MSP & MSSP Industry Notes for May 24th, 2022

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May 24th, 2022

Arcoa Group

Why partnering with ARCOA makes sense
Electronics Recycling is an important and profitable part of the IT asset lifecycle, but it can be overwhelming with all you already do, varying state regulations, and the limited resources at hand. That’s where ARCOA comes in. When you partner with ARCOA, you get all the benefits of a big company without any of the capital investment. We’ve been doing this since 1989 and have the expertise, certifications, and nationwide resources to get the most for all your clients’ retired IT assets. Plus, positioning your clients as environmental stewards not only elevates their appeal to consumers, it meets government requirements and avoids fines.

What partnering with ARCOA looks like
Our role is to make it easy for you to bring more value to your clients. We work with you to help stretch your clients’ IT budget by reducing the total cost of ownership of their electronics. We’re experts at identifying and implementing the solutions your clients need for the end-of-use remarketing, recovery, and recycling of their technology assets. The sooner you involve ARCOA, the sooner you and your clients.

MOD Mission Critical Achieves AWS Direct Status

• announces that it is now an AWS Direct Connect Service Delivery Partner
• enabling multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud and private-cloud connectivity solutions through its globally available PaaSPort™ platform

Valeo Networks Acquires Next I.T., Further Expanding National MSSP Reach in the Midwest Region

• announced the acquisition of Next I.T., a Michigan-based Managed Service Provider (MSP)
• Financial terms are not being released
• company will continue to operate as DBA Next I.T. (A Valeo Networks Company), and maintain its current Michigan office locations in Muskegon, Kalamazoo, and Traverse City

Microsoft to double employee salaries?

• Press release stated it would “nearly double” its salary budget to retain and hire employees
• Will also increase the stock range by at least 25%
• Looks to reward its workforce that is dealing with rising inflation
• Needs to compete with other tech companies for talent

• Average salary of Microsoft employee is $122,987 with $14,000 bonus (according to PayScale Inc.)

Fax lines to go away?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is going to deregulate the pricing of copper wire- based telecommunications, which was historically used for:

• POTS (plain old telephone service) lines
• Fax lines connected to fax machines or fax boards of MFPs
• Will result massive rate increases in monthly phone line costs for this old technology
• Is expected that phone service companies will phase out copper wire based lines
• Feds wish to promote move to VOiP instead (however, this digital Internet based technology does not traditionally work well with analog fax boards in MFPs)
• This will dramatically increase the opportunity for MFP reps to sell:
• • Cloud-based digital fax solutions

DKBinnovative Announces Partnership with US ENT Partners

• Announces a strategic alliance with US ENT Partners
• DKB will be offering managed IT services and managed security services packages designed for US ENT Partners
• DKBinnovative is a managed IT and cyber defense firm based in Dallas, Texas

Augmentt Provides MSPs with a 360-Degree View into Microsoft 365 Security

• Augmentt Secure now includes managed multi-factor authentication (MFA) alerting and remediation
• “The addition of MFA configuration capabilities to Augmentt Secure answers this call, fills the gaps and streamlines Microsoft 365 security by providing MSPs with the one tool they need to more efficiently audit for compliance, protect against and detect security threats across all of their Microsoft 365 tenants.”

CADAN TECHNOLOGIES, A FUTURIS BRAND, ADDS SECURITY OPERATIONS CENTER SERVICES TO MANAGED IT SERVICES PORTFOLIO

• addition of Security Operations Center (SOC) Services
• enables monitoring of endpoints, networks, and cloud

Hackers sent ransom note to printers

Report published by Secureworks Inc.

• The Cobalt Mirage hacking group of Iran are using the Log4j security vulnerability that exists in many network endpoints devices (including some printers and MFPs)
• After installing their ransomware to take over network, they apparently then force a printer (or MFP) to print out the letter demanding the ransom to be paid, so that victim can get password to take back control of network.

Lock in on Cyber Security with ARCOA

• customer has a staggered refresh cycle, the value of the equipment can be issued in the form of a credit growing over time
• identifying assets that are usually passed over and often have significant value
• Will generate Environmental Impact Reports at no charge

Spending on digital transformation to grow

IDC published report prediction that the Global Digital Transformation solution spending will reach $1.8 trillion worldwide this year, up 17.6% YoY

• will sustain this pace of growth over the 2022-2026 forecast period with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6%
• Statista Research is reporting that the global copier and printer market is worth $9.69 billion for 2022, and is expected to grow at 0.63% annually for 2022 to 2026.

