Francisco Partners leads $3.4B take-private deal for payments pioneer Verifone

Tech-focused private equity firm @FranciscoPartners is leading a take-private deal of @Verifone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY), a world leader in payment and commerce solutions. The investor group, which includes @British Columbia Investment Management Corp., one of Canada's largest institutional investors, is paying $23.04 per share in cash, representing a total consideration of approximately $3.4 billion, which includes Verifone’s net debt. "We believe this transaction reflects the progress we have made executing our transformation from a terminal sales company to a payments and commerce solutions provider," said Verifone CEO @PaulGalant in a statement. "With Francisco Partners’ resources, expertise and track-record growing global technology businesses, we are confident that we will be better positioned to serve the needs of our clients around the globe.” “This investment builds on the strength of our financial technology, systems and software franchises,” commented Dipanjan “DJ” Deb, co-founder and CEO of Francisco Partners. “Verifone will receive the highest focus of Francisco Partners as we support its continued growth and transformation in an increasingly software-centric world.” Francisco Partners has raised more than $14 billion in committed capital and has invested in more than 200 technology companies since its founding in 1999. In 2016, the San Francisco firm bought Dell Inc.'s software group for $2.4 billion, subsequently carving out Quest Software and SonicWall. Earlier in April, the firm announced it is buying Bomgar, a seller of secure access software for computer systems and devices, from Thoma Bravo. “Verifone continues to build compelling and impressive products and technology and has attractive long-term growth prospects,” said Peter Christodoulo, partner at Francisco Partners. “We are excited to become investors and stewards of this important platform in the global payments and commerce ecosystem.” “Verifone’s transformation from a hardware provider to a best-in-class payments and commerce solutions provider is just beginning,” added Jason Brein, partner at Francisco Partners. “We look forward to supporting the company as it continues its evolution.”

https://www.themiddlemarket.com/news/francisco-partners-leads-34b-take-private-deal-for-payments-pioneer-verifone

BeyondTrust adds Christman as federal head

Former #QuestSoftware executive and 25-year public sector veteran @Paul Christman has joined Phoenix-based #cybersecurity company #BeyondTrust as vice president of federal sales. Christman will oversee efforts to help federal agencies and defense contractors identify and fix asset vulnerabilities targeted by cyber attackers. He will also direct sales and marketing of @BeyondTrust ’s software and services agencies use to reduce risk of misuse of system or device privileges, the company said Monday. Also at BeyondTrust, he will work to help expand its footprint in privileged access management and vulnerability management markets. His career at @Quest includes its four years as part of @Dell ’s former software business. #Dell acquired #Quest for $2.36 billion in 2012 to form the software business, all of which was then sold in 2016 to private equity firms #FranciscoPartners and #ElliottManagement. The investment groups then re-launched the acquired company as Quest. At Quest, he managed all public sector sales with responsibility over business and channel development. His roles there have included vice president of public sector sales and vice president of federal sales. Christman held the role of vice president of public sector at Dell’s software group after the Quest transaction. His career prior to BeyondTrust included state and local government roles at Veritas Software, Metiom, Microsoft and Lotus.

https://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2017/11/21/beyondtrust-christman-hire.aspx?m=1

