Partner Trends #012
Your weekly source for news in the world of channel partners, strategic alliances, and partnerships.
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Around the Industry
Uber announced that it would acquire Drizly, the leading on-demand alcohol marketplace in the US, for approximately $1.1 billion. Drizly is currently available in more than 1,400 cities across a majority of the US. Thousands of local merchants currently provide consumers with a large selection of beer, wine, and spirits in the Drizly marketplace. Drizly’s marketplace will eventually be integrated with the Uber Eats app while maintaining its current separate app and will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber.
Box announced that it has agreed to acquire eSignature startup SignRequest for $55 million. The acquisition will allow Box to add native signature capture called Box Sign and opens up new workflows. Box Sign will be included in Box business and enterprise plans allowing customers to securely manage and govern their agreements in the Box content cloud.
Banzai, a professional event marketing leader, announced that it had acquired a webinar platform startup, Demio. The acquisition makes Banzai the first complete open end-to-end virtual event solution that includes lead generation, virtual hosting, and webinar functionality. Banzai will integrate Demio’s webinar platform into its growing list of service offerings.
Hubspot announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire The Hustle, a media company that produces a newsletter, podcast, and premium research content. The acquisition will give Hubspot more ways to offer its community valuable content across a broader range of topics and a more diverse media set. The Hustle currently covers business topics and perspectives and has over 1.5 million readers.
Partner Program Announcements
Datto, the leading provider of cloud-based software and technology solutions for MSPs, announced enhancements to its Global Partner Program. The enhancements include the Datto Help Center launch, a new unified Datto Community, expanded courses in Datto Academy, and new partner tiers representing the global partner base. The changes aim to improve the partner experience and success after receiving partner feedback and real-world partner successes.
Supply chain management startup Tive has announced that it has teamed up with project44, a leader in supply chain visibility for service providers, to launch the industry’s first collaborative supply chain visibility partner program named the Open Visibility Network. The program is the first step in connecting shippers, LSPs, brokers, and customers through collaborative data sharing. Traditionally, data has been limited to only supply chain providers and their customers. Tive will provide the sensors that allow users to monitor conditions of loads thru project44’s cloud platforms.
INOC, a provider of NOC support, optimization, design, and build services, announced its new channel partner program to address the growing demand for NOC services. The newly tiered VISION Partner Program will offer partners access to sales automation, tools, training, and marketing campaigns. Partners can receive incentives based on performance, contribution, and capability.
Partnership Announcements
Following the launch of McAfee’s SaaS portfolio on Ingram Micro’s Cloud Marketplace in late 2020, McAfee and Ingram Micro announced an expansion to offer McAfee’s products and solutions across Ingram Micro’s global distribution network, including its regional Cloud Marketplaces and Centers of Excellence. As a result, mutual channel partners will have access to both McAfee’s products and solutions and Ingram Micro’s security tools and solutions. Both partners will be able to more effectively engage with and strengthen each other’s global channel partner relationships.
Lumen Technologies and VMware announced a significant expansion to their partnership to enable customers to fast track design, development, and delivery of edge computing and work-from-anywhere solutions. Lumen and VMware will form a Joint Innovation Lab to co-develop solutions in edge computing, work-from-anywhere, and security.
TikTok and British advertising and marketing conglomerate, WPP, announced a global partnership to enable WPP agencies and clients to benefit from access and capabilities on the TikTok platform. WPP will have early access to advertising products in development and API integrations on next-generation formats such as augmented reality. Additional benefits from the partnership include a training and accreditation program for WPP agencies and exclusive opportunities for collaboration with select advertisers.
Recent Articles
Sales teams have a habit of working only with a set of favorite partners. My latest article discusses how you can position yourself as the first partner they call.
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