The content team at Channel Partners tracks stories of interest to the technology advisor and wider channel communities. Anyone selling communication and connectivity solutions will want to stay abreast of these developing stories or catch up on ones they have missed. All links are valid as of March 11.

SaaSpocalypse? Maybe not, but SaaS Apps are Changing

It's unlikely that SaaS is undergoing an extinction-level event, IT leaders say, but AI is disrupting software in ways that enterprises must learn to navigate effectively. Read the TechTarget story.

Salesforce Makes Fast Frenemies with its CCaaS Partners

Salesforce sent ripples through its partner ecosystem with the launch of a new contact center solution called Agentforce Contact Center, which natively offers capabilities the software giant has been borrowing from third-party software and voice partners. See the Channel Dive story.

Iran War Impact on IT Spending: IDC First Look, Global Outlook 2026

IDC presents a deep dive on what the Iran War means for the technology sector. Based on early regional intelligence and IDC’s macroeconomic modeling framework, the analyst firm points to six primary impact vectors on IT spending: energy price volatility, cloud and data center resiliency, sovereign infrastructure acceleration, cybersecurity, supply chain, and shifts in consumer and enterprise investment sentiment. Read the IDC blog.

Nvidia-Nokia Deal Remains Puzzling Four Months Later

A still unanswered and rarely asked question in telecom is why a chipmaking behemoth like Nvidia sees interest in the 5G and 6G radio access network (RAN) business. It has, since early 2024, encouraged the industry to view its graphics processing units (GPUs), the hardware trainers of large language models (LLMs), as a dual-purpose option for RAN workloads and AI inferencing in telco networks. Then, in October last year, it plowed $1 billion into Nokia, which simultaneously revealed a RAN roadmap based on Nvidia's chips. Very little of this makes obvious sense. Read the Light Reading story.

Lumen CEO Johnson Cautious on Digital Sovereignty, Upbeat on AI Bubble

Lumen Technologies CEO Kate Johnson warned of the impact of digital sovereignty with regard to AI innovation, in an exclusive interview with SDxCentral held at this year’s edition of Mobile World Congress (MWC). The Lumen leader gave an overview of the vendor’s network roadmap, as well as a message for the telecom crowds at MWC. Read the SDxCentral story.

Amazon Challenges SpaceX's Data Center Plan

Amazon has urged the FCC to deny SpaceX's plan to build orbital data centers comprising up to 1 million satellites, arguing that it's 'wholly unrealistic' and would give SpaceX 'near-total control' of launch insertion orbits. See the Light Reading story.

Analysts: Charter's Hire of Former Frontier CEO Key to Operational Turnaround

Charter’s hiring of former Frontier Communications CEO Nick Jeffery as COO was somewhat surprising, but analysts think it’s a smart move that could jumpstart an operational turnaround for the cable operator. See the Fierce Network story.

How Agentic AI, Multi-Product Packages Shape AWS Marketplace

Public cloud was a critical proving ground for generative AI, as private-sector businesses leveraged readymade infrastructure to pilot use cases. Now, an emerging class of agentic AI tools is shifting industry focus to hyperscaler marketplaces, where independent software providers, service providers, resellers and consultants stress test various deployment and monetization strategies. Read the Channel Dive story.

AT&T's $250 Billion Investment Pledge Smaller Than it Sounds

AT&T made headlines on Tuesday with a pledge to invest $250 billion in its networks over the next five years. But that huge sum is perhaps not as noteworthy as it first appears. Telecoms.com does a deep dive into the numbers. Read the story.