MSPmentor

Today is the last day we’re accepting submissions for our MSPmentor 100 survey. We’ve received several hundred submissions since September 2007. And we’ll be announcing the MSPmentor 100 results on January 28. The list will highlight 100 of the most innovative, most successful MSPs from around the world. Companies that land on the list will receive free promotion on this web site — and others — throughout 2008. Take a few minutes to fill out the survey now.

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Some managed service providers make bold statements about their momentum. But Positive Networks of Kansas is one of the few privately held MSPs actually willing to talk dollars and cents. The company, which focuses on managed security services, says its revenue has nearly doubled for the third consecutive year. But that’s not all.

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Stay tuned for our first guest blogs, including perspectives from Level Platforms CEO Peter Sandiford. His perspectives and the views of other MSP leaders will debut in January 2008.

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Dell did some last-minute shopping before Christmas, acquiring The Networked Storage Company (TNWSC), a UK-based firm that specializes in IT consulting. The move comes only a few weeks after Dell announced an aggressive strategy to engage resellers, integrators and managed service providers.

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The spirit of former Novell CEO Ray Noorda lives on in the managed services market. In the late 1980s, Noorda coined the term “coopetition” — which described rival technology companies that competed but also cooperated to grow a market.

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If you’d like to be considered for our MSPmentor 100 list, please complete the quick online survey by December 28. The MSPmentor 100 list, slated to be announced in January 2008, will highlight 100 of the industry’s savviest, fastest-growing managed service providers. If your company lands on our list, you’ll receive free publicity on MSPmentor and across major search engines throughout 2008. Plus, we’ll toss in a few surprise benefits. But don’t miss the deadline. The survey is free and open to you through December 28.

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MSPmentor Live: Podcast 001, Featuring Level Platforms CEO Peter Sandiford Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Software as a service has caught Wall Street’s attention. One prime example: NetSuite has raised the anticipated share price for its initial public offering, according to a document filed with the SEC. Why should managed service providers care? There are two quick answers to that question.

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Just what the tech world needs: Another acronym. Although I try to steer clear of technology jargon, the term “managed video service provider” (MVSP) caught my eye today. Applied Global Technologies is launching an end-to-end video collaboration service called PerfectMeetings. The announcement mentioned several trends involving MVSPs.

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Even as they worry about Dell taking business direct, resellers are flooding the PC giant with phone and email inquiries, according to company insiders. In fact, Dell insiders tell me there’s no shortage of resellers asking about the company’s recently acquired managed services platforms (Silverback and Everdream).

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I work in a small business. When it comes to technology, we have two goals: First, we hope to never hire a chief information officer. Second, we hope to outsource just about all of our technology infrastructure. If we fulfill the second goal, then it’s quite simple for us to fulfill the first goal.

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During the dot-com boom, I received weekly pitches from Jamcracker — one of the leading “e-services” companies of the time. Like so many other companies, Jamcracker imploded when the dot-com boom went bust. But now the company is back, this time emphasizing software as a service (SaaS) opportunities and evangelizing Cisco’s WebEx collaboration platform to partners.

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As I look into 2008, I’m starting to think that online backup has become a commodity — a managed service that every MSP has to offer as part of a larger suite of services. Thanks to heightened competition, the days of offering online backup as your one and only managed service are over.

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If you take managed services to the extreme, you can wind up locked away in your data center — remotely managing and monitoring customer networks without ever seeing the light of day. Fact is, customers still want to see you from time to time. And without quality face time, you risk losing your business relationships. That’s why some VARs are now building face-to-face meetings into their monthly managed service fees.

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In addition to the seven tips for selling managed print services, there’s another simple way for you to transition your customers to higher-margin printer solutions: Promote the “green” benefits of solid ink technology, which generate 90 percent less waste and garbage compared to traditional laser printers, according to Xerox.

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Want to generate recurring revenue from multifunction printers (MFPs)? Steve Spector, a business advisor at Xerox, offered a few recommendations to VARs attending a managed services luncheon in Boston today. According to Spector, here are seven questions VARs need to ask customers in order to turn an MSP sales lead into a buying customer.

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I just landed in Boston and I’m heading over to a managed services luncheon hosted by Do IT Smarter, Xerox and several other players. A few dozen VARs will attend the event, which seeks to help solutions providers transform their businesses into true MSPs. I’ll share some observations and attendee perspectives later in the day.

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If you’re located near Boston and want to dive into the managed services discussion, join me at a luncheon on Dec. 12 hosted by Xerox and Do IT Smarter. During the event, hosted at the Seaport Hotel, I’ll be researching a feature about VARs and hardware providers transitioning into the MSP space. You can find more info about the event on Do IT Smarter’s Web site.

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During a phone chat Monday afternoon, Symantec VP of Global Channel Sales and Strategy Julie Parrish gave me an update on the company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, known as the Symantec Protection Network (SPN). It sounds to me like Symantec is taking its time with SPN and won’t make it generally available for a few more weeks.

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Managed service providers should keep a close eye on NetSuite this month. The hosted accounting software provider is launching its initial public offering on our about December 20. NetSuite’s performance on Wall Street could provide some clues about the evolving software-as-a-service landscape.

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We’re wrapping up our MSPmentor 100 survey this month. A quick look at the current survey results shows that a small but growing number of participants are serving global 2000 customers — managing thousands of customer nodes across multiple continents. For us, the trend reinforces the fact that we’ll continue to expand our enterprise-related coverage in 2008.

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Byte and Switch, a web site that covers storage and networking, offers interesting perspective on recent acquisitions at IBM and Seagate. The IBM deal (acquiring Arsenal Digital) and Seagate’s move (buying MetaLINCS) both have strong managed services angles, according to the site. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

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We’re pleased to say several hundred VARs and managed service providers are participating in our MSPmentor 100 survey — which seeks to identify 100 of the world’s savviest MSPs. In January 2008, we’ll publish the MSPmentor 100 survey results, which will be based on a range of metrics (year-over-year managed services revenue growth, number of devices/nodes managed, etc.).

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