5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

For the week ending July 7, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their ‘A’ game to the channel including ThoughtSpot, DigitalOcean, Computer Design & Integration, Blackpoint Cyber and OpenAI.

The Week Ending July 7

Topping this week’s Came to Win list is data analytics platform developer ThoughtSpot for its move to expand data analytics development options with its deal to acquire Mode Analytics.

Also making this week’s list are DigitalOcean’s own acquisition that boosts its AI and machine learning offerings, Computer Design & Integration for expanding its operations in India, cybersecurity vendor Blackpoint Cyber for its plans to “triple down” on services for MSPs, and artificial intelligence tech superstar OpenAI for the general availability of its GPT-4.

ThoughtSpot Expands Data Development Capabilities With Acquisition

Analytics platform provider ThoughtSpot is acquiring business intelligence software developer Mode Analytics in a $200 million cash and equity deal that ThoughtSpot said will double its customer base, accelerate annual recurring revenue and deepen its technology portfolio for data analysts and data engineers.

The acquisition, expected to close later this year, also provides ThoughtSpot with an opportunity to introduce the Mode Analytics platform to its extensive partner base. Mode Analytics’ code-first approach also creates additional opportunities in embedded analytics for ThoughtSpot.

ThoughtSpot has become one of the leading vendors in the business intelligence space—especially after a pivot to the cloud a few years ago—with its ThoughtSpot Analytics platform that’s geared toward providing self-service business intelligence capabilities to business users throughout an enterprise.

As ThoughtSpot has expanded across line-of-business units within enterprise accounts the company has discovered how much investment is being made in data teams that are more focused on developing data analytics software—both for internal and external use—and building analytics into digital processes.

The Mode Analytics platform will bolster ThoughtSpot’s capabilities there by allowing data teams to use SQL and Python development tools and notebooks to build analytical applications and data workloads.

There is little overlap between their customer bases, creating opportunities for each company to bring their respective products to customers.

DigitalOcean Buys Cloud Startup Paperspace To Boost AI, ML Offerings

Staying on the topic of savvy acquisitions, DigitalOcean has acquired cloud computing startup Paperspace for $111 million in cash in a move to create new artificial intelligence and machine learning offerings for SMBs and startups.

Paperspace provides a cloud infrastructure as a service platform for building and scaling AI applications, which DigitalOcean said it will leverage to enable customers to easily test, develop and deploy ML and AI applications, as well as utilize GPUs in ways that predominantly have been the domain of large enterprises.

Combined, DigitalOcean and Paperspace will provide SMBs and startups with a suite of cloud offerings, advanced networking, and the flexibility to harness both GPU and CPU capabilities as AI and ML demand increases.“The integration of GPUs alongside CPU workloads opens up a world of possibilities,” said DigitalOcean CEO Yancey Spruill (pictured above).

CDI Sets Up New India Operations, Expanding Talent And Service Capabilities

Computer Design & Integration this week formalized its presence in India with the setting up of its own organization, CDI India, to replace its previous strategy of working with contractors in the country for engineering services and support.

The move, which comes just two years since the New York-based IT solution provider launched CDI Europe, is aimed at scaling operations in India where it has been working with contractors, said CDI CEO Rich Falcone.

CDI India will be managed by Sam Shrefler, CDI’s executive vice president for digital services, who joined the company when his previous company, Candoris, was acquired by CDI in 2021 to build its digital services business.

CDI has had phenomenal success with a team of individuals it has worked with for years in India, Shrefler told CRN. “What we’re initially targeting is engineering talent, especially digital engineering talent; software engineering; developers, specifically on ServiceNow, Salesforce, Microsoft platforms; general DevSecOps; enterprise architecture; and integrations development.”

CDI India will also give CDI a “follow the sun” services capability, Shrefler said.

Blackpoint Cyber ‘Tripling Down’ On MSPs

With a recent $190 million funding round in its back pocket, cybersecurity company Blackpoint Cyber is “tripling down” on the fast-growing MSP Market, founder and CEO Jon Murchison (pictured above) told CRN.

“We’re going to continue to invest heavily in MSPs because this market is huge,” Murchison said. “This market is growing at a 12 percent compound annual growth rate. Advanced security services are growing at about a 32 percent compound annual growth rate in MSPs. This is why you’re watching all the big companies come in, this is why you just saw Bain and Accel invest in us because MSPs are just growing. They have a great reason to exist and continue to grow. So I see us really tripling down on that.”

Last month the Ellicott City, Md.-based cybersecurity company secured $190 million in funding through Bain Capital Tech Opportunities and Accel to fund further development of its security technology and enable its partners to combat the ever-evolving threat landscape.

It’s also hiring top talent. Last week the company said it had hired security industry veteran MacKenzie Brown as its new vice president of security. Brown will lead Blackpoint’s internal security strategy while enhancing the company’s product ecosystem and security focus on MSP and cybersecurity communities.

OpenAI Maintains Momentum With GPT-4 General Availability

OpenAI, which ignited a wave of artificial intelligence development with its ChatGPT in late 2022, kept its wave of innovation rolling this week with the announcement of the general availability of the GPT-4 API, the latest release of the company’s language model system.

On Thursday OpenAI said that all customers who have purchased access to OpenAI’s APIs now have access to the GPT-4 text-generating model. Since its initial release on March 14, access to the GTP-4 API rollout has been limited to those selected from a lengthy waiting list of developers.

The general availability of the GPT-4 API “marks a significant milestone in AI technology,” noted the development tech website Rather Labs, by making the technology available to potentially millions of developers.

New capabilities in GPT-4 include text summarization and code completion functionality.