What were solution providers talking about with CRN last week? There was a lot to address, especially big announcements out of key vendors – such as Microsoft and IBM - that impact their channel partners.

Michael Knight, president and chief technology officer at Encore Technology Group, of Greenville, S.C., on Microsoft's acquisition of security automation provider Hexadite. (Later in the week, sources told CRN that Hexadite laid off most of its U.S.-based staff after the deal was announced.)

"Microsoft has certainly been a leader in many areas. Security has not been on one of those to date. I think they are specifically going after organizations [like Hexadite] that have a lot of security capabilities [to fill those gaps]."