Quest Software Makes Unified Endpoint Management Play

The advent of mobile technology has made life easier for IT professionals in many ways. Remote management and system alerts are just a few of the tools that make the job less strenuous. But mobile devices can also pose a threat to business. To that end, @Quest Software today announced a new addition to its @KACE division, launching KACE Cloud Mobile Device Manager and updating its KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA). The cloud-hosted offering is meant to help IT administrators manage, inventory, and secure mobile devices accessing the network, simplifying password and location management, device enrollment and provisioning, as well as making it easier to erase and reset mobile endpoints from anywhere. the company says. KACE SMA can also be accessed through the new KACE GO Mobile App, which works for Android or iOS.  All of these tools come together to allow IT admins increased visibility over devices accessing the corporate network, the company asserts. There are a number of key components, including faster implementation, enrollment, and provisioning that allows admins to set up a new device in a matter of hours.  Jeff Hawn IT professionals will also have extended control over devices, allowing them to inventory, lock, unlock, erase, reset passwords, or reset to factory settings remotely. User lists can be filtered by device attributes or user attributes to help manage multi-device users. Quest was previously owned by Dell, but the larger company sold off the IT Management business last year to Francisco Partners and Elliott Management. Vertafore and Attachmate veteran Jeff Hawn was named CEO at the time of the sale, with the company announcing it would focus on expanding its IT and cloud management portfolio solutions. The KACE endpoint systems management suite was listed as one of its core focus areas at the time.  At the time of the sale, sources said the company was looking at MSP-centric opportunities, trying to find its way into the next generation IT monitoring and management tool sector, ChannelE2E reported at the time. More recently, the company has evangelized Quest Partner Circle — a multi-level program that offers committed Quest partners the chance to earn rewards based on a partner’s level of commitment. It also includes free, online instruction as well as high-value, low-cost courses and certifications, the company claims. Bringing together traditional endpoint management and mobile device management has become a cause celebre in the IT world, earning the moniker Unified Endpoint Management (UEM). Dell itself recently integrated its desktop and mobile management tools for a UEM play.
https://www.channele2e.com/news/quest-software-makes-unified-endpoint-management-play/

New NetApp Channel VP Promises Increased Partner Services Opportunities From Shift To Flash, Cloud Storage

Storage vendor #NetApp has hired a new channel executive who is bringing the company a wealth of channel experience from rivals #HewlettPackardEnterprise and #Quest Software. @JeffMcCullough, who started a couple weeks ago as the new vice president of NetApp's Americas partner sales organization, said that he is coming to NetApp at a time when its channel program is performing like the program he grew jealous of during his time at #HPE.  McCullough takes over for Scott Strubel who in March retired from NetApp. [Related: NetApp Finally Enters Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Market With Focus On Enterprise-Grade All-Flash Capabilities] McCullough told CRN that between 2008 and 2012, when he was senior director of HP Americas storage business unit, NetApp was a formidable competitor. "At HPE, I looked enviously at NetApp's channel program," he said. "It talked to HPE partners to ask how to increase our business in the channel. They told me to look at NetApp's channel program. At the time, NetApp led the market in channel profitability and programs." McCullough spent a total of 22 years with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and HPE, and left HPE in 2016 as vice president of channel strategy and SMB sales. He then spent a year as vice president of channel sales and alliances at Quest Software before joining NetApp. McCullough's experience at HPE is uniquely applicable to working with NetApp's channels, said Glenn Dekhayser, national data management practice lead at Red8, a Costa Mesa, Calif.-based solution provider and NetApp channel partner. "I like where NetApp is going with him," Dekhayser told CRN. "He was an SE (systems engineer) in the past. At HPE, he understood solution sales and didn't just sell the product. He was in the trenches with technical sales." McCullough has a strong technical sales background which fits well with NetApp, Dekhayser said. "NetApp sells technical solutions to technical people," he said. "In order to be successful with NetApp, you need some tech cred. If you don't get it, life will be difficult. His job at NetApp is to get people moving. If you can't speak from your heart about the technology and solutions, you're much more likely to fail." NetApp partners are not necessarily looking for bigger discounts, Dekhayser said. "They want more education and programs," he said. "NetApp customers don't buy on price. They want business solutions." McCullough, who reports to Thomas Stanley, senior vice president and general manager for the Americas at NetApp, said he has no plans to make big changes to NetApp's channel programs. "We like to use the word 'transformation," he said. "As we transform NetApp from a technology standpoint, we need to transform the channel as well. NetApp is focused on flash storage, converged infrastructure, hyper-converged infrastructure, and software components. What I'm most interested in doing is simplifying our message to our channels." Those new initiatives are also NetApp's fastest-growing market segments, and the company wants to help partners build service and recurring revenue opportunities around them, McCullough said. "Not many vendors offer a full range of services to their partners," he said. "For NetApp partners, every dollar they less in hardware leads to seven dollars in services. We're not looking for a wholesale change. It's just a move to shift to the fastest growing parts of the market such as flash storage, and then wrapping related services around the cloud."

http://m.crn.com/news/channel-programs/300088491/crn-exclusive-new-netapp-channel-vp-promises-increased-partner-services-opportunities-from-shift-to-flash-cloud-storage.htm

