MSPmentor

OnForce Senior VP Nadjarian

OnForce, the online marketplace for VARs, has a rather interesting spin on the managed services market. During a visit to the company’s headquarters near Boston today, I heard how OnForce “turbo charges” managed services. That sounded a bit like marketing hype. But a conversation with OnForce Senior VP Paul Nadjarian helped to clarify how the OnForce marketplace helps VARs to extend their own managed services. Read More >

Still skeptical about the promise and payoff of managed services? Maybe you should pay a visit to Nimsoft. The managed service platform provider says 3Q 2007 sales grew 130 percent compared to 3Q 2006. Nimsoft says it also achieved EBITDA profitability, though I don’t pay that much attention to that financial metric. Read More >

I witnessed a rather interesting debate earlier this week at CompTIA’s SMB Summit. During the event, hosted in Bonita Springs, Fla., about 120 VARs debated the true definition of managed services. Eventually, attendees reached two clear conclusions: First, managed services are either (A) delivered remotely or (B) delivered on site — yes, on site. The real trick, all attendees agreed, is to deliver the remote or on-site services as part of a monthly contract/service fee.

These definitions may seem trivial, but they are important. During the conference, roughly 50 percent of attendees said they already offer managed services and 80 percent said they’d offer managed services in 2008. But when pressed to describe the managed services they plan to offer, many attendees said they are starting with on-site services because they don’t have the money or expertise yet to deploy an MSP remote administration platform.

Voltage Security, which specializes in encryption technology, has launched a partner program that pushes security as a service (SaaS) opportunities out to channel partners. According to the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company, the program delivers recurring revenue opportunities to security VARs, managed service providers (MSPs), integrators and solutions providers. Read More >