5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

The Week Ending June 2

Topping this week's roundup of companies that came to win is Salesforce.com, which launched a $50 million strategic fund to invest in consulting partners.

Also making the list are Intel, for its new Core X processors; LogicMonitor, for offering new system performance monitoring tools for the channel; solution provider 10^th Magnitude, for Microsoft's recognition of its cloud expertise; and distributor Ingram Micro for its new Hardware-as-a-Service offering for solution providers.

Not everyone in the IT industry was making smart moves this week, of course. For a rundown of companies that were unfortunate, unsuccessful or just didn't make good decisions, check out this week's Five Companies That Had A Rough Week roundup.

Salesforce Launches $50M Fund To Fuel Channel Growth

Hoping to spur channel partner growth that can keep pace with its own, cloud application vendor Salesforce.com this week introduced a $50 million strategic fund earmarked for investment in the company's consulting partners.

The new Salesforce Ventures SI Trailblazer Fund will pour millions into systems integrators on the front lines of enterprise transformation, with an initial focus on partners developing new practice areas or expanding across geographical regions.

Salesforce is growing rapidly – 26 percent in its recently reported first quarter – and Salesforce channel executive Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh said the company must expand its partner ecosystem, especially with consulting partners, to keep up with customer demand.

Intel Goes 'Extreme' With New Powerhouse Core X Processors

Intel debuted its new Core X line of processors this week, including what the chipmaker called "the most extreme desktop processor ever introduced."

While Intel may be guilty of some marketing hyperbole there, the launch of the Core X processors at the Computex conference in Taipei was an impressive demonstration of the company's technology prowess. Core X, with its faster multi-thread performance and mega-tasking capabilities, is targeted toward gaming applications and other high-performance tasks.

Partners applauded the Core X line, telling CRN that the processors are an effective counter-punch to rival AMD's Ryzen processors, which debuted earlier this year.

LogicMonitor Rolls Out New Performance Monitoring Tool Customized For The Channel

LogicMonitor wins kudos this week for introducing a performance monitoring platform for solution providers that improves configuration management and co-management capabilities for channel partners and their customers.

LogicMonitor said it would carve out and elevate components of its core platform that are particularly relevant to the service provider community. Service providers can use the new toolset to onboard customers more quickly and improve problem resolution times.

Service providers typically manage more heterogeneous IT environments than LogicMonitor's direct customers do, a challenge the new platform will help them address.

10^th Magnitude Gets Microsoft's Stamp Of Approval For Azure Cloud Migration Services

This week, 10th Magnitude won Microsoft's Hybrid Cloud and Infrastructure Platform Partner of the Year Award in recognition of the Chicago-based solution provider's data transformation and hybrid cloud solutions.

10th Magnitude has become a go-to partner for migrating customers to Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, offering tools and services that businesses use to analyze their IT infrastructures and develop roadmaps for transforming their businesses and moving to the cloud.

Data center transformation and hybrid cloud solutions today make up 50 percent of 10th Magnitude's business.

Ingram Micro Unveils Hardware-as-a-Service To Drive More Recurring Revenue Business

Sticking with the theme of creating opportunities for solution providers, Ingram Micro has taken steps to simplify the equipment procurement and billing process for channel partners and customers with a new Technology-as-a-Service offering.

This week, the distributor said it would make it possible for solution providers to rent new or refurbished devices to their customers, bundled with cloud and managed services, with only a three-month commitment required. Hardware and services are bundled into a consolidated monthly invoice.

The new Hardware-as-a-Rental program will focus initially on refurbished laptops under warranty with associated cloud services, later expanding into other product lines and equipment.