Microsoft is holding its annual Worldwide Partner Conference next week in Washington, D.C. Here are seven news items that are coming next week at the event.

Avere says the new funding, expected to be the last before an IPO, will help get the word out about its technology which provides high-performance access to files on third-party arrays or on storage clouds.

Critical infrastructure protection is lacking at many privately owned critical infrastructure facilities, according to a survey of IT professionals who maintain industrial control systems at such places.

Microsoft is trying to make it simpler for small and medium customers to pick the best Office 365 plan for their needs, and this October it'll debut three new plans and start retiring three existing ones.

Datapipe, CRN's 2013 Managed Service Company of the Year, has enhanced its Managed Cloud for Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help enterprises get the full value of hybrid cloud environments.

Lifesize says its new Lifesize Cloud service will help partners target new customers with a lower-cost and easier-to-manage alternative to traditional on-premise video systems.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been with the company for 22 years and knows what changes are needed to get it back on top. Now he's ready to start making them.

The new StorSimple Virtual Appliance can be spun up in Azure for big data analytics, test and development, and disaster recovery.

Tech Data has expanded its Cisco portfolio with the addition of Meraki cloud managed Wi-Fi services, a move it says is a huge opportunity for resellers looking to break into hybrid cloud markets.

The move to focus on next-generation chips and what the company calls a desire to 'push the limits' of chip technology follows chatter that cropped up earlier in the year that IBM was shopping its semiconductor factories in New York and Vermont.

Stock price gainers outnumbered losers among publicly traded solution providers in the first half of 2014.

Partners praise the acquisition of the Israeli software vendor as a move that will let them offer customers enhanced visibility and control of their business services.

Tablet shipments worldwide suffer a drop in the first quarter as the competition heats up between larger-screen smartphones and smaller-screen tablets, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

Apple's CarPlay, which extends iOS into your ride, is available on iOS 7.1 and later, and select automakers will release compatible vehicles this year. Here are 10 apps that are already offered on CarPlay.

Thanks to Chromebooks and XP upgrades, U.S. PC shipments jump nearly 7 percent, while global shipments for PCs are down 1.7 percent, the smallest decline in two years.

Open source apps continue to hit the market, and are just as good as any. These are the 10 coolest (plus a bonus) that were released so far this year.

HP is going after IBM's "uncertain" x86 server future, offering a free half-day consulting session to qualified customers as IBM moves to finalize the sale of its x86 server business to Lenovo.

Antonio Neri, senior vice president and general manager for HP Servers and HP Networking, spoke with CRN about the next step in an aggressive HP campaign in which it is calling out IBM's 'uncertain x86 server future. Here are 10 reasons he says it's working.

Google, in one of its most aggressive cloud moves yet, is offering 2TB of free storage on its public cloud to customers that use a free cloud gateway from Panzura, one of its storage partners.

When the deal for CA to sell its Arcserve data protection storage business to an equity firm closes, Arcserve will be a new profitable and channel-focused startup with huge customer and channel partner bases.