New Quest data protection takes off with VROOM

#Quest #VROOM manages, monitors and protects data and applications across multi-hypervisor and hybrid virtual infrastructures. The Quest data protection product supports #VMware and #HyperV platforms, and it provides disaster recovery as a service ( #DRaaS ) in #Microsoft #Azure. Following its megamerger with #EMC that closed in late 2016, #Dell sold Quest to private equity firm Francisco Partners and hedge fund manager Elliott Management.

http://searchdatabackup.techtarget.com/news/450420785/New-Quest-data-protection-takes-off-with-VROOM

Quest Software creates distribution channel strategy as stand-alone vendor

As #Quest Software forges its way as an independent company, one of the initial steps it has taken is to develop a distribution channel strategy. #Dell sold Quest last year as part of the #DellSoftware Group to private equity firm Francisco Partners and hedge fund manager Elliott Management. Quest, under new ownership, was established as a stand-alone company in November 2016, as was fellow Dell Software Group company #SonicWall. Since then, Quest has focused on growing its channel, with efforts that have included transitioning from a largely one-tier model of direct and indirect business to a two-tier model through partnerships with distributors.
http://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/news/450420030/Quest-Software-creates-distribution-channel-strategy-as-stand-alone-vendor

Former Dell Software Unit, One Identity, Launches Standalone Partner Program

#OneIdentity is launching its first partner program as a standalone brand. The company was sold to #FranciscoPartners and #ElliottManagement in November as part of a private equity buyout of #DellSoftware. One Identity, which offers identity and access management solutions, is a standalone business unit under #QuestSoftware, which had been part of Dell Software.  The new program, called the One Identity Partner Circle, is a global program with four tiers: registered, silver, gold and platinum. The tiers are broken down by revenue requirements. The program also includes MDF, rebates, training, and incentives for "influence fees" which recognizes partners who are not a reseller but still drive business to One Identity with revenue towards their quota cap. The program is largely based on the same framework as the Quest Software Partner Circle program. [Related: CRN Exclusive: SonicWall Names New CEO As It Closes Dell Spinout Deal] Josh Lewis, director of North American channels and alliances, said the new program is the latest step in a journey that One Identity has been on since its divestiture from Dell and its move towards its own brand. He said One Identity has always worked with partners, but it had been challenging to be part of a larger program under Dell as the company couldn't tailor its program and messaging to meet the types of partners it wants to work with. He said the new program would allow One Identity to focus on more strategic partners. "We're excited about this," Lewis said. "It's a big shift for us … We have been evolving our business. Identity and access management is very much a team sport and with the kind of large deals we go after, we really have to have the rights at the hip with us." Lewis said One Identity is looking to "go deep" with a smaller set of strategic partners, as the company's technology requires a high investment in training and certifications. He said One Identity already has a "robust list of partners" and will look to selectively recruit additional partners where it makes sense. The program builds on a bigger strategy at One Identity to focus on partners for its go to market strategy, Bill Evans, senior director marketing said. He said One Identity has seen a 29 percent year over year growth in partner revenue. As the company's product portfolio grows, Evans said One Identity plans to continue to make investments in partners to maintain its growth rate overall, which is around 70 percent year over year in new license growth. Tim Spires, president of Arlington, Texas-based EST Group, said his business has been partnering with One Identity for nearly five years. Spires said he is excited to see One Identity roll out its new partner program, expecting it will allow his business to sell more of the company's product, which he said is one of his businesses' top products. He highlighted the company's registration and rebate programs, as well as formal training and curriculum as key features of the new program. "There wasn't a really good partner strategy in place before. It was tough, but we wanted to stick with them because they had such a good product. Now that they have put the partner program in place, I know we will be even more successful with their product than in the past," Spires said.

http://m.crn.com/news/security/300084739/crn-exclusive-former-dell-software-unit-one-identity-launches-standalone-partner-program.htm?itc=hp_tax_security

Quest Software Makes Karabatsos Channel Chief In Wake Of Channel Veteran Peter Koliopoulos' Departure