All Covered Ranked #1 MSP by Cloudtango for Third Consecutive Year

• ranked as the top managed service provider (MSP) in the United States by Cloudtango
• Each year, Cloudtango honors the most successful MSPs across the United States
• The fourth year All Covered has been named to Cloudtango’s MSP100 U.S. annual list, and its third time at number one

Sharp's Erica Calise and Naeran Rubio Recognized as CRN's 2022 Women of the Channel

• announce that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Erica Calise, Director of Marketing, Government and Corporate Accounts, and Naeran Rubio, Associate Director, Content & Communications, to its Women of the Channel list for 2022
• Erica Calise has been part of the Sharp family for over 30 years and oversees a team that manages bid-and-response initiatives, contract marketing and contract management
• Naeran Rubio leads a team of professionals that create the organic and paid content for Sharp's channel partners

CloudBank Expands to Accelerate and Broaden Access to Public Cloud Resources

• National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded program that provides access to and managed services for public cloud resources for research and education, has dramatically expanded
• recently released Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), the NSF announced the expansion of the CloudBank program to any active awardee funded by the Computer Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate

Kodak Alaris launches new scanners

adding two new models in its S3000 Scanner Series, the Kodak S3120 Max and Kodak S3140 Max

• top scan speed up to 140 originals per minute (opm)
• on-board image processing enables independent operation and reduces PC resources
• RESTful Web API support delivers document capture via the browser, with no software or drivers required
• 3.5” color LCD touchscreen control panel
• 500-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF)
• Advanced Intelligent Document Protection (IDP) and multi-feed detectors
• • IDP “listens” for problems and notifies users before jams or misfeeds occur
• built-in barcode reading
• Perfect Page technology for superior image quality while scanning at rated speeds.

• • using machine data extraction (OCR/ICR/Forms Recognition)
  • delivers RPA-optimized files
  • Users can even add a custom string of text on documents via the built-in digital stamping feature or optional imprinter accessory.
• Secure Boot, which validates firmware before it executes
• supports enterprise security protocols for scanning over networks, including TLS Encryption and HTTPS
• pricing not announced

Fujitsu Signs Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS to Accelerate Digital ..

• announced that it has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate the digital transformation (DX) of customers in the financial and retail industries
• Fujitsu will deploy these new services for customers in Japan and globally in AWS Marketplace(1). Fujitsu will additionally leverage AWS Professional Services(2) to help customers develop and operate new systems, as well as modernize their existing systems by using the breadth and depth of AWS services
• Fujitsu signed an SCA with AWS to accelerate digital transformation in the mobility industry in May 2021(3)

Palo Alto Networks and Deloitte Deepen Strategic Alliance Into Managed Security Services

• announced the expansion of their existing strategic alliance to offer managed security services to their shared U.S. clients
• Expanded solutions offered as managed services will include:
  • Zero Trust Enterprise Enablement
  • Multicloud Automation and Orchestration
  • Managed Cyber Defense
  • Cyber 5G

Cybersecurity Notes

• Pueblo County School District of Colorado notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed due to ransomware attack.
• Illuminate Education of Irvine, CA, notified 17 million students from the 5,200 school districts across the U.S. that use its software, that student info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• Mesa County School District of Colorado notified 21,000 students that their info may have been exposed due to ransomware attack.
• Coventry School District of Connecticut notified 1,650 students that their info may have been exposed due to ransomware attack.
• DeKalb County School District of Georgia notified 93,000 students that their info may have been exposed due to ransomware attack.
• AGCO Corp., headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, notified an unknown number of customers that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• Fairfield Public School District and Lakota Public School District of Ohio notified over 10,000 students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• Douglas County School District of Colorado notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed due to ransomware attack.
• Omnicell Health of Mountain View, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after a ransomware attack.
• Healthplex of Uniondale, NY notified 89,955 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
• Optima Dermatology (The Dermatology Center of Indiana and Advanced Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center) in Indiana notified 59,782 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
• Steward Health of Florida, which includes North Shore Medical Center, Palmetto General Hospital, Coral Gables Hospital, Hialeah Hospital & Florida Medical Center, notified an unknown number of
  patients that their PHI may have been exposed after cyberattacks.
• North Alabama Bone & Joint Clinic notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.
• WellDyneRx of Lakeland, FL notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
• Xiaorong You was sentenced to 14 years in prison for stealing intellectual property regarding chemical patents while working for Coca-Cola and Eastman Chemical Company and selling it to the Chinese
  government for “millions of dollars”
• City of Quincy, Illinois notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after cyber attack.
• org (“BCO”) is reported to have misconfigured its data storage, exposing “hundreds of thousands” of user files containing sensitive medical images.
• Summit Eye Associates of Hermitage, TN notified 53,181 patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.
• McKenzie Health of Sandusky, MI notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.