MSPmentor

Paessler AG, an old hand in the network monitoring game with more than a decade of experience, is taking a fresh look at the managed services market. I spoke to Ken Sanofsky, Paessler’s general manager for North America, about the company’s push into the managed services channel. Here’s a recap of the conversation.

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Imagine focusing your business on the financial services vertical during the global economic crisis. Somehow, HEIT — an MSPmentor 100 company — did exactly. And the results have been impressive. HEIT’s latest move includes a close relationship with Plumas Bank of California. Here’s a look at the strategy, including thoughts from CEO Dan Holt (pictured).

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Are you building a top managed services provider? Prove it: Our third-annual MSPmentor 100 survey is open to participants. The survey is free, and managed service providers worldwide can participate — but the deadline for submissions is Dec. 11. Using the survey results, we will produce the annual MSPmentor 100 report, which tracks the world’s most progressive managed service providers — using a range of financial and business metrics. Here are some more details about the survey.

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Even as MSPmentor looks at emerging market opportunities, it sometimes makes sense to go back to basics. A case in point: For VARs that are still trying to figure out the managed services market, here are the top reasons many MSPs leverage remote monitoring and management software. Plus a look at one of the biggest challenges facing MSPs…

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With one month remaining in 2009, software as a service (SaaS) stocks remain red hot. Nine Lives Media Inc.’s SaaS 20 Stock Index is up 53.74 percent so far this year — with 19 of the 20 index members seeing their shares rise. Here’s a look at the index’s year-to-date winners, plus the reason why Rackspace Hosting Inc. is joining the SaaS 20 Stock Index.

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In the U.S., this is a short work week for many readers because of the Thanksgiving Holiday (Nov. 25). We’ll continue to update MSPmentor daily for our international readers. But in the meantime — for U.S. readers who are unplugging soon — here are seven managed services blog entries we didn’t have a chance to write for the business week ending Nov. 25.

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As magazines move beyond running print articles on online, they’re asking managed service providers to help run increasingly sophisticated Web sites. That’s the experience of The New York Internet Company Inc., which this week announced Web management deal with US Magazine.

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It’s one small step for Microsoft’s cloud software strategy, and one giant leap for UK’s Royal Mail Group. Specifically, Royal Mail Group’s 30,000 employees will leverage Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). Computer Sciences Corp., a massive integrator, won the SaaS and cloud deal for Microsoft. Here are some details and early perspectives for smaller managed service providers (MSPs) and integrators.

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This blog entry has been floating around my head for several weeks. During the SMB Nation conference back in October, I listened to dozens of VARs and managed service providers try to prioritize their social media efforts across Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and other networks. The more I heard the more I realized MSPs and VARs were focusing on the wrong web problem. Here’s why.

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Rollups are common in fragmented and consolidating markets and Alentus Corp. seems to fit that pattern in hosting and managed services. The company just announced Q3 results and is looking to make more acquisitions.

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In recent weeks, I’ve mentioned an emerging Dell-Symantec channel partnership multiple times across our blogs. Now, Dell is sharing some details about the relationship — which involves management software for servers and desktops. So, how does the Dell-Symantec solution (based on Altiris) compare with the existing Dell Remote Monitoring platform (DRM, formerly called Silverback)? Here are some thoughts.

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As you may have noticed, MSPmentor has a new sister site: MSPtweet. But what exactly is MSPtweet and how does it serve managed services providers (MSPs) and the global managed services ecosystem? Here are some preliminary answers.

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Level Platforms is expanding its managed services efforts in India. The software company isn’t alone. I continue to hear anecdotal progress about India’s managed services market. But just how large an opportunity awaits resellers and MSPs in India? It depends upon whom you ask.

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As managed service providers (MSPs) continue to develop social media strategies be sure to ask yourself this question: Does your company have written policies for how employees use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media services? Not sure you need such policies? I beg to differ. Here’s why.

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MSPmentor is hosting a Webcast Nov. 25 for Australia and New Zealand solutions providers that are seeking to master managed services. Here’s a look at the content and MSPmentor’s guest speakers.

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During a phone conversation with me this morning, Dell Channel Chief Greg Davis said the company has roughly 131 certified managed services partners. In my mind: That’s not exactly a huge number — especially for a company of Dell’s size. But I think Dell is putting a lot of channel emphasis on a slightly different MSP and VAR effort that involves Symantec. Here are the details.

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For the past two years, I’ve been heads-down working with my business partner (Amy Katz) and our team of contributors to build Nine Lives Media Inc. Our mission: Define emerging IT markets and disrupt established markets. But I haven’t always been this focused. Every few years I go through a career crisis and ask myself “what should I with my life?” I suspect many VARs and MSPs ask themselves that same question every day. Here are six ways I ultimately found the answer.

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Zoom. Another week just zipped by. As you may have noticed, we’re posting more managed services content than ever before. But there are still some items (and rumors…) we don’t have time to address. So, here are seven managed services blog entries we didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Nov. 20.

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masterIT, an MSPmentor 100 company, continues to develop some pretty impressive viral marketing messages to generate new business. The latest effort involves email marketing coupled with a quick video clip. Take a look, and here are some quick tips to help you master video marketing as well.

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MSPmentor is hosting a Webcast for Australia and New Zealand solutions providers that are seeking to master managed services. Join us November 25 at 11:00am EDT New South Wales for “How To Build Recurring Revenue for Your Managed Services Company.” Here’s a look at the content and our guest speakers.

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Yesterday, MSPmentor mentioned Google Apps’ growing momentum with managed service providers. Today, I want to take a closer look at Google Android and Google Chrome OS, and the potential implications for MSPs.

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During ConnectWise Partner Summit earlier this month, I sat down with CEO Arnie Bellini to discuss several key topics — including (1) collaboration between managed service providers (2) how VARs and MSPs can defend their local ground (“the last mile” for IT Nation) and (3) ConnectWise’s channel-oriented cloud strategy for partners. Here’s a closer look at each topic and our conversation.

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Please join MSPmentor for our next webcast today (Wednesday, November 18) at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. We’ll focus on real-world case studies from two prominent MSPs — Alpheon Corp. and Sabio Information Services. They’ll describe how they reduce customer power consumption and energy costs even as they boost their own margins.

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