#QuestSoftware has made George Karabatsos, a sales and distribution executive who came to the IT management software firm when it was sold by #Dell, its channel chief. Karabatsos replaces Peter Koliopoulos, who left Quest earlier this month, a company spokesman confirmed. The spokesman wouldn't discuss where Koliopoulos had gone. He held the vice president global channels and alliances position for less than a year.  Koliopoulos is a channel veteran credited with helping to establish #EMC Corp.'s channel operation as it transitioned from a direct sales model. He was at the data storage giant between 2006 and 2011 before becoming vice president of global partner marketing at EMC's #VCE unit.

http://m.crn.com/news/channel-programs/300083963/quest-software-makes-karabatsos-channel-chief-in-wake-of-channel-veteran-peter-koliopoulos-departure.htm

​Double executive departure rocks Quest Software

#QuestSoftware has suffered a double departure at executive level, with both local and regional leaders set to exit the vendor. #ARN can confirm that vice president and general manager of APJ, Brenton Smith, and managing director of Australia and New Zealand, Klasie Holtzhausen, will leave the business in the coming weeks. The news comes eight months after #Dell confirmed plans to sell its software division - including Quest Software and #SonicWall - as part of the vendor’s shedding of assets ahead of its acquisition of #EMC. As reported by ARN in June 2016, technology-focused private equity firm Francisco Partners and #ElliottManagement Corporation signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Dell Software Group for a rumoured price of around $US2 billion. Terms of the deal saw the combined entity take control of both Quest Software and SonicWall.

http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/614030/double-executive-departure-rocks-quest-software/

Quest Looks to Tech Data to Ease Channel Transition

#QuestSoftware has aligned itself with #TechData to make a broad range of #ITmanagement, #dataprotection and #securitysoftware available to #channelpartners. In the wake of being spun out of #Dell prior to the merger between Dell and #EMC, Quest Software is now in the process of trying to reconnect with the channel. With that goal in mind, Quest Software has aligned itself with Tech Data to make a broad range of IT management, data protection and security software available to channel partners. As part of that effort, Sid Early, vice president of the Dell Solution Group at Tech Data, said the new Quest Software is now squarely focused on the channel. "We see them as being extremely focused on the channel," he said. The challenge Quest Software faces as an independent company is that its history in the channel has been bumpy. Prior to being acquired by Dell, the company was best known for selling many of its offerings direct rather than indirect.

http://mobile.channelinsider.com/news-and-trends/quest-looks-to-tech-data-to-ease-channel-transition.html

Quest Launches New-Gen Access Management for Cloud

#QuestSoftware, the enterprise IT tool company #Dell essentially rented for four years to be #DellSoftware, and the bigger company have officially parted ways. Dell bought #EMC and has new software companies like #VMware and #Pivotal on its team, and Quest is now going forward on its own under new ownership. #OneIdentity, a business entity now operating under Quest Software, has launched a new-gen identity and access-management package called #OneIdentityConnect for Cloud to govern users of cloud applications. It's the first new product from Quest since Dell's people packed up from Aliso Viejo, Calif. last summer and moved back to Austin. The announcement was made at the recent 2016 Gartner Identity and Access Management Summit in Las Vegas. One Identity Connect for Cloud removes a significant inhibitor to digital transformation: complexity. Using this toolset, enterprises now can rapidly extend identity governance, access controls, compliance reporting and provisioning/de-provisioning to popular cloud-based apps including #Salesforce, #ServiceNow, #Box.net, #DropBox, Concur and Amazon AWS and many more. Extension of One Identity Manager to Cloud One Identity Connect for Cloud extends the capabilities of the original One Identity Manager to cloud applications, representing a major identity and access management milestone. The product is the first in the industry, Quest claims, to embrace the System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) as the common interface between on-premise and SaaS applications, enabling One Identity developers to address the IAM needs of multiple cloud applications from a single SCIM interface. The new SCIM support in Identity Manager uses Dell Boomi, an integration platform as a service (iPaas), that enables cloud applications to talk directly to One Identity Manager for complete identity management of cloud-based applications in a traditionally difficult-to-address hybrid environment. In contrast to competing offerings—which require custom connectors developed for each cloud application, each time—Connect for Cloud provides one interface, eliminating time-consuming custom coding and one-off connections to on-board hundreds of cloud applications today, and many more in the coming months. Enabler of Digital Transformation A 2016 survey of global businesses found that 97 percent of respondents are investing in digital technologies to transform their businesses, yet only 18 percent reported that security has been involved in these initiatives, most likely because security slows them down. Because cloud applications are a major component of any digital journey, Connect for Cloud mitigates ad-hoc security issues related to their use and enables their quicker and more complete adoption, senior director, product management at One Identity Jackson Shaw told eWEEK. "Organizations can manage identity governance for on-premise, hybrid and cloud deployments from a single interface and with a single set of policies, rules, workflows, and identities, granting full visibility into users, rights, data and applications regardless of where they reside," Shaw said. One Identity Connect for Cloud is available now worldwide for One Identity Manager 7.1 customers. Go here for more information.

