5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

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

The Week Ending April 19

Topping this week's roundup of companies that came to win are Apple and Qualcomm for settling an escalating series of legal disputes, allowing the two to get back to more important work.

Also making the list this week is SD-WAN startup CloudGenix for an impressive round of financing that will spur its continued growth and fuel its battle against major competitors like Cisco and VMware. Intel made the list for launching two new processors targeting use in a new generation of business laptops, while Oracle won a victory in its legal fight over the Pentagon's JEDI cloud contract. And ITSM provider Cherwell wins kudos for launching a new partner program.

Not everyone in the IT industry was making smart moves this week, of course. For a rundown of companies that were unfortunate, unsuccessful or just didn't make good decisions, check out this week's Five Companies That Had A Rough Week roundup.

Apple, Qualcomm Reach Sudden Settlement Of Long-Running Lawsuits

Apple and Qualcomm surprised the industry this week when they unexpectedly announced that they had reached an agreement to settle a series of nasty lawsuits against each other.

The announcement came as court proceedings began this week in a lawsuit filed by Apple in 2017 that accused Qualcomm of using its dominant position in the smartphone modem market to charge huge licensing fees. That triggered multiple legal actions between the two companies – including accusations by Qualcomm last year that Apple stole Qualcomm trade secrets.

Details weren't disclosed, but the settlement calls for Apple to make a one-time payment to Qualcomm. They also agreed to a six-year patent license agreement that begins this month, with a two-year extension option, and a multi-year chipset supply agreement.

Observers, including solution providers that work with Apple and Qualcomm, said the settlement is a win for both companies. The legal battle was seen as a major distraction and resolving all the outstanding cases allows them to focus on their core businesses.

The settlement also appears to clear the way for Apple to develop a 5G-ready iPhone for a 2020 debut.

SD-WAN Startup CloudGenix Scores $65 Million To Continue Push Against Cisco, VMware

Channel-friendly SD-WAN vendor CloudGenix, which is battling industry heavyweights like Cisco and VMware, re-loaded its war chest this week when it raised $65 million in Series C financing.

Coming on the heels of a high-growth year, CloudGenix, which sells 100 percent through the channel, said it will use the new financing to deepen its U.S. presence and make additional investments in the channel, the latter including market development funds for partners. The company partners with global systems integrators, master agents and VARs.

The new round of funding brings CloudGenix' total financing close to $100 million since its 2013 founding.

Intel Debuts New Core vPro CPUs For Laptops

Intel announced two new CPUs to its eighth-generation Core vPro line of processors this week, promising to provide laptops with faster performance, better battery life and new security features.

The new Core i7-8665U and i5-8365U processors for the Intel vPro platform also offer advanced management features for enterprise customers.

The launch of the two processors, which are expected in new laptops from Lenovo, Dell, HP and Panasonic this spring, comes as the end of support for Microsoft's Windows 7 is expected to spur a new buying cycle of business PCs and laptops through the channel.

Oracle Lawsuit Challenging JEDI Cloud Contract Gets The Go-Ahead After Stay

The Pentagon has said that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure remain the two finalists for its massive $10 billion JEDI cloud services contract. But Oracle scored a victory this week when a federal judge ruled that Oracle's legal challenge to the contract selection process can proceed.

Judge Eric Bruggink lifted a stay in Oracle's suit against the federal government and AWS following a conclusion by the Pentagon that potential conflicts of interest didn't corrupt the JEDI contract selection process. The judge also scheduled upcoming filing deadlines in the case, including Oracle's submission of a supplemental complaint.

But with the Pentagon saying the selection process is down to AWS or Microsoft, it's not clear just how Oracle will pursue the case.

ITSM Provider Cherwell Launches Global Partner Program

Cherwell, a rapidly growing IT service management company, wins applause for launching a global partner program through which the company plans this year to double the number of channel partners it works with and better assist the 80 solution providers already selling the Cherwell Service Management automation platform.

The program provides tiers designed to recognize and reward its stand-out sales performers with higher margins. The program also offers incentives such as opportunity registration discounts and discounts for providing first- and second-level support.