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EMC + SAP = One Stop for Managed Storage and Managed ERP?
Posted February 15th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
If I was managed service provider, I’d target a market niche real fast and dig real deep. Or I’d go broad really fast by offering a lengthly list of managed services. The reason: Big technology companies are realizing that can no longer afford to ignore the MSP and software-as-a-service (SaaS) markets.
Managed Services Don’t Protect Distributors From Slowing Economy
Posted February 14th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Much like its rivals, Tech Data is making multiple managed services moves. But so far, those moves have not protected distributors from the economic slowdown. Here’s how distributors are embracing managed services, plus a financial nugget suggesting the North American economic slowdown is starting to impact distributors.
“Managed Services Reality Check” Presentation: Available Now for Download
Posted February 13th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Whether you attended — or missed — the February 14 Breakfast on Broadway event in New York, you can download Editorial Director Joe Panettieri’s “Managed Services Reality Check” presentation from the MSPmentor Resource Center (registration required).
Understanding the Managed Services Hype Cycle
Posted February 13th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Some pundits say managed services will become a commodity. I disagree. Managed services are not a single technology. Rather, managed service provider (MSP) platforms are a way to continually deliver new solutions to customers.
Vembu Attracts 550 Managed Storage Partners
Posted February 13th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Big companies — EMC, and soon Symantec — are making big moves into the managed services market. But Vembu Technologies of Chennai (Madras), India, has quietly built a global managed storage business of its own.
The Top Three Challenges Facing MSPs
Posted February 13th, 2008 by Dan Shapero
According to Ziff Davis Enterprise (Bright Future for Managed Service Providers, 2007), the top three issues facing MSPs today include: determining SLAs, pricing and transitioning customers to managed service.
Venture Capitalists Invest In Managed Services
Posted February 13th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Venture capital firms are opening their wallets for managed service providers. The two latest examples: NetMagic Solutions has raised $20 million and Voxify has raised $15 million. Both companies specialize in managed services — though their target markets are vastly different.
Dell Makes Managed Email Acquisition
Posted February 12th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
In less than a year, Dell has made three key acquisitions to pump up its managed services and software as a service (SaaS) business. The latest acquisition involves MessageOne, which specializes in email continuity, compliance and archiving as a managed service. Here’s the scoop, and the bigger picture on Dell’s managed services push.
TelePresence Meets Managed Services
Posted February 12th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
As video moves onto IP networks, managed service providers are exploring new opportunities in TelePresence — the next-generation video conferencing systems that bring distant parties together into a single virtual conference room. Here’s how TelePresence and managed services will converge in 2008 and beyond.
More Partners Embrace Cisco Managed Service Program
Posted February 12th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
As managed services converges with unified communications, partners are speed-dialing Cisco Systems for help. The networking giant launched a managed services partner program last fall, and plenty of MSPs have taken the Cisco plunge. Still, many of Cisco’s rivals are taking a wait-and-see approach to the MSP industry.
SugarCRM: Doubling Revenues Through Software as a Service?
Posted February 11th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Call it the ultimate double play: Open source coupled with software as a service (SaaS). Using that formula, SugarCRM is striving to double its size this year, asserts CEO John Roberts.
Making Money with Managed Services
Posted February 11th, 2008 by Peter Sandiford
It wasn’t long ago that adopting managed services was a considered to be a pretty scary proposition. You had to build a NOC (whatever a NOC is – but we will leave that to another discussion), spend $50,000 (U.S. dollars) or more on software, turn your business upside down (or go out of business in case you missed the point!), move from low-risk time and materials to high-risk fixed price billing, replace most of your sales team and technicians and of course obey the obligatory command to “fire your customers” that enjoyed the old way of doing business with you.
Join Us February 14 In New York
Posted February 11th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Join MSPmentor Editorial Director Joe Panettieri on February 14 in New York. He’ll be among the guest speakers at Breakfast on Broadway, an event hosted by Telehouse America.
Google’s Two Managed Services Moves
Posted February 11th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
How do you get readers hooked on free services, and then transform them into paying customers? Plenty of Web companies have tried — and failed — to do exactly that. But Google has made two interesting moves in the managed services market that could attract dollars from consumers and small businesses.
Open Source and SaaS Meet Again
Posted February 10th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Morph Labs is the latest company to meld managed services, software as a service (Saas) and open source into a platform solution. The Philippines-based startup claims it has launched a platform that allows independent software vendors (ISVs), entrepreneurs and other businesses to quickly enter the SaaS market.
Stop, Look and Listen on February 28
Posted February 8th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Sometimes, managed service providers ignore deep, informative, free information about their industry and the overall economy. One of the easiest ways to gather valuable information is to listen to investor conference calls. As a case in point: Salesforce.com is scheduled to announce quarterly results on February 28. The news will surely give Wall Street — and solutions providers — a much-needed software-as-a-service (SaaS) reality check.
Aberdeen Group: Unbaised Managed Security Praise?
Posted February 8th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
I’ve read research from firms like Aberdeen Group, Gartner and International Data Corp. for more than a decade. Sometimes I’m impressed. Sometimes I read information that affirms what I already know. But on some occasions, I see data that sounds like thinly veiled vendor messaging.
Xerox Pitches PagePack Managed Services
Posted February 7th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Roughly 90 percent of companies don’t know what they’re spending on printing, according to Kenneth D. Winters, a business advisor for Xerox’s North American Partners Group. To help VARs and customers quantify and better manage those costs, Xerox continues to evangelize its PagePack managed printer service.
Are 40 Percent of VARs Doomed?
Posted February 7th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
VARs heard a familiar but important message today during a luncheon hosted by Do IT Smarter near Philadelphia: Without a managed services framework in place, roughly 40 percent of solutions providers will go out of business within the next year, according to research from Gartner Inc.
Microsoft Trains Partners to Master Managed Services
Posted February 7th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Independent software vendors (ISVs) have always been the lifeblood of Microsoft’s business. But these days, Microsoft is maintaining a careful balancing act — promoting software as a service (SaaS) directly to customers while also recruiting managed service providers to assist the effort.
Join Us February 7 In Philadelphia
Posted February 6th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
MSPmentor will be blogging live from a Managed Services Luncheon on February 7 in Philadelphia. The event, hosted by Do IT Smarter, Xerox, MX Logic and SonicWall, seeks to educate VARs about managed services opportunities.
Digital Signage Meets Managed Services
Posted February 6th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
During a recent stop at Dunkin’ Donuts (my daily coffee run), I noticed new digital signage promoting local businesses and special offers for coffee. It dawned on me that digital signage is a great opportunity for managed service providers. Sure, you can sell Plasma TVs and large LCD screens to businesses, but the real money is in monthly content management services for those screens.
Google Launches Managed Email Security Services
Posted February 5th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
During a mid-2007 phone chat with Autotask CEO Bob Godgart, I asked him which managed services-oriented companies he watches most closely. His immediate reply: Google. Fast forward to the present, and it’s clear why Godgart and the rest of the managed services industry keeps close tabs on the search engine giant.
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