http://mobile.eweek.com/security/quest-launches-new-gen-access-management-for-cloud.html

Quest Software Simplifies Identity Management via the Cloud

This week, #QuestSoftware, which spun out of #Dell as part of the merger with #EMC, announced at a Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit conference a #OneIdentity Connect for Cloud offering that leverages the #DellBoomi cloud integration service and an open System for Cross-domain Identity Management ( #SCIM ) interface to make it significantly simpler to implement identity management. Jackson Shaw, senior director for product management for One Identity at Quest Software, says rather than having to implement policies at the client level, each endpoint can now make use of Dell Boomi to access an instance of One Identity Manager software from Quest Software. “It’s a lot simpler for IT departments to make a single connection to the cloud,” says Shaw.

http://mobile.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/it-unmasked/quest-software-simplifies-identity-management-via-the-cloud.html

Partners Predict Sales Conflict As Dell EMC Removes Quest Software From Its Channel Program

#Dell #EMC 's relationship with #Quest after its sale of that software business doesn't include the channel, and solution providers said they're being put in a position of potentially competing with Dell EMC's direct sales teams for Quest business. "They didn't set up a two-tier reselling relationship with Quest," said an executive at a Dell EMC solution provider that works with Quest. "They say [Dell EMC] clients will still be able to buy Quest, but what they mean is that direct teams will sell Quest. Quest is not available through [Dell EMC's channel program], and the Quest people are taking a hard line."  The result is that solution providers who were previously able to sell Quest software as part of their Dell line cards will now have to join Quest's channel program if they want to continue that relationship. Solution providers are concerned they will have to compete with Dell EMC sales reps in the field for Quest business in Dell EMC accounts.

http://m.crn.com/news/channel-programs/300082850/partners-predict-sales-conflict-as-dell-emc-removes-quest-software-from-its-channel-program.htm

Quest celebrates first day of independence from Dell with layoffs

Exclusive #Quest, the newly liberated #Dellsoftware division, rang in its first day as a standalone company by announcing a restructuring that included significant layoffs. The Register has now heard from multiple sources that Quest has pink-slipped employees, with top management staff shown the door and deep cuts made to marketing and sales. Among those said to be leaving are president John Swainson, as well as Tom Joyce, general manager of information management, and Curtis Hutcheson, general manager of the network security unit, plus the veep of marketing. We understand that axed staff were offered two months of severance plus one week for every year worked as well as help in finding new jobs. In an internal "Quest employees only" email, obtained by El Reg, newly installed chairman and CEO Jeff Hawn says the biz will look to make the cuts "fast and fair": As we are reconfiguring the company to go to market in new ways and increasing investments in a number of new areas, we will be reducing spending in other areas. As such, we are restructuring, and that will result in job losses. Chopped staff say their IT access credentials have already been revoked and many have already left their offices for good. A Quest spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. The shakeup comes as California-based Quest Software officially begins life outside of Dell. The management software house says it has 100,000 customers worldwide, and its products include database tool TOAD and One Identity. Quest was spun off from its parent Dell Software Group with the backing of investment firms Francisco Partners and Elliott Management for a rumored $2bn. Francisco has installed new bosses amid the layoffs. Here's the latest leadership line up: President, Identity and Security Management – John Milburn President, Information Management – Kathleen Owens President, Platform Management – Michael Tweddle President, Data Protection and Endpoint Management – Ronnie Wilson Chief Financial Officer – Carolyn McCarthy Chief Business Operations Officer – Katherine Tate General Counsel – Brad Haque Human Resources – Amy Nelson Sales, Americas – Larry Humphries Sales, EMEA – Ronnie Wilson Sales, APJ – Brenton Smith In his email to staff, Hawn added: While the large size of Quest provides terrific advantages for us to better serve our customers, the need for speed and focus is most important. As such, we will be reconfiguring the company into four business units that will provide an uninterrupted line of sight from the products, through sales, and services into the customer base. These four units will be Identity and Security Management, Information Management (including Performance Management & Advanced Analytics), Platform Management, and Data Protection and Endpoint Management. Each unit will be managed in a way that will be tailored to specific needs of its customers so that we capture the maximum number of market opportunities. Each business unit will be led by its own President & General Manager. To simplify doing business with our customers and for employees, we will establish a common operating model across the business including Finance, Legal, HR and Operations.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/01/quest_congrats_heres_a_pink_slip/

