MSPmentor

Salesforce.com announced strong quarterly financial results today, and the company expects revenue for its full year (ending in January 2009) to exceed $1 billion. Does that mean Salesforce.com will become the first $1 billion software as a service (SaaS) company?

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Even as the world shifts from Windows to the Web, Microsoft partners remain highly coveted. The latest example: Autotask has announced a special offer for Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) partners. It reminds me (somewhat) of a free offer N-able made to Microsoft partners in April.

Here’s some more info on Autotask’s move, and the continued influence Microsoft has over the IT channel.

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During a conversation yesterday with Ken Vanderweel, director of product marketing for Nimsoft, we discussed the flood of Wintel (Windows on Intel) VARs moving into the managed services market. In my opinion that’s a good thing — and a bad thing.

I worry that many MSPs will repeat some of the mistakes they made during their days as break-fix specialists for Microsoft Windows. Don’t get me wrong: Microsoft has done a lot of good for the IT market. Windows NT, Exchange Server, SQL Server and other Microsoft platforms freed customers from expensive software that was locked to proprietary hardware. And those platforms created opportunities for VARs and independent software developers.

But I wonder if enough MSPs will push beyond their Microsoft roots, to develop simple, elegant and powerful online services. Or, stated more directly: Can MSPs apply Apple-like quality and polish to their online services?

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The MSPAlliance held its Managed Services Summit earlier this week in Framingham, Mass. Although I didn’t attend the event, I interviewed a few attendees and vendors to get a feel for their top priorities in the months ahead. Here are seven key trends I heard about:

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If you’re a Microsoft partner that’s skeptical about software as a service (SaaS), consider this: Half of all Exchange email inboxes will involve hosted systems within five years, notes Mary Jo Foley’s All About Microsoft blog. I’ve been alerting readers in recent weeks about Microsoft’s SaaS strategy for Exchange, Dynamics CRM and SharePoint. Ultimately, Microsoft will need to compete and cooperate with managed service providers (MSPs) that host those applications. Here’s how some Microsoft partners intend to cope with the software giant’s SaaS moves.

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Business continuity is the ability of an organization to continue functioning after an unplanned interruption. Data disaster recovery is an important part of business continuity capabilities.

Why does your end client need a business continuity solution? And what are the key components of a business continuity plan? Here are some answers.

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Tech Data has partnered with IBM Global Financing to offer managed service providers financing for deals valued at as little as $1,000.

On the one hand, VARs can pay little — or nothing — up front when working with hosted MSP platforms, frequently known as the Master MSP model. But on the other hand, many solutions providers continue to license and deploy MSP platforms within their own network operation centers. In that scenario, Tech Data and IBM may stand ready to assist.

Here’s how the financing program works.

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Autotask continues to build out its online communities, and plans to launch an online store where VARs and managed service providers will be able to license the company’s software, according to Len DiCostanzo, senior VP of professional services at Autotask.

I met with DiCostanzo and Autotask Director of Business Development Brian Sherman in Framingham, Mass., today, where the MSPAlliance is kicking off its latest Managed Services Summit. Here’s a bit more about what DiCostanzo and Sherman had to say.

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