MSPmentor

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.

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.

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.

Indeed, Symantec is being extra thorough with its channel efforts after working through some online setbacks in late 2006 and early 2007. During most of our chat Monday, Parrish described how Symantec has systematically addressed online ordering problems that partners began experiencing in November 2006.

I’ve documented the problems (and Symantec’s corrective actions) before, and was interested to hear more about the Symantec Protection Network’s status. And for good reason: For managed service providers, SPN represents a new opportunity to offer small and mid-size businesses online storage and, eventually, online security. Read More >

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. Read More >

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.

Surely, small MSPs can learn quite a lot from their much larger rivals — everything from proper staffing to sales management, service level agreements, international pricing models, etc. And as small MSPs begin to manage dozens of small customer networks, they’ll begin to think like enterprise CIOs overseeing multiple departmental networks.

Big or small, MSPs participating in our MSPmentor 100 survey are showing strong year-over-year revenue growth. We expect most companies that make our final list will show triple-digit annual revenue growth on the managed services front.

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.

As we mentioned in our 10 Managed Services Predictions for 2008, traditional IT vendors will continue to push deeper into managed services. Cisco, Dell, Microsoft, McAfee, Symantec… and the list goes on. Read More >

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.).

There’s still time to fill out the survey if you’re interested. It only takes a few minutes. Managed service providers that land on the list will receive a full year of free publicity on this Web site, along with a few other surprise benefits that raise your company’s profile on the Web.

You know the drill: It’s the end of the year. Time for some predictions to stir some reader debate and feedback. Here’s a look at where I see the managed services market going in 2008. Agree? Disagree? I’m all ears. Read More >