MSPmentor

After some lengthy business travel, Nimsoft CEO Gary Read (pictured) updated his blog on October 29. In it, he mentions that Nimsoft’s business (focused on corporate IT management as well as managed services) remains strong.

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What an amazing week. After meeting more than 150 VARs and managed service providers in Australia, I’ve got a much better feel for the emerging managed services market in the land down under. Here’s a recap of my trip, along with some key trends from Australia’s managed services industry.

• The Market Opportunity: Estimates vary greatly, but I’d say there’s somewhere between 5,000 and 12,000 VARs in the Austalia market. I realize that’s a broad range, but companies come and go. And there are surely thousands of one-man shops that consider themselves VARs.
• Also of note: Since Australia has so many remote rural towns, it’s a good bet remote managed services will be even more popular (on a per capita basis) than in the United States.

• MSP Installed Base: I’d estimate Australia has roughly 500 MSPs running a range of remote monitoring and management systems and charging fixed monthly fees for their services. That figure might be a bit inflated, since many of the MSPs have moved to managed services platforms in the past 12 months and are still ramping up their fixed managed services models.

• Mergers and Acquisitions: Yes, MSPs are buying one another in Australia. In fact, I’ve got details on a recent deal but I still need to double-check a few facts before posting a blog on that one.

• Smart MSP: Mathew Dickerson from Axxis Technologies and the author of Slam ranks among the best MSP-centric public speakers I’ve met. During the events I attended, Dickerson described his own transition from VAR to MSP, the errors he made, and his tireless focus on customer service. He’s the real-deal.

• Vendor Perspectives: I spent the week speaking at a series of Kaseya-Intel events in Melbourne, Sidney and Brisbane. My content offered a vendor-neutral view of the US market, but I also got a heavy dose of Kaseya and Intel perspectives all week. Admittedly, I need to reach out to other platform providers to make sure I have the complete picture on the country.
• With those disclaimers in mind, I did hear some compelling sales data. Tim Dickinson, Kaseya country manager for Australia and New Zealand, says the company has roughly 250 to 300 MSP customers in Australia.
• I know other MSP software companies are doing business in Australia. Just last week, N-able said 25 percent of their revenue comes from outside the United States — with a portion of that revenue coming from Australia.
• Still, Kaseya seems to be the most aggressive, most established platform provider in the country. If I’m wrong — or if someone would care to debate me on that claim — I’m all ears.

To reiterate: I do need to make sure I offer full vendor-neutral coverage of Australia. If you’re an MSP software company or customer doing business in Australia, and you have different perspectives to share, I’m all ears.

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Greetings from 35,000 feet. I’m blogging live during my flight from Los Angeles to New York. The American Airlines flight features Go Go Inflight WiFi service. For better or for worse, inflight WiFi service is a game changer for road warriors. Here are the details.

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Cisco Systems plans to make a major announcement involving service providers, mobile and video technologies on November 11. In order to generate interest in the news, Cisco has launched a fake blog of sorts. We’ve got the scoop over on our sister site, The VAR Guy.

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Microsoft’s new cloud service — known as Azure — has multiple implications for managed service providers and the IT channel.

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This just in: Ingram Micro Seismic, the distributor’s family of hosted services for VARs, signed up 52 new partners in September — the largest single month for net new partners, according to Ingram VP Justin Crotty.

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While some managed service providers are wary of Amazon.com, a growing number of MSP software companies see strong potential for the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Amazon cloud services and distribution services. Two prime examples:

• Vembu, which makes storage software for MSPs, has announced support for S3.
• Clean Machine Inc. has signed a national (US) distribution Amazon.com.

Here’s a closer look at each deal, and their implications for managed service providers.

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I’m not suggesting managed service providers are immune to the economic turmoil, but here’s a piece of good news all MSPs should note: DirectPointe, ranked No. 1 on last year’s MSPmentor 100 list, announced record-setting revenue for its third quarter. How does that compare with other MSPs? Here’s the scoop.

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When it comes to Sun Microsystems and MySQL, I sound like a political candidate: I keep flip-flopping on the issues.

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If you’re a manged service provider —of any size, in any country — you could earn free publicity. Simply fill out our MSPmentor 100 survey. If your company lands on the resulting MSPmentor 100 list, your organization could be ranked among the world’s top managed service providers.

Many of last year’s MSPmentor 100 members earned free publicity across the web and in local media. And they used their ranking as a marketing tool when meeting with prospective customers. Participating in the survey is free and only requires a few minutes of your time.

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Mathew Dickerson, author of SLAM (service level agreement model), has taken the stage at the Managed Services International Seminar Series here in Melbourne, Australia. Many of the tips he’s sharing are applicable worldwide.

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The MSPAlliance says it plans to unveil a Green IT certification for managed service providers during the organization’s conference next month in Las Vegas.

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Why do so many managed service provides spend so much time looking in the rear view mirror? That question popped into my head while moderating a session at the N-able Partner Summit last week.

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So-called Master MSPs now represent nearly 20 percent of the managed service provider market, according to the ongoing MSPmentor 100 survey. Still, thriving as a Master MSP isn’t easy. Here’s why.

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Hello from Melbourne, Australia. We’re touring the country — making additional stops in Sydney and Brisbane — while exploring Australia’s growing managed services market throughout this week.

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Only two percent of manged service providers in North America have advanced their businesses enough to offer true fixed-fee services. That estimate, from N-able VP of Sales Mike Cullen, caught my attention earlier today.

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I’ve been tied up at the N-able Partner Summit and CompTIA Managed Services Summit. They are great events, but that also means I’ve overlooked a few things going on elsewhere in the managed services world this week. Here four other managed services stories I wish I had spent more time covering:

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While many US managed service providers struggle to master hardware as a service (HaaS), some of Australia’s early managed service providers are thriving in the HaaS market — thanks to creative (but legitimate) financing from local banks, plus a rotation strategy that moves hardware from Australia to China and India.

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Cigars, Scotch and world dominance. Managed service providers from North America, Europe and Australia relaxed a bit Thursday evening at the N-able Partner Summit in Dallas. I listened in as N-able VP of Sales Mike Cullen and a few industry peers discussed where the managed services market is heading next.

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MSPmentor Editorial Director Joe Panettieri will be a guest speaker at the Managed Services International Seminar Series, which are half-day summits in Australia and New Zealand.

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Kaseya CEO Gerald Blackie has strongly denied a rumor that the company plans to take its business direct and circumvent VARs and managed service providers. Here’s the scoop, directly from Blackie.

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It’s time to end the denial. Despite all the media propaganda suggesting managed service providers are immune to the US economic crisis, that message just isn’t true. Here’s why.

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During the N-able Partner Summit 2008, CEO Gavin Garbutt and VP of Sales Mike Cullen disclosed that the company has formed an Elite Service Provider group.

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