5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

For the week ending March 19, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their ‘A’ game to the channel.

The Week Ending March 19

Topping this week’s Came to Win list is AMD, which made big moves in both the service and laptop markets with the debut of new EPYC and Ryzen processors

Also making the list are Intel for its own big move in desktop CPUs with its new Rocket Lake processors, SecurityScorecard for a very impressive Series E round of financing, video conferencing company Zoom for expanding its master agent partner program, and Imperva for its savvy hire of a new global channel chief as it continues its transformation into a channel-first company.

AMD Hits The Competition With New Server, Laptop Processors

AMD went on the offensive on two fronts this week, debuting new 3rd-generation EPYC server CPUs that raise the competitive bar against rival Intel and unveiling new Ryzen Pro chips that compete with Intel vPro in the business laptop arena.

The new EPYC processors, code-named Milan, were announced just a few weeks before Intel is set to launch its next-generation Xeon Scalable processors known as Ice Lake. AMD’s move sets up a refresh battle for customers in the data center market where Intel remains dominant.

AMD said the 19 new EPYC processors, featuring up to 64 cores and 4.1 GHz in frequency, offer superior performance to Intel’s second-generation Xeon Scalable processors and are being used in more than 100 new server platforms from Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Supermicro and other manufacturers.

On the business laptop side AMD said its new Ryzen Pro 5000 processors, which go up to eight cores for ultra-thin laptops, are faster and more energy efficient than Intel’s vPro lineup. The new CPUs will increase the number of AMD’s commercial notebook design wins this year to 63, up 34 percent from 2020.

Intel Battles AMD With AI, IPC Boost In Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs

Intel was making some major microprocessor moves of its own this week, unveiling the new 11th-generation Intel Core S-Series desktop CPUs, code-named Rocket lake-S, that will compete with AMD’s latest Ryzen chips.

The new processors feature up to eight cores and a 5.3GHz turbo frequency and are based on Intel’s new Cypress Cove core architecture, which takes the company’s Ice Lake core architecture for the 10-nanometer manufacturing process and backports it to Intel’s older 14nm process.

While that unusual architecture limits the chip’s maximum core count, it makes possible a 19 percent increase in IPC (instructions per clock). The Rocket Lake-S processors also provide up to 50 percent better integrated graphics performance and boast new AI capabilities with Intel Deep Learning Boost and support for vector neural network instructions.

SecurityScorecard Raises $180M To Expand Globally

Security ratings technology developer SecurityScorecard closed an impressive $180 million Series E round of financing this week, money the New York-based company will use to expand globally, add functionality to its platform, invest in new product lines and broaden its partner ecosystem.

SecurityScorecard began expanding outside the U.S. 18 months ago and international sales now account for about 20 percent of revenue. Co-founder and CEO Aleksandr Yampolsky told CRN he’d like to grow that to at least 30 percent.

The company sells exclusively through the channel and some of the new funding will go to expand channel initiatives, Yampolsky said, including development of a certification program and providing market development funds for the most valued partners.

The company’s platform is used for security assessment in such areas as vendor risk management, self-monitoring, board reporting, cybersecurity insurance underwriting, and merger and acquisition due diligence.

Zoom Video Expands Referral Partner Program Following Explosive 2020 Growth

UC and video services provider Zoom Video Communications wins kudos this week for expanding its referral program for master agent partners, giving more partners the opportunity to benefit from the company’s rapid growth.

Zoom launched the program one year ago and master agent partners like Chicago-based Avant were able to benefit from the unprecedented growth Zoom experienced in 2020 when the pandemic forced millions of people to work from home. Zoom also works with VARs through a reseller model.

Zoom is adding six new master agent partners to the referral program including AppSmart, Bridgepointe, eLink Distribution, PlanetOne, Sandler Partners and Telecom Consulting Group (TCG).

Partners can also expect improvements across operations, system improvements and automation, and more training and qualification tracks. The program is also being enhanced with increased partner revenue on qualifying deals with Zoom Phone and Zoom United and a simplified commission structure for improved predictability.

Imperva Snags Akamai’s Michael McCollough To Lead Channels

In a sign of its commitment to scaling up its channel operations, application and data protection technology developer Imperva has hired longtime Akamai global channel chief Michael McCollough as global vice president of strategic growth.

McCollough is tasked with accelerating Imperva’s transformation into a channel-first company by further developing and expanding the Imperva Partner Ecosystem.

McCollough joins Imperva after more than six years leading global channels and alliances at Akamai, including rolling out a new partner program in January. He replaces Jim Ritchings, who retired in February after leading Imperva’s global channel operations for two and a half years.