MSPmentor

MSPmentor is striving to identify the top 250 leaders, innovators and influencers shaping the global managed services market. We’ve received several dozen nominations since launching this project on February 21.

Although the final MSPmentor 250 won’t be published until July 2008, here’s a look at the current nominees, which we’ve placed on a global map:

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Please note: We update the nominee map roughly once per week. Appearing on the nominee map does not guarantee placement on the final MSPmentor 250 list.

We expect our final list to include CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, association leaders, entrepreneurs, marketing wizards, sales pros, venture capitalists and other experts shaping the global managed services ecosystem.

To nominate someone (perhaps even yourself…) for the MSPmentor 250, check out MSPmentor’s new Top 250 People section.

If you’re still skeptical about managed services and software as a service (SaaS), spend a day at Long Island’s Hofstra University. Roughly 13,000 Hofstra students have access to Google Apps Education Edition to collaborate online, according to Robert W. Juckiewicz, Hofstra’s VP of IT.

The university’s ongoing experience with SaaS — and Hofstra’s future goals — provide some clear hints about how the corporate software market may evolve.

Nobody is predicting the death of Microsoft Office, but it’s clear from case studies like Hofstra that Google Apps and Microsoft’s desktop productivity suite are on a long-term collision course.

Read More >

If you want to promote your managed service into a vertical market, steal a page from Third Brigade’s playbook. The company, which offers security solutions to managed service providers, is making some PR noise at this week’s huge HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) conference in Orlando.

Third Brigade says it is partnering with Concordant, Inc., to offer Electronic Health Records (EHR) infrastructures for physician organizations and ambulatory practices.

The bigger message for MSPs, however, is that you can generate considerable PR noise in specific vertical markets. The trick is to latch onto major industry events — even if you don’t have the budget or trade show resources to actually attend the event. Here’s how. Read More >

It’s not called a managed services program. And it’s not hyped as a recurring revenue effort. But Cisco Systems’ latest pricing plan in the unified communications market is something that may interest managed service providers. The networking giant has introduced “per-user-per-day pricing” to help channel partners accelerate their unified communication sales to small and midsize businesses. Read More >

Logicworks, a managed service provider in New York, has made a rather interesting move that other MSPs should note: The company claims it is the first authorized MySQL Platinum Hosting Partner in the U.S.

Smart move. MySQL is the open source database recently acquired by Sun Microsystems for $1 billion. It is, in my estimation, one of the top 10 open source technologies VARs should be watching — or embracing — this year. Read More >

We receive all types of questions from our readers. The most common inquiry involves readers who want to find and network with experts who can assist their managed services efforts. That’s why we’re launching the MSPmentor 250 — which identifies the top leaders and innovators shaping the global managed services market. To nominate someone for the MSPmentor 250, simply fill out our online survey.

The MSPmentor 250 will allow you to learn from the industry’s sharpest minds. It will honor the people most responsible for shaping this dynamic industry. And it will be a fantastic tool for building or expanding your industry Rolodex.

We expect our final list to include CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, association leaders, entrepreneurs, marketing wizards, sales pros, venture capitalists and other experts shaping the global managed services ecosystem. If you’re doing business in the MSP sector, you’re eligible to appear on the MSPmentor 250. Read More >

Got a technical or business question about managed services? MSPmentor has developed a fast way to help you out. Several dozen MSPmentor readers have used our Ask a Mentor service to find answers to their most pressing managed services questions.

We launched the Ask a Mentor service when the redesigned MSPmentor.net debuted January 2. Early on, we hit a few bumps as a few readers waited a bit too long for help from our mentors. But now we seem to be hitting our stride. Read More >

TelePresence, the next-generation video conferencing technology, is slowly catching on with big customers. But it could be a few more years before TelePresence becomes a mainstream opportunity for managed service providers. First, the good news: Hewlett-Packard says its Halo video conferencing deployments have been doubling annually since the product’s launch in 2005, according to Reuters. And as new TelePresence systems go in, customers will need managed service providers to deliver related bandwidth optimization services.

Now, for the reality check. Read More >