'Digital transformation continues to be the biggest opportunity in our industry. At the same time, it is creating some challenges, but it's creating market opportunities for partners and customers alike,' Bahr tells CRN.

The enterprise networking company officially closes its acquisition of Brocade's data center assets after electing to purchase the assets directly from the vendor itself.

The demo underlines VMware's efforts to plant its flag firmly in the multi-cloud market after nearly 20 years as the virtualization software leader, and even public cloud naysayer.

VMware Cloud on AWS, which was announced a year ago and became available in August, beat Cisco-Google to the market, and is already providing customers with the flexibility and economics they want from a hybrid cloud solution.

VMware Cloud on AWS, which was announced a year ago and became available in August, beat Cisco-Google to the market, and is already providing customers with the flexibility and economics they want from a hybrid cloud solution.

Here's how Extreme Networks bought Avaya, Brocade Communications and Zebra Technologies networking assets for 'bargain' prices.

The comments illustrate the increasing heat of the hybrid cloud arms race between Cisco and Dell Technologies, which brought VMware into its family of companies in the $58 billion acquisition of EMC barely a month before VMware Cloud on AWS was announced.

The blockbuster deal extends Cisco's networking, security and hyperconverged portfolio into the enterprise public cloud.

Vortex 6, a small but growing Bracknell, U.K.-based software company, gives solution providers the ability to manage and analyze their partner compliance status across multiple vendor channel programs.

Certain products that competitors such as Cisco are offering are "science fair stuff," Meyercord said in an interview with CRN.

The Cisco and Google Cloud hybrid cloud offering opens the door for partners to combine emerging Google Cloud services with Cisco's networking and security offerings.

IBM is using 3D TLC flash technology to increase its FlashSystem storage lines, along with utility pricing and the use of cognitive computing and artificial intelligence to enhance automation and support.

Partners are worried that Cisco's acquisition of BroadSoft will create competition between the network leader and its channel community around UCaaS.

Cisco acquiring telecommunications software provider BroadSoft could open the floodgates for more UCaaS sales for channel partners, giving them more subscription services opportunities.

Cisco will leverage BroadSoft's 19 million business subscribers and cloud solutions to aggressively attack the SMB market.

"These bets Cisco is making on AI, machine learning, what the Internet of Things creates – that's what's going to help the business move more to software subscription services than the traditional hardware," said Computex Technology Solutions executive Faisal Bhutto.

Perspica provides visibility throughout the entire application infrastructure stack to deliver past, present and predictive analytics.

McAfee and Cisco announced a partnership at McAfee MPOWER in Las Vegas, which brings together McAfee's Data Exchange Layer with Cisco's Platform Exchange Grid for sharing or threat event context and automation.

'We are dealing with a very interesting opportunity that has really never presented itself to Cisco and its partner community ever before,' said Cisco IoT executive Bryan Bedford during the IoTConnex virtual conference.

"What we're trying to do is create those differentiated services, like Solution Support or Business Critical Services, that gives partners the next-level of capabilities," said Cisco services leader Joe Cozzolino.