And in two stories I don’t usually do, Verizon’s earnings were off in consumer, but of note to listeners here, were strong in SMB and fixed wireless broadband. Small and medium-sized businesses proved a bright spot for Verizon. The carrier’s operating revenues in the segment increased almost 7%, to $3.1 billion. Global enterprise, public sector, and wholesale all saw operating revenues decrease.
Second, cyber insurance and MDR provider Acrisure acquired two MSPs and added them to their Cyber Services division. One is focused on IT support to small and medium-sized businesses, and the other is an IBM-focused partner.
Why do we care?
For all the sentiment, worry, and clutching of pearls – myself included – there’s some performance data that, so far, the SMB market is solid. That’s why I highlighted the Verizon data.
As for the second, it’s the pairing of technology and insurance – and in this case, services too – that I wanted to note. I was anticipating (and predicted) the tech plus insurance angle but didn’t expect it to be with services too. Contrast that combination with a product without an insurance guarantee.. .which looks a whole lot less attractive. That’s the competition of the future.