Howdy, folks, and welcome to the latest edition of the Channel Partner Program Roundup, our weekly collection of channel partner programs news you need to know about. This week we’ve got news from Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD), Carousel Industries and M5 Networks, so listen up ’cause we’re burning daylight. M5 Networks: The Cloud division of ShoreTel (NASDAQ: SHOR) has added IPC Technologies as an Alliance partner, [...]

Just about everybody in the channel would agree that unified communications have been a frustrating experience. While the technology holds great promise, the effort required to get customers to first test and then actually deploy it can be nothing short of herculean. But all that may be about to finally change for the better now that unified communications is going to be increasingly delivered as a service via the cloud.

Cloud telephony provider M5 Networks, which was recently acquired by ShoreTel and is now ShoreTel’s Cloud Division, hosted a blowout Battle of the Bands in New York City earlier this month — a team building exercise in which various M5 employees received instruction from the renowned School of Rock and got to test out their chops in front of a live audience.

With both Interop in Las Vegas and CTIA Wireless in New Orleans underway this week, the news inbox is getting full but today we’ll start with four announcements from ShoreTel. ShoreTel has introduced new collaboration tools, a new remote monitoring service, a new M5 Portal for cloud customers, and a new bundle with a promotional incentive that includes elements from ShoreTel, Polycom and HP solutions.

With ShoreTel’s $146 million acquisition of M5 Networks closed and M5 now doing business as ShoreTel’s Cloud Division, its top executives have begun the delicate business of creating an integrated channel strategy.

ShoreTel beat analyst earnings and revenue estimates for its third quarter of 2012. Early results from M5 and net booking were higher than expected, and said the company was starting to introduce cloud services to customers through ShoreTel’s existing channel partners.

ShoreTel® (NASDAQ: SHOR), the leading provider of brilliantly simple premise and cloud-based business phone system and communication solutions with fully integrated unified communications (UC), today announced financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, which ended March 31, 2012. ShoreTel’s consolidated results include eight days of operating results from ShoreTel’s cloud division, formerly known as M5 Networks, as [...]

Howdy, and welcome once again to the Channel Partner Program Roundup, our weekly collection of goings on in the partner community. This week, we’ve got news from SmartDeploy, M5 Networks and Power Assure, so saddle up and let’s get riding. M5 Networks: The cloud division of UC provider ShoreTel has added Datamart as an Alliance partner. As a ShoreTel Cloud Division channel partner, Datamart will now [...]

ShoreTel Inc. has invited its dealers to sell the hosted services of its new cloud business unit formed by the March acquisition of M5 Networks, according to Keith Nealon, M5 chief revenue officer, who spoke to Channel Partners at the Spring 2012 Channel Partners Conference & Expo just three days after the deal was finalized.

ShoreTel, Inc. has added a new channel partner in the cloud-based, unified communications area. The company announced that its Cloud Division, M5 Networks, has added Datamart, Inc. as an Alliance partner.