Francisco Partners and Elliott Management Complete Acquisition of Dell Software Group and Announce the Formation of Two Separate Companies – Quest and SonicWall

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Francisco Partners, a leading technology-focused private equity firm, and Elliott Management Corporation today announced they have completed the previously announced acquisition of the #DellSoftware Group from #Dell, Inc., including both #Quest and #SonicWall. The acquisition bolsters Francisco Partners and Elliott Management’s technology portfolios with the addition of two companies focused on systems and information management, identity and access management, and security solutions.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161101005604/en/Francisco-Partners-Elliott-Management-Complete-Acquisition-Dell

Dell/Quest Software plans layoffs and relocations – source

The deal restoring the independence of the entity formerly known as #DellSoftware is expected to close in early November, which is when The Register understands things are going to get very interesting for customers and staff alike. The new #QuestSoftware, as the former Dell Software will be known, comprises the assets of #SonicWall and pre-Dell Quest Software Persons familiar with the company's plans tell us that plans are in place for considerable redundancies and relocations not long after the deal closes. Development groups outside the USA, and possibly some within, are slated for relocation to lower-waged destinations. Some products will be discontinued, with the #Foglight application monitoring tools toward the top of the list. Our sources say current staff have been instructed to brief customers about new arrangements at the company, and that the message they're being asked to deliver runs counter to public statements by #ElliotManagement and Francisco Partners, the new owners of Dell Software. Elliot Management did not respond to The Register's request for comment. Francisco Partners said nobody was available to comment and did not take up our offer of an additional 24 hours to find someone to respond to our sources' allegations. A Dell Software spokesperson said the company does not comment on pending transactions, adding that the company is operating as usual. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/10/18/dell_software_changes/

Rocana Demonstrates the Power of Total Operational Visibility at Strata + Hadoop World NYC 2016

Delivering differentiated customer experiences requires an unfettered, real-time view of activity across all systems and dimensions to gain better context for decision making. Digital leaders understand this, and they thrive on it. Yet most organizations monitor less than 10 percent of their event data, meaning the vast majority of data is lost before it has a chance to impact the business. The story told by a fraction of the data is dramatically different than the story told by observing the complete picture. At #Strata + #Hadoop World 2016, Rocana will demonstrate how untapped stores of operational data can help give businesses the full context to maximize customer experiences and better compete with digital natives: Stop by and find out why "Context is Everything" at the Rocana booth, located at K3 of the Cloudera Partner Pavilion. Joey Echeverria, Platform Technical Lead at Rocana, will deliver a lightning talk "When it Comes to Customer Experience, Context is Everything" on Tuesday, September 27 at 5:45 p.m. at the Solutions Showcase Theater. Kevin O'Dell, Senior Sales Engineer will be signing his new book "Architecting #HBase Applications" at #Cloudera 's booth #721 on Wednesday, September 28 at 1:10 p.m.; and later that day at the O'Reilly Media booth #239 at 3:35 p.m. About Rocana Rocana gives technology leaders total operational visibility, eliminating the boundaries of legacy IT monitoring and empowering technologists to lead digital transformation. Rocana Ops captures and analyzes all data from all sources, keeping it online and available for instant and future access. By combining event data warehouse capabilities with advanced machine learning, Rocana Ops gives technologists the ability to see emerging issues anywhere in the environment, minimize security risks, and surface opportunities for innovation. Rocana was founded by big data veterans and is backed by proven digital leaders like #GoogleVentures (GV), Vinny Smith ( #QuestSoftware and #TobaCapital), Paul Sagan ( #Akamai ), Brian Smith ( #Google ), and General Catalyst.

