Last Week's News, By The Numbers

How do you become a channel giant quickly? Try a merger. Two companies announced last week that they'll come together in a $2.8 billion deal that will serve most of the Fortune 100. That news kicks off this week's roundup.

23,500 – Number of employees Novitex and SourceHOV will have when their merger becomes complete. Stamford, Conn.-based Novitex, and Irving, Texas-based SourceHOV are coming together in a $2.8 billion transaction spearheaded by St. Louis-based Quinpario, a special purpose acquisition company. The merger is expected to close in the second quarter, and the combined, publicly-traded company will be called Exela Technologies. Exela will provide IT services to more than 60 percent of the Fortune 100. It will have 3,500 customers operating in more than 55 countries and include businesses in the financial services, insurance, healthcare, law and government verticals.

$11.4 billion – First-quarter sales for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), down 10 percent year over year and short of Wall Street's consensus estimate of $12.72 billion. CEO Meg Whitman told CRN that she is set to "redouble" her channel efforts following the company's earnings announcement for the quarter that ended Jan. 31. "I am going to be spending a lot more time with the channel. I want to make sure they are embracing not only the core ISS (industry standard servers) and 3Par, but they are embracing Synergy which is a big opportunity for the channel," Whitman said.

73 – The percentage of respondents from channel players who said their companies were getting little or no partner enablement from vendors last year in the Internet of Things (IoT) market. Only 24 percent of respondents to a CRN survey said they're getting the "right amount" of enablement from vendors, while 3 percent said they see more than they can utilize. "I think that traditional IT vendors have good IoT programs catering to developers, but they're lacking that integration piece for the channel, for taking IoT solutions to market," said Luis Alvarez, president and CEO of Alvarez Technology Group, a Salinas, Calif.-based solution provider.

$800 million – What Arris International, a major networking equipment manufacturer, will spend to buy Ruckus Wireless and Brocade Communications Systems' ICX Switch product line, just months after Ruckus was acquired by Brocade, followed by Brocade's acquisition by Broadcom, for $5.9 billion. Partners of Ruckus welcomed the news, saying it ends a period of uncertainty over the future of Ruckus, a favorite with the channel. "We understand how important channel relationships are in this business and that we have to invest in it, we have to nurture it, and we have to make it an extension of our business," Arris CEO Bruce McClelland told CRN.

11 – Number of U.S. cities in which Verizon will pilot its 5G service by the middle of this year. Verizon said it selected the cities to test a variety of terrain, population density and neighborhoods. From April through June, Verizon will pilot its "pre-commercial" 5G technology to customers in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Atlanta; Bernardsville, N.J.; Brockton, Mass.; Dallas; Denver; Houston; Miami; Sacramento, Calif.; Seattle; and Washington, D.C. By targeting small-business customers with its 5G offering, Verizon is opening up new selling opportunities for channel partners, said Michael Wolfington, vice president of partner sales for Kingcom, a national Verizon Platinum partner.