5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

For the week ending Feb. 24, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their ‘A’ game to the channel including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Open Systems, Intel, N-able and Celona.

The Week Ending Feb. 24

Topping this week’s Came to Win list is Hewlett Packard Enterprise for its deal to acquire private cellular network technology provider Athonet.

Also making this week’s list are managed service provider Open Systems for launching its new partner program, Intel for vowing to make good on restoring employee salaries this fall, N-able for an impressive financial performance in its first full year as an independent company, and startup Celona for going global with a new portfolio of private 5G offerings for the enterprise.

HPE To Acquire Private Cellular Provider Athonet To Establish Enterprise 5G Dominance

Hewlett Packard Enterprise made a big move to expand its networking and communications technology portfolio this week by striking a deal to buy Athonet, a private cellular network technology provider based in Vicenza, Italy.

The acquisition will allow HPE to expand its edge-to-cloud and telecommunications portfolios. HPE plans to integrate Athonet’s technology into its CSP and Aruba networking enterprise offerings to create a private networking portfolio that meets surging demand for private cellular and 5G systems and services.

Athonet’s technology will let HPE and its channel partners provide private networking capabilities, including private 5G, directly to enterprises and service providers as part of HPE’s Aruba networking portfolio, channel partners told CRN. The new portfolio will include enhanced private networking that combines Wi-Fi and 4G/5G, helping telecom service providers generate new revenue streams.

Open Systems Launches Partner Program For Ontinue MDR Division

Managed service provider Open Systems makes this week’s list for launching a new partner program for its Ontinue managed detection and response division.

With the new program, Ontinue by Open Systems, the company aims to help Microsoft partners extend their security offerings beyond Sentinel and Defender or even start up a security practice. The partner program will support resellers and referral partners with margins, incentives enablement and joint marketing initiatives.

Ontinue promises to bring partners more expertise around Microsoft’s Defender security solution and its Sentinel security information and event management (SIEM) tool, while adding the option for Ontinue’s own Ion platform and a 24-hour globally distributed security adviser and Defender staff.

Ontinue will target about 20 of Microsoft’s top partners to start. But the company is open to using distributors to reach more partners in the future.

Intel Vows To Restore Staff Salaries In The Fall

Earlier this month chipmaker giant Intel said it would reduce the base pay of executives and senior managers, starting next month, as part of the company’s cost-cutting efforts amid reduced sales and profit margins.

But credit Intel with vowing to restore those salaries back to 100 this fall, according to an internal memo from CEO Pat Gelsinger (pictured) seen by CRN. The company is also promising to restore its 401k match program for U.S. employees in January 2024. An Intel spokesperson confirmed the timeline for restoring staff salaries and compensation programs.

“I know these decisions have been hard, and we remain committed to rewarding employees who stay with the company and help us navigate through this challenging time,” Gelsinger said in the memo.

N-able Reports Strong First Year Post-SolarWinds

MSP-focused software developer N-able closed its first full year as a standalone company on an upbeat note, with revenue and income up significantly over the previous year.

President and CEO John Pagliuca (pictured) attributed the company’s performance to “executing on its plans across the board,” despite the uncertain economic conditions.

N-able was spun out of SolarWinds in July 2021 through an IPO that established it as an independent company focused on software and services for MSPs.

During the fourth quarter of 2022, N-able’s ability to deliver strong profits while simultaneously driving revenue growth offered proof of the strength of its model and the robust demand for the company’s platforms and services, Pagliuca said.

Wireless Startup Celona Unveils Globally Available Private 5G Networking Portfolio

Private wireless provider Celona is going global with a new portfolio of private 5G offerings for the enterprise.

The startup has been disrupting the private cellular networking space for the last three years in the U.S., but this week the company unveiled a suite of indoor and outdoor 5G New Radio (NR) products for both U.S. and global markets.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said its expansion gives enterprises around the world access to a standards-based 5G LAN architecture that provides private wireless technology with performance, reliability, and security – all within one platform. This makes it simple for businesses to build their own private 5G networks capable of aggregate speeds of up to 750Mbps with latency rates of 20 milliseconds or less, according to the company.

Private 5G networking will make some enterprise use cases a reality for the first time, including high-definition video surveillance and smart manufacturing.