http://news.sys-con.com/node/3919100

Why VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), Pivotal Will Replace Quest as Dell Software: Mechel PAO (NYSE:MTL), Sino-Global Shipping America (NASDAQ:SINO), Interactive Intelligence Group (NASDAQ:ININ)

#VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) traded 4.46 Million shares on last trading day with closing price of $74.22. Company gross margin stands at 84.80% whereas its return on investment (ROI) is 10.40%. Stock value has moved between $43.15 – 82.47 in last one year. Analyst’s mean target price for VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) is $3.00 while analysts mean recommendation is 2.70. VMW EPS growth this year and EPS growth next year is 14.80%, 6.50% respectively. VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) and #Dell and aren’t admitting it, but VMware and #Pivotal are now, in effect, the new #DellSoftware. When Dell bought #Quest Software in July 2012 for $2.36 billion—its largest acquisition ever—and anointed it as the new crown jewel of the company, Michael Dell told eWEEK: “Dell is now an international-class software company.” Fast forward four years: On June 20 of this year, after basically renting Quest for 16 fiscal quarters, Dell changed its mind about the value of its acquisition and announced it was selling it to a private equity firm for $2 billion and change. Mechel PAO (NYSE:MTL) shares moved to $1.91 on Tuesday. MTL market capitalization is 397.54M with 445 employees. Analyst’s mean target price for Mechel PAO (NYSE:MTL) is 56.00 while analysts mean recommendation is 3.50. Its weekly performance is 5.52% while year to date (YTD) performance is 16.46%. Mechel PAO (NYSE:MTL) reported positive trends which appeared in 1Q2016, the overall price level in this period was significantly lower than the previous year’s. In the first and second quarters of this year, contract prices for hard coking coal were $81 and $84 per tonne, while in the first and second quarters of 2015 those prices were $117 and $109.5 per tonne. The decrease of sales of several types of products as market demand weakened in 1Q2016, had an additional negative impact on the division’s revenue. Nevertheless, optimization of our costs structure enabled us, despite a drop in revenue and prices, to increase the division’s EBITDA by 10% to 14.4 billion rubles, while the EBITDA margin went from 23% to 26% year-on-year.

http://www.benchmarkmonitor.com/why-vmware-inc-nysevmw-pivotal-will-replace-quest-as-dell-software-mechel-pao-nysemtl-sino-global-shipping-america-nasdaqsino-interactive-intelligence-group-nasdaqinin/1887757/

Dell Might Complete Acquisition of EMC Corp This Week [Report]

#Dell is on track to get approval from Chinese regulators and close its historically large acquisition of #EMC Corp ($EMC) by the end of this week, according to a story in the New York Post. Sources cited by the Post say Michael Dell spoke directly with Chinese regulators to help win approval of Dell's $63 billion purchase of EMC. That regulatory hurdle is the last thing standing in the way of the acquisition. Officially, Dell has said that the deal would close by October. But Dell and Silver Lake Partners have obtained debt financing and sold off several business entities faster than expected. EMC shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the deal in July. To accommodate the largest tech deal in history, Dell has raised $50 billion in debt. It also divested of #SecureWorks through an IPO and sold off #PerotSystems and #DellSoftware Group, which included #QuestSoftware and #SonicWall.
http://austininno.streetwise.co/2016/08/16/dell-gets-chinese-approval-to-acquire-emc-corp-deal-closing-this-week-report/

First Dell, now Intel, as rumours emerge of potential security sell-off

@Intel has become the second IT vendor giant inside a week to be linked with a potential sale of its security arm, a prospect some of its partners have welcomed.

Following #Dell 's decision to sell #SonicWall and #Quest last week, the FT reported yesterday that Intel is weighing up options for its #Intel Security arm six years after buying #McAfee for $7.7bn (£5.8bn).

http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2462916/first-dell-now-intel-as-rumours-emerge-of-potential-security-sell-off