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Tech & Tools

Platforms, integrations, and the technology stack powering the modern channel.

Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Apr 3, 2026
Kaseya Just Fixed the Most Annoying Part of Backup Verification. Here's the Real Number.
AI-powered screenshot verification in Datto SIRIS and ALTO hits 99.9% accuracy and saves 8+ hours per technician per month. That's not a feature update. That's a labor math problem solved.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Apr 3, 2026
Lenovo Just Made Its MSP Play Serious. Here's What Changes April 13.
Lenovo's 360 program overhaul simplifies tiers, launches a services framework, and expands its MSP pathway globally. The $100M ARR target signals this isn't optional.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Apr 3, 2026
Microsoft 365 E7 Hits CSP on May 1. Here's How to Have the Conversation.
Microsoft's new E7 license tier lands in CSP on May 1. For partners who know how to frame it, this is the most natural upsell conversation in years.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Apr 1, 2026
Amazon LEO Is Speaking at CP Expo. That Should Get Your Attention.
Amazon's low-Earth orbit satellite initiative is headlining the Channel Partners Conference keynote in Las Vegas. Here's what it means for connectivity resellers and why you need to be in the room.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Apr 1, 2026
Microsoft Agent 365 Launches May 1. Your Clients Already Have a Governance Problem.
Agent 365 is Microsoft's answer to AI agent sprawl in the enterprise. For MSPs, it's a $15/user/month conversation you should already be having — before shadow agents become shadow incidents.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 31, 2026
Axios Just Got Compromised on npm. If You Run Node.js Anywhere, Read This Now.
Two malicious versions of the most popular JavaScript HTTP client dropped a cross-platform RAT on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Here's what happened, who's affected, and what you need to do before end of day.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 31, 2026
Fortinet's FortiClient EMS Is Being Exploited Right Now. Multi-Tenant MSPs, Patch Today.
CVE-2026-21643 is a critical SQL injection in FortiClient EMS 7.4.4 that lets unauthenticated attackers extract admin credentials with a single HTTP request. Active exploitation started four days ago. If you're running multi-tenant, upgrade to 7.4.5 immediately.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 31, 2026
Microsoft's July Price Hikes Are Locked In. Here's Your 90-Day Playbook.
M365 Business Basic goes up 16%. F1 goes up 33%. The promos expire June 30. If you're not moving on this right now, you're leaving money on the table and your clients are going to ask why their bill jumped.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 30, 2026
The PSA Market Is Splitting in Two. Pick Your Side.
MSPs are quietly leaving ConnectWise for platforms that consolidate billing, RMM, and automation into one system. The legacy PSA era isn't ending with a bang — it's ending with a migration.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 30, 2026
RSAC 2026 Made It Official: Your SOC Is About to Run on Agents
Every major security vendor at RSAC showed agentic AI workflows. MSSPs who can't run them will lose accounts to those who can. Here's what the shift means for your stack.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 29, 2026
Arctic Wolf just automated the SOC. MSPs who don't notice will regret it.
The Aurora Agentic SOC launched March 23 and it's already live in your customer environments — at no extra charge. If you're an Arctic Wolf MSP and haven't updated your pitch yet, you're behind.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 27, 2026
340 M365 Orgs Got Wrecked by a Login Screen You Didn't Build
Huntress caught an active OAuth device code phishing campaign hitting over 340 Microsoft 365 organizations. Password resets don't fix it. Here's what does.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 25, 2026
Microsoft's April 1 Deadline Is Real. Here's What to Do Before It Hits.
MFA enforcement, ASPX, Sentinel promo extension, and E7 incentives — Microsoft's March Partner Center update has four moving pieces, and one of them will break your API integrations if you miss it.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 24, 2026
GoTo Launched a Separate Partner Network for LogMeIn. Here's What That Actually Tells You.
GoTo carved LogMeIn out of its main partner program and built a dedicated channel network. The move is an admission that MSPs were getting shortchanged before. The question is whether this one delivers.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 23, 2026
Microsoft Just Killed the Free Grace Period. Here's What to Do Before May 4.
