5 Companies That Came To Win This Week
For the week ending Aug. 9, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their 'A' game to the channel.
The Week Ending Aug. 9
Topping this week's roundup of companies that came to win is AMD for the launch of its new 64-core EPYC processors.
Also making the list were Broadcom for its $10.7 billion deal to acquire Symantec's enterprise security business; rising security star Cybereason for raising $200 million in financing; Intel for debuting its new 56-core processors; and Extreme Networks for concluding its $210 million acquisition of Aerohive Networks.
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 5 Companies That Had A Rough Week roundup.
AMD Launches EPYC Threat Against The Competition With 64-Core CPUs
AMD this week launched its second-generation EPYC Rome processors, providing extensive details of the lineup's 19 SKUs that feature up to 64 cores. The chip manufacturer said the new 7-nanometer products are the highest-performing x86 processors in the world and will become "the new standard for the modern data center."
The new EPYC processors double the performance—and more than double the price/performance—of first-generation EPYC chips and competing Intel chips and reduce operational expenses by 40 percent to 50 percent, AMD CEO Lisa Su said in introducing the new EPYC lineup.
The launch raises the competitive stakes against rival Intel, which is remaking itself as a data-centric platform provider.
Broadcom Plans To Buy Symantec's Enterprise Security Business For $10.7 Billion
Semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom continued its moves to become an enterprise software heavyweight this week when it struck a deal to acquire Symantec's enterprise security business for $10.7 billion.
Broadcom will invest heavily in Symantec's enterprise security endpoint, web and data loss protection products and will focus on selling to Global 2000 organizations.
Broadcom will add Symantec's software to its product portfolio that already includes networking gear from its $5.9 billion acquisition of Brocade Communications Systems in 2017, and mainframe and systems management software from its $18.9 billion acquisition of CA Technologies last year.
Rising Endpoint Security Star Cybereason Raises $200 Million, Eyes IPO
Cybereason this week raised an impressive $200 million in Series E funding—money the company plans to use to grow its presence in Europe, advance its autonomous security vision, and fuel its recent embrace of a channel-only sales model.
The funding round, led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, is widely seen as the last before the Boston-based developer of next-generation endpoint security technology goes public.
The company has raised more than $388 million in financing to date.
Intel Xeon Cooper Lake To Bring 56-Core CPUs To The Masses
Intel wasn't sitting still this week during AMD's EPYC announcements. The company debuted a lineup of next-generation Xeon Scalable processors that the company said will provide partners and customers with access to 56 cores of processing power for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads.
The new processors, code-named Cooper Lake, will launch in the first half of 2020 and be platform- compatible with future 10-nanometer Ice Lake server processors.
The new processors are based on Intel's 14-nanometer architecture and expand the reach of the company's 56-core server processors. They are an expansion of the company's Xeon Platinum 9200 series, part of the second-generation Xeon Scalable lineup.
Extreme Networks Closes $210 Million Aerohive Acquisition
Speaking of savvy acquisitions, Extreme Networks wins applause this week for wrapping up its $210 million acquisition of Aerohive Networks, a major player in the market for cloud managed wireless LAN services.
Extreme Networks is the No. 3 provider of enterprise networking equipment. The Aerohive acquisition will allow Extreme to add subscription-oriented SaaS and cloud-based solutions to its portfolio.
With Aerohive, Extreme can offer channel partners and customers more choices for cloud and on-premises wired and wireless technology, including Wi-Fi 6-capable products, from a single vendor and support team.
Extreme Networks also gains some new SD-WAN capabilities in the deal.