about business travel, and a COVID vaccine supply chain gets targeted by hackers. Read the full episode transcript here.
======
Listen to the latest episode of Cyber Security Today
Cracking down on crooks, a new trick for infecting payment card readers and vulnerable Google apps. Read the full episode transcript here.
Psst … do you live in Quebec, or speak French, and want to read tech coverage in the French language? Our sister publication Direction Informatique has you covered.
In case you missed it [General IT news]
The recent tech news that we maybe didn’t get to yet, or it’s the news we’ve reported on and feel is worth resurfacing. Sometimes we’ll also feature awesome stories from other publications.
Microsoft announces GA for Synapse, preview for Purview
Microsoft yesterday announced that the latest version of Azure Synapse is now generally available. Microsoft also unveiled Azure Purview, a new data governance solution.
The company says the new solutions are meant to support the recent launch of Azure Availability Zones in the Canada Central region and the recently added capabilities in Canada East.
Microsoft released a preview of Azure Synapse Analytics at Ignite 2019. [Full news release]
====
One in 10 businesses sell your personal data to third parties
Researchers from Atlas VPN published a report this week that highlights the number of companies that sell people’s personal data. The data shows that roughly one in 10 businesses sell your data to third party firms, and the ones that don’t are planning to.
While 24 per cent of SMBs and 21 per cent of corporations do not currently gather customer data, they plan to do so in the upcoming 12 months. A quarter of small and medium businesses and 23 per cent of enterprises do not collect any customer data. The remaining 3 per cent of SMBs and 4 per cent of corporations *do not know* whether they collect client data. Oh, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that if you don’t hold customer data, you’re less likely to get hacked. SMBs that collect customer data typically lose around $117 thousand per data breach — 37 per cent more than their counterparts that do not collect user data. Enterprises that gather customer data also suffer 62 per cent more financial damage due to data breaches. On average, such enterprises lose $1.3 million per data breach. [Full report]
====
In case you missed it [IT channel news]
We also show love for the IT channel. The following are news items that MSPs and resellers might want to know about.
Amazon Web Services launches ISV Partner Path program
At re:Invent this week, Amazon Web Services announced that it’s launching an ISV Partner Path program. This is a tool meant to help independent software vendors to build, market and sell their solutions on the AWS cloud.
The move signals a pivot away from attaching badges to ISVs as a Select or Advanced Technology Partner. Instead, AWS is opting to focus on ISVs’ service-level recognition, meaning badges are earned based on individual software solutions, according to Doug Yeum, the worldwide channel and alliances head for AWS. He also confirmed that starting in January, all existing AWS ISV partners running solutions on or in tandem with AWS will move to the new program, which will also support AWS Consulting Partners in the AWS Partner Network.
====
D&H Canada launches cloud marketplace
D&H Canada this week announced it’s launching the new D&H Canada Cloud Marketplace, offering channel partners a new option for purchasing, provisioning, managing and invoicing multi-vendor cloud and service solutions. The services are accessed through a single portal.
“Channel partners across the country need to accommodate a growing preference to purchase technology through a consumption-based, monthly subscription model,” said D&H’s vice-president of cloud and services Jason Bystrak in a Dec. 3 press release. “The ability to self-provision these services and easily apply them across their customer base allows partners to launch and manage profitable cloud and managed services practices. It’s never before been more critical to provide these services through the cloud, in light of the current environment and the huge increase in remote workers. We’re dedicated to helping our partners navigate that evolution.”
It incorporates a Device-as-a-Service option that lets partners deliver a suite of client devices through a multi-year, subscription-based term encompassing procurement, deployment, device management, services, and lifecycle management.
====
ICYMI – IT World Canada
AWS re:Invent 2020: The product announcements so far [Full story]
AWS re:Invent is back but in an all-new format this year, a virtual one, of course. Available as a free three-week virtual event, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 18, this mega cloud computing event has unveiled tons of new products – because if you didn’t know, AWS has a staggering number of them – and updates over the very first week itself, and we are here to walk you through the most significant ones.
