MSPmentor

Sorry for being so “Dell-centric” on our Web sites today, but a conversation I had with Dell’s Channel VP Greg Davis has triggered multiple posts. The latest: Davis and Michael Menegay, Global Director of Dell Managed Services, today sent a jointly signed letter to managed service providers. The letter provides MSPs with an update on:

1. Dell’s Managed Services Partner Certification, with more details about plans for the Everdream platform
2. Dell’s own Managed Services for small business plans, with more details on Dell’s intention to test managed services with selected small businesses
3. Future communications. Dell is planning a Web seminar the week of April 21 to continue the conversation with partners.

Here is some analysis, along with a link to let you read the entire letter for yourself.

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Channel conflict. Trust. While some VARs and managed service providers continue to fret over those words, more than 6,200 solutions providers have joined Dell’s channel program since its official launch on December 5, according to Greg Davis, the company’s channel chief.

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Many VARs get certified for vendor-specific technology (Microsoft, Cisco, etc.). But a new wave of certifications and accreditations — focused on the managed service provider and software as a service (SaaS) markets — is emerging.

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Web seminars are fantastic for quick, educational tutorials about managed services and business management. Skype and other tools allow us all to connect for free over vast distances.

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You’re a VAR, and you’re nervous about betting your business — and the money in your wallet — on a specific managed services platform. Dan Wilson, president of Waypoint Solutions Group, has some advice for you. Already a successful managed service provider himself, Wilson has 15 tips for choosing an MSP platform. Here they are.

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Ben Yarbrough has seen it. Bob Walters has seen it. And now, hundreds of managed service providers are starting to see it. What exactly is “it”? The simple answer: The convergence of open source with managed services.

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Dell is among the companies attending next week’s managed services conference in Atlanta. But I’ll get a jump on some of that Dell discussion by visiting the PC giant on March 28.

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A few hundred people will likely pack their bags and head to Atlanta, where a managed services conference kicks off March 31. Some companies “wait” to announce news at events like this. But progressive MSP participants like Waypoint Solutions Group are creating marketing buzz before attendees even arrive for the opening keynote.

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Managed services aren’t just for small business. In fact, the managed service providers see ample opportunity in mid-size businesses. But targeting the mid-market often means competing with well-funded, profitable consulting firms that specialize in host ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications.

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Apparently, Do IT Smarter and ZINFI Technologies couldn’t contain their excitement. The duo will officially debut a partnership during next week’s MSP Alliance conference in Atlanta. But Do IT Smarter and ZINFI are already describing their new relationship to the world at large.

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When the history of managed services is written, Mark Scott may earn two prominent mentions.

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Move over, Steve Jobs. Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff is teasing press and analysts with a cryptic invite to a major announcement on April 14.  Salesforce.com won’t say what’s cooking.

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Windows Vista has sold more than 100 million licenses as of January 2008, but the operating system hasn’t exactly been a hit in business environments — where many companies are holding strong to Windows XP, and some firms are exploring Windows alternatives.

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In recent weeks, my inbox has become filled with “cloud” computing press releases. The good news: Many of the high-tech industry’s smartest companies are allocating resources to hosted services, managed services and software as a service.

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Lots of schools are closed this week in the United States. Email and voice mail traffic seems a  little bit lighter. It’s the perfect week to come into the office a little late and leave a little early.

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We told readers about the latest Kaseya platform release earlier this month. However, we don’t really do “product reviews” here, nor do we analyze product features and functions. MSPmentor focuses more on MSP business and partner strategies.

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Many online events have turned into pure vendor sales pitches. But Microsoft’s Small Business Summit, which kicks off March 24 at noon eastern, caught my attention because it includes extensive sales and marketing guidance for attendees.

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I’ve been a big critic of Windows Vista. I’ve complained that Microsoft’s products are too bloated for the Web 2.0 world. But as Microsoft pushes deeper into Software as a Service (SaaS) and managed services, I’m amazed by all the Microsoft partners who are expressing fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about the effort.

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TeamLogic IT, the managed services franchise I mentioned in a March 19 blog entry, is going viral with its online marketing.

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Ironically, one of the hottest technology trends — software as a service (SaaS) — has been burning investors on Wall Street. As a group, SaaS stocks are down 30 percent year to date, a far worse showing than the DOW (down about 9.74 percent) and the Nasdaq composite index (down almost 18 percent), according to SeekingAlpha.com.

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If your client base isn’t growing, you can’t be happy and furthermore you’ll find it harder and harder pay the bills. Your support structure should allow you bring on more new clients and less new employees, if you’ve set up your assembly line properly. If you haven’t, that’s a problem that will require much more time to cover.

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GigaFin, a 40-person networking start-up, is swimming aggressively into the managed services market. The company, formerly known as Mistletoe Technologies, is joining the MSP Alliance, launching a new partner portal, and introducing a management console to help managed service providers remotely administer customer networks, according to company representatives.

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What’s the fastest way to become a managed service provider? Many solutions providers are exploring the Master MSP business model, where they leverage hosted services from third-party technology providers.

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