The news is brief but full this morning. Partnerships, a merger, some acquisition context opportunities and reminder about the COPAs to ease you into the last work day of the week. Think of it as a mild distraction from the Canadian Women’s Soccer Team’s gold medal match at the Tokyo Olympic Games today.

Aptum, a hybrid multi-cloud managed service provider, partnered with NEON CORP., a turnkey eCommerce platform and retail solutions provider. NEON will transition its IT infrastructure to Microsoft Azure Cloud. The move will boost NEON’s scalability and augment its IT security.

“Aptum’s Managed cloud and security expertise allowed us to make a smooth transition from our hosted model to hyperscale Azure,” said Randy Laporte, Vice-President E-Commerce & Digital Marketing of NEON. “We enjoy working with Aptum because they have knowledgeable experts who are able to provide technology-agnostic advice.”

Press release: https://aptum.com/newsroom/neon-corp-selects-aptum-to-enhance-its-retail-and-ecommerce-platforms/

More news from cloud-based tools includes a merger between Catching Clouds and Acuity. Catching Clouds is an ecommerce accounting tool while Acuity is an online accounting service. The new company will focus on supporting Amazon and Shopify sellers’ businesses. Both firms have been members of the Xero Partner Advisory Council, Gusto Partner Advisory Council, and Accounting Salon.

“Acuity and Catching Clouds have championed the needs of their small business clients and both firms have been leaders in transforming the accounting profession,” said Ben Richmond, US Country Manager at Xero. “We look forward to seeing their journey and are excited to work together to help even more of our mutual small business customers grow and thrive.”

Press release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/catching-clouds-merges-with-acuity-301348393.html

Industry announcements and reminders this morning include:

Tonight at 7PM, Zach Bair, CEO of VNUE will host a livestream on Stageit.com to talk to the company’s acquisition of Stageit. Bair will discuss how the deal will play into VNUE’s Soundstr music recognition technology platform and VNUE’s technology stacks including Set.fm. The acquisition was announced at the end of July.

To register visit https://Stageit.com

Quick reminder that the Canadian Online Publishing Awards (COPA) remain open for entries. Get the early bird discount if you enter this week.

Rules & regulations: https://canadianonlinepublishingawards.com/rules

In other news, I have a new kitten. We aren’t sure if she was dumped by an irresponsible cat owner in rural Niagara, or if she was found feral. In either case, this is a gratuitous picture of her to grab pet lover traffic AND to issue a Bob Barker-style reminder to spay and neuter your pets.

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Kate Baggott is a former Managing Editor of B2BNN. Her technology and business journalism has appeared in the Technology Review, the Globe and Mail, Canada Computes, the Vancouver Sun and the Bay Street Bull. She is the author of the short story collections Love from Planet Wine Cooler and Dry Stories. Find links to recent articles by following her on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-baggott-9a0306/

• B2B News for Friday, August 6, 2021: Aptum & Neon Partnership, Acuity Merger, COPA Reminder – August 6, 2021
• B2B News for Wednesday, August 4, 2021: Dog DNA, the Gig Economy, Social Good Platforms – August 4, 2021
• B2B News for Friday, July 30, 2021: Canada Wins Robotics World Cup, Automotive Acquisition & the Life Insurance Industry at Pandemic’s End – July 30, 2021