.@IBM CEO @ArvindKrishna said during IBM’s 3Q26 financial report the acceleration of enterprise AI adoption is fueling demand for Red Hat OpenShift, hybrid cloud, real-time data and security, playing into IBM’s AI investment strategy.
Details @CRN $IBM
tinyurl.com/mma7c9kz
New Tusker CEO Matt Gaudio details the solution provider’s growth strategy, including acquisitions, MSP expansion, data center infrastructure, cybersecurity services, AI investments, and people supporting long-term organic growth.
Details @CRN
tinyurl.com/44vhwfyp
.@Acronis' CEO Prakash Panjwani, who joined the company this month, outlined his plans in an exclusive @CRN meeting to expand its cyber protection platform, deepen its MSP focus, balance security and data protection investments, and guide future growth.
tinyurl.com/34jbru77
Joe “Joe Kovar” Kovar retweeted
BREAKING: Billionaire Sir Richard Branson unleashes a SCORCHING attack on Trump and his disgusting cozying up to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that gets under Trump's skin...
"I thought I’d never have to say this in my lifetime, but this is 2026, and sadly nothing is what it used to be," Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, wrote on LinkedIn. "The Trump administration has become an appeaser to autocrats and dictators, putting their personal whims before the best interests of the American people and those of the free world. What is it about Putin that President Trump fawns over?"
"How will America’s allies ever be able to trust this administration again when they are now turning against them at a time of war and suffering?" he asked.
Trump has repeatedly betrayed our Ukrainian allies in recent days. First, he announced a stunning deal with Putin to allow millions of barrels of diesel into the global markets, a move that will directly pump money into the Russian war machine. Then, he began a concerted smear campaign against President Zelenskyy and said that Putin is easier to deal with.
The backstabbing escalated when Washington failed to provide its usual early warning to Kyiv of an incoming Russian ballistic missile attack. Now, it appears that the White House ordered a temporary disruption of Starshield, a military version of Elon Musk's Starlink that the Ukrainian armed forces rely upon.
"The slowdown of Starlink/Starshield and the inexplicable lack of advance warning of Russian missile launches have already caused Ukrainian civilians to die unnecessarily," wrote Branson. "How much worse can it get?"
"If one thing is clear it’s that European leaders must overcome the initial shock about Trump’s recent actions and step up to the plate. It’s as much about Europe’s freedom as it is about Ukraine’s sovereignty. Both are worth fighting for," he continued. "All options should be on the table now, from the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to the delivery of advanced weapons systems such as Germany’s Taurus."
"Why oh why is this happening? We cannot let the free world be dismantled before our very eyes," Branson concluded.
We couldn't agree more. Trump is an enemy to Ukraine, an enemy to democracy, and an enemy to the American people. When Democrats retake power, we have our work cut out for us. Every last trace of this monstrous man's legacy must be erased.
Please ❤️ and share if you think that Trump is Putin's puppet!
.@TDSYNNEX is focusing on physical AI with its planned acquisition of BlueStar and distributing Kuka's industrial robotics, moves CEO Patrick Zammit told me will help push the convergence of operational technology and information tech.
Details @CRN $SNX
tinyurl.com/556ab9nk
IT distribution leader @TDSYNNEX Thursday opened its TD Synnex 2026 Inspire conference with the unveiling of FinOps Fusion, a new offering designed to help its channel partners manage the cost of AI consumption.
Details @CRN $SNX
tinyurl.com/yc2hw9sm
Dell Technologies (@Dell) has expanded its AI Data Platform with agentic AI context, @nvidia-accelerated data preparation, multi-tenancy, storage performance tools, managed PowerScale for @Azure, and professional services, all aimed at helping enterprises move AI deployments more quickly from pilot projects into production.
@DellTechPartner
crn.com/news/storage/2026/de…
The Department of Justice alleged solution provider EarthMade Computer owner Greg Lui smuggled $300M+ in export-controlled servers containing U.S.-made GPUs, routing the tech through Malaysia and Singapore in violation of export controls.
Details @CRN
tinyurl.com/4dhvx27a
NetApp CEO George Kurian calls his company an intelligent data infrastructure provider built for AI, hybrid cloud and cyber resilience, as opposed to the traditional classification of @NetApp as a storage vendor.
In an exclusive interview with @CRN during #NetAppINSIGHT this week in Las Vegas, Kurian said NetApp’s software brings together unified storage, security, data protection, metadata, and movement across data centers and clouds, allowing customers to build AI-ready data in place while retaining control.
Read @ChannelWritrGuy’s interview with Kurian to learn more, including about the company’s focus on bringing unprecedented performance and scalability of data to AI:
crn.com/news/ai/2026/netapp-…
.@NetApp's move to integrate its storage technology to run natively on @Oracle's OCI follows similar moves it previously made with the @awscloud, @Azure, and @GoogleCloudTech environments.
Details @CRN $NTAP
tinyurl.com/2pcjbkas
.@NetApp’s planned @Peak_AIO buy strengthens its AI infrastructure and high-performance computing push with parallel NFS tech channel partners can use to address enterprise AI factories, massive data workloads, and AI performance.
Details @CRN $NTAP
tinyurl.com/yzmu68zt
.@TDSYNNEX CEO Patrick Zammit told me that the distributor’s record 3Q26 revenue, Hyve hyperscaler growth, enterprise AI demand, and distribution market share gains are driving momentum despite investor concerns over cash flow.
Details @CRN $SNX
tinyurl.com/mt988xpr
Ryan Sheehan, senior vice president of Advanced Solutions at @SHI_Intl, weighs in on “tight” partnerships with @VMware, @Dell and @PalantirTech during a supply chain crisis, @OpenAI and @AnthropicAI’s channel push, and the hot market trends SHI is seeing in 2026:
crn.com/news/channel-news/20…
Salesforce unveiled AIforce, a new live interface layer that connects enterprise data and workflows to AI tools, plus expanded partnerships with @awscloud, @googlecloud and @nvidia, at @Dreamforce this week in San Francisco.
The event comes as Salesforce looks to shake off concerns that AI tools will render its customer relationship management (CRM) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) products obsolete, with chatbots potentially the main interaction layer for how workers accomplish tasks in the AI era.
However, as @salesforce Co-Founder and CEO @Benioff and other data platform vendors have asserted, AI tools are nothing without the data stored in their platforms.
@partnerforce
crn.com/news/ai/2026/salesfo…
The @GTIAofficial has acquired @asciigroup, uniting GTIA’s research, education, cybersecurity and advocacy muscle with ASCII’s regional event network and peer-led managed service provider (MSP) community.
For GTIA CEO Dan Wensley, the acquisition was all about preserving what already works and then putting more resources behind it.
“This is a win-win for both of these communities,” he told CJ Fairfield in an exclusive interview for @CRN.
Read CJ’s interview with Wensley to learn more about the acquisition here: bit.ly/4yEb8GG.
HCI and virtual storage software developer @StorMagic CEO Susan Odle talked with me about the company’s distributed edge focus and its new partnership with Mako Networks to bring edge to retail distributed and remote IT environments.
Details @CRN
tinyurl.com/3zdmh9m6