Extended Service Terms replace the old 30-day buffer starting May 4, 2026. MSPs who don't update their renewal workflows are going to have very bad days.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 23, 2026
NVIDIA Just Handed MSPs a New Revenue Line. Here's How to Actually Use It.
NVIDIA launched NemoClaw at GTC 2026 — an AI agent infrastructure framework with built-in security guardrails, always-on autonomous agents, and a managed services opportunity that didn't exist six months ago. Jensen Huang called the underlying tech foundational. Here's what that means for your practice.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 22, 2026
AWS Embedded AI Agents Into Your Partner Portal. Here's What They Actually Do.
AWS launched AI-agent-powered co-selling tools in Partner Central at its Global Partner Summit on March 16. The meeting-notes-to-CRM pipeline is real. Here's the honest breakdown.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 19, 2026
ConnectWise Just Found Another Critical ScreenConnect Flaw. MSPs, Patch Now.
CVE-2026-3564 lets attackers extract machine keys and hijack ScreenConnect sessions. This is the second critical vulnerability in under a year. On-prem deployments are exposed until they upgrade to 26.1.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 18, 2026
MSPs Have Three Choices on AI Right Now. Two of Them Are Losing.
Build in-house with open-source tools. Buy from niche AI vendors. Or wait for your PSA to catch up. Channel Dive talked to MSP owners, analysts, and vendors about all three. Here's the actual breakdown.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 17, 2026
Intel Can't Ship Enough CPUs. Your Hardware Margins Are About to Feel It.
Intel's Global Channel Chief confirmed CPU supply constraints are hitting partners across the board. Here's what to do before your customers start asking questions.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 13, 2026
Best TSDs for MSPs in 2026
Choosing a TSD as an MSP is different from choosing one as an agent. Here are the top TSDs for managed service providers and what each does best.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 13, 2026
Microsoft's $99 bundle just changed your renewal conversation
M365 E7 launches May 1 at $99/user. Here's what every Microsoft reseller needs to do before the conversation shifts to your customer.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 11, 2026
RingCentral is putting OpenAI inside your phone calls. Here's why that's a bigger deal than it sounds.
AIR Pro embeds frontier AI models directly into live voice interactions. The architecture decision behind it may matter more than the AI itself.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 11, 2026
Zoom stopped being a meeting tool yesterday. UCaaS partners need to catch up.
Zoom's Enterprise Connect 2026 announcements mark a full platform shift. AI Companion 3.0, CX growth, enterprise APIs — here's what UCaaS partners need to do now.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Mar 9, 2026
Forcepoint Rebuilt Its Partner Program Around AI Data Security
Forcepoint's AI-native Data Security Cloud with the ARIA policy assistant, plus a redesigned three-tier partner program with no-minimum deal registration.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Feb 28, 2026
I tested AI in every major PSA and RMM. Most of it is marketing
ConnectWise, Kaseya, N-able, Datto, and Syncro all say AI. Here's what actually works when you turn it on.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Feb 24, 2026
Palo Alto wants you all-in on their platform. Here's the math
Palo Alto revamped their partner program around platformization. Platform deals are larger, but the investment to get there is steep.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Feb 13, 2026
Kaseya 365 vs. ConnectWise vs. Pax8: the MSP platform wars get personal
I tested all three. Kaseya wins on price. ConnectWise wins on depth. Pax8 wins on flexibility.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Feb 10, 2026
AI copilots are coming for your CRM. And maybe your job
Microsoft Copilot auto-updates CRM. Salesforce Einstein drafts emails. A wave of startups is replacing entire SDR teams.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Jan 16, 2026
Security overtakes hardware as the #1 channel category
For the first time in CRN's Annual Report Card, security beat hardware. If you're selling networking without a security wrapper, you're leaving money on the table.
Tech & Tools · Cole Hartley · Jan 13, 2026
ConnectWise, Kaseya, and N-able all say 'open ecosystem.' None of them mean the same thing
At MSP Summit, all three MSP platforms claimed to be open. Here's what they actually mean.