MSPmentor

I spotted a very interesting article on GigaOm today. It explores the factors you should weigh before launching your own storage cloud. It’s a particularly timely read for managed service providers that may own multiple companies, or may be seeking to get economies of scale for multiple customer settings.

Do you know a true managed services guru? If so, nominate him or her (or multiple people) to appear on the MSPmentor 250 — the definitive, global guide to manged service provider industry leaders.

That final MSPmentor 250, to be unveiled in July, will likely include CEOs, senior executives, entrepreneurs, consultants and other MSP experts from around the world. To nominate someone for the MSPmentor 250 and for complete details about the forthcoming list, check out our MSPmentor 250 center.

In the meantime, we’re plotting MSPmentor 250 nominees on a global Google map. Here’s a quick look at the updated nomination map:
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Evidence is mounting that the software as a service (SaaS) industry is doing well — but not quite as well as financial analysts had expected. The latest anecdote comes from Blackboard Inc., a company that offers hosted applications to colleges and universities.

I’ve tracked Blackboard for numerous years while working at a college and also contributing to University Business magazine. Blackboard was among the first niche, vertical market software companies to truly master the SaaS business model. So, how are things at Blackboard, and what does the data mean to managed service providers (MSPs)? Here’s a look.

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First, let me clarify the headline: I’m not pressing a panic button. Cisco’s overall profits and revenues, announced May 6, were impressive. But if you’re a managed service provider, there’s a note of caution: Cisco’s sales to big U.S. service providers were weak this quarter. Here’s why managed service providers should care.

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MSPmentor has expanded its Resource Center to include more than 40 managed services case studies, white papers, call scripts, product guides and videos. Plus, the Resource Center contains the complete MSPmentor 100 report, which highlights the world’s most successful managed service providers. Each piece of content is available as a PDF download.

Full disclosure: Selected content within the Resource Center is sponsored material. In all cases, MSPmentor clearly identifies sponsored content.

Registration is required to access the MSPmentor Resource Center.

Two Rackspace veterans are launching a cloud-based storage service that could give Amazon.com’s Simple Storage Service (S3) a run for its money. The new service, known as Mosso CloudFS, is in private beta and may be of interest to managed service providers (MSPs) that are formulating storage stategies. Here are some quick details.

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Finally, the phone call happened. For several weeks, I’ve been playing phone tag with Digital Fuel President and CEO Yisrael Dancziger. We finally connected a few days ago, and Dancziger took the time to walk me through Digital Fuel’s business strategy and latest platform release.

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