====
Interpol, IBM warn COVID-19 vaccine distribution network under threat [Full story]
Hard on the heels of an Interpol warning this week that criminals are targeting COVID-19 vaccine supply chains comes an IBM report about an under threat distribution network of the now-valuable serum.
====
Salesforce to buy Slack for $27.7 billion [Full story]
Salesforce, a customer relationship management (CRM) company, has acquired Slack for US$27.7 billion.
ICYMI – IT Business Canada
Complaints against telecom and TV service providers down nearly 20 per cent [Full story]
Between August 2019 and July 2020, Canadians filed 15,661 complaints about their phone and internet services. Complaints against wireless services continue to rank first, accounting for 44 per cent of all issues filed. Internet issues ranked second at 27 percent, followed by TV at 15 per cent and landline phones at 13 per cent.
====
A key speaker at Strategic Marketing USA, a Reuters event that featured some of the world’s most influential CMOs, Nidhi Gupta Director, Global Product Marketing, GTM eBay, chronicled the pain points in moving from a dual payment experience, in which buyers and sellers had to manage relationships with both eBay and PayPal to a single eBay branded experience – all during a global pandemic. “It was a change for the better,” she said. “But a change nonetheless.”
====
Non-profit’s CMO says we don’t need more data, we need to use data differently [Full story]
March 2020 changed everything for Americans, and particularly for those over 50, the most vulnerable age group to COVID-19. Feeling adrift in a sea of conflicting reports and misinformation, seniors turned to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) as both a trusted friend and fierce defender.
ICYMI – Channel Daily News
Lenovo Data Center Group delivers new data management solutions [Full story]
This morning Lenovo Data Center Group (DCG) announced several new data centre management solutions, including an all flash array with NVMe SSD storage.
====
VMware has a message for channel partners and customers: The shape of the physical data centre is going to undergo dramatic changes over the next two to three years, and VMware is confident its Virtual Cloud Network is the direction the industry needs to go in.
====
Cybersecurity was top of mind for employers before the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, but once the remote work era was ushered in, no longer did thousands of workers benefit from a corporate firewall. Vulnerabilities like weak passwords on personal computers and poorly secured Wi-Fi routers are just a few of the common risks that come with working at home in sweatpants.
Bookmarks of the week
A few bookmarked tweets that we think are worth sharing with you.
🚨 The @CIOStrategyC is calling all interested parties to join our Technical Committee on Digital Trust and Identity to provide feedback & comment on Part 2: Delivery of health care services of the series on digital trust and identity. Get in touch with us today! #StandardsMatter pic.twitter.com/i7Xr24XlU0
— CIO Strategy Council | Conseil Stratégique des DPI (@CIOStrategyC) December 3, 2020
====
Now available in #MicrosoftTeams – Polls in Teams meetings.
As meeting organizer or presenter, use polls before, during, and after meetings. pic.twitter.com/hI5lyY54Eo
— Anne Michels (@Anne_Michels) December 2, 2020
====
The 3 hour replay of Andy’s #reInvent keynote isn’t available yet, so you’ll have to settle for the @QuinnyPig #reQuinnvent 20 minute rebuttal at https://t.co/sFGw16imVd
Includes fun platypus drawings like this one from least to most cloudy. pic.twitter.com/L7xBs1HjAO
— Stuart Miniman (@stu) December 2, 2020
====
Top technology investments for CIOs and IT:
1. Security
2. Big data and analytics
3. Internet of things
4. Multi-cloud strategy
5. AI /Machine Learning
6. Blockchain
7. Streaming big data
8. Microservices
9. Virtual/Augmented Reality
10. API monetization https://t.co/n2KCOytCOo pic.twitter.com/SVmLqNFj9a— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) December 2, 2020
====
The r/MSP recap
The MSP subreddit community is growing rapidly. It’s also a chatty bunch. With more than 85,000 members as of today, it’s worth taking a look at what they have to say every once in a while. Here are the recent top posts. Click on the posts to view additional responses.
====
