January 31, 2021
MSP. IT & MSSP Industry Notes
Sponsored by
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 will see better results.
martinwolf M&A Advisors Acquires IT Exchangenet
- martinwolf announces acquisition of IT ExchangeNet
- IT ExchangeNet (ITX) engages with smaller mid-market IT M&A transactions
- Tim Mueller and founder of ITX becomes President of martinwolf
- "We have a long history together, and by officially joining forces, martinwolf and ITX has the opportunity to provide clients an expanded portfolio. I'm excited to leverage our combined network of buyers and sellers to create even more value in the years ahead." Tim Mueller
- Will focus on transactions from 5M to 500M
- martinwolf headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ
- ITX headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio
Lumen Named an Approved Provider for Tech Programs in Georgia and California
- Winn spot as approved technology provider for Georgia Technology Authority & California Network and Telecommunications
- Means state and local government agencies and educational institutions in Georgia and California can now access Lumen's technology services and platform through each state's respective contract vehicle
- Research shows that most IT leaders believe a century's work of technological advancements will take place in the next five years
- As an approved service provider, Lumen can now offer a variety of voice, video, data, network and security services that support agencies in Georgia and California
Thrive Completes Recapitalization with Court Square Capital to Accelerate Growth
- Announced that it has finalized a majority recapitalization with Court Square Capital Partners
- Thrive to accelerate its Next Generation Technology including ServiceNow, Automation and AI
- "We've been actively pursuing an investment in this space for a long time and believe Thrive's NextGen Platform provides a differentiated competitive edge in the marketplace," stated Matt Dennett, Principal at Court Square
Cloud4C collaborates with Google Cloud to build Centre of Excellence
- Cloud4C, collaborating with Google Cloud to build a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for SAP and Anthos by Google Cloud
- Aims to enable enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation journey on the cloud
TeamLogic IT Ranked #19 on the Franchise Times Fast and Serious List
- Provides information technology services on a subscription basis to small and medium-sized businesses
- Ranked #19, up six spots from 2019
- Grew sales and units 76% and 47.8%, respectively, from 2017 to 2019
- Two years ago, the company launched Cybersecurity Essentials
- "Our franchisees are the backbone of our success," said Shapero. "We saw steady demand for the TeamLogic IT brand during 2020, and our franchise network continued to deliver essential IT services to the small- to medium-size businesses making us one of the most resilient businesses in our segment."
Xerox Expands Software Portfolio with Acquisition of CareAR
- Expands growing software portfolio with the acquisition of CareAR
- Career aimed at providing digital transformation tools
- CareAR’s integrates with workflow leader ServiceNow
Fujitsu to embark on restructuring plan
- Reorganization effect April 1, 2021 to promote growth initiatives
- To realize a new structure for R&D, Fujitsu Laboratories, Ltd. will be fully integrated into Fujitsu Limited, and a new organization, Fujitsu Research, will be established directly under the CTO. Fujitsu Research will consist of two units: the "Technology Strategy Unit," which will be responsible for formulating a technological strategy for the entire company by consolidating research and analysis functions located throughout the group, and the "Research Unit," which will conduct leading-edge technology research.
- To accelerate changes to enhance delivery functions (design, develop, deploy, operate, and maintenance of solution services) within the solution services business, 11 major SI group companies in Japan will be integrated into Fujitsu Limited, and 4 will be integrated into Fujitsu Japan Limited (hereinafter, "Fujitsu Japan Ltd.").
- To expand its business in Japan, Fujitsu will integrate its solution services and product-related businesses for local governments, medical and educational institutions, local agriculture, forestry and fishery organizations, and local media, the business producing functions of Fujitsu FSAS Inc. and Fujitsu Network Solutions Ltd., as well as the four SI group companies mentioned above into "Fujitsu Japan Ltd."
Paper shipments continue to decline
Paper shipments continue to decline
- Report from American Forest & Paper Association
- Total printing-writing paper shipments declined 26% in 12/2020
Logically Acquires Nationally Recognized Network Support Company
- Announced acquisition of Network Support Co. (NSC), a provider of managed IT services based in Danbury, Connecticut
- NSC serves local, national, and international businesses across more than 35 industries
- Seventh acquisition since Logically’s inception focusing on becoming one of the top ten managed service providers in the United States
Managed print services to grow - Research published by Technavio
- The managed print services market will grow at 2% CAGR (cumulative annual growth rate)
- Will reach $7.08 billion by 2024
- North America will account for 39% of growth
- Announced integration of ReadSoft Online, a software-as-a-service solution for invoice data extraction and accounts payable automation, with Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform
- Will allow customers to transform procure-to-pay workflows and automate mission critical processes
- Claim it will reduce invoice processing time by as much as 80%
Quocirca survey of remote workers
- Study of employees who are working from home during 2020
- 52% expect to work flexibly between home and office in 2021
- 18% expect to work completely from home
- 35% expect to return to office full time
- 23% have been provided with home printer
- 86% have printer at home
- 42% have upgraded their home printer
- 38% are covering home printer costs themselves
- 40% are able to expense home printing costs
- 56% believe they are more productive at home
- 37% are concerned about security of their home printer
- 34% are tracking documents
- 57% miss the speed of office printer
- 47% miss having someone else responsible for printer maintenance
- 33% believe they will print more when they return to office
CyberSecurity
- Froedtert Health of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, notified 760 patients that their PHI was exposed after being illegally accessed by a former employee.
- Hendrick Health of Abilene, TX notified 640,436 patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Salem Clinic of Oregon notified 20,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack hit Metro Presort, which processes the clinic’s mail.
- The Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) of New York, notified an unknown number of clients that their info was exposed after email phishing attack.
- ADT Inc., headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, notified an unknown number of customers that their video feeds from their ADT security cameras were accessed illegally by a former employee.
- Einstein Healthcare Network of Pennsylvania notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
- HIPAA fines are not just from the feds! HIPAA Journal magazine recently reported on all the fines/settlements that were levied by state attorneys general for HIPAA violations.
- Includes:
- CHS = $5 million
- Anthem = $48.2 million
- Premera Blue Cross = $10 million
- Modern Healthcare magazine warns against most common email compromise attacks:
- Fake vaccine appointments
- Fake invoices
- Fake email requests
- Fake job listings
- Wandera Cloud Security published results of survey:
- During pandemic, employees are twice as likely to connect to inappropriate sites and infect network with malware
- Attacks now occurring on weekends, and less on weekdays due to remote workers
- 76% of executive are worried about security issues caused by remote workers
- 60% of employees are using personal devices to access company network
- 52% have experienced a malware incident on remote device
- Intel Corp. is investing claims that an employee illegally accessed to part of its quarterly earnings announcement before it was allowed to be released.
- Proofpoint Security published results of survey:
- 6% of chief security officers (CSOs) and chief information security officers (CISOs) that ransomware is now the biggest cybersecurity threat they face.
- Other top security concerns:
- Insider threats
- Cloud account compromise
- Email phishing
- Business email compromise
- Okanogan County government offices in Washington notified an unknown number of citizens that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
- The US Department of Health & Human Services reported:
- In 2020, there was a 25% increase in reported PHI breaches
- Breaches have more than doubled since 2014
- At least 29 patients had their PHI exposed in 2020
- Main causes for PHI breaches include:
- 66.82% = hacking/IT related
- 22.27% = insider breaches
- 12.6% = paper records
- The FBI issued a Private Industry Notification, warning businesses that hackers areattacking enterprises in attempt to obtain employee credentials
- Using chat rooms and fishing techniques
- Then uses stolen credentials to access network and steal info and insert ransomware.
- Apple paid $50,000 to two white hat hackers to successfully finding some serious vulnerabilities and accessing Apple’s servers.
- The European Medicines Agency warned that hackers who stole COVID-19 vaccine info, manipulated it before placing it online to undermine trust in the vaccines.
- Malwarebytes Cybersecurity admitted it was hacked by same group that breached SolarWinds IT software.
Comments (0)