MSPmentor

Give Rackspace Cloud credit: As part of a system upgrade, RackSpace Cloud is proactively telling customers that their sites may be offline for as long as 90 minutes on March 6. As a Rackspace Cloud customer myself, I appreciate the heads up. Still, I’ve got key concerns and I have to ask an obvious question…

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At the Intermedia Partner Summit in Silicon Valley, managed service providers and VARs are discussed how to compete with Google Apps and Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). The discussion involved  MSPs that offer hosted Exchange in partnership with Intermedia. Here are the key takeaways.

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Earlier today, I raised five key questions about the hosted Exchange and hosted Unified Communications markets. Now, I’ve gathered a few answers to those questions at the Intermedia Partner Summit in Silicon Valley. Here are some clues about how VARs and MSPs are transitioning their hosted Exchange strategies.

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If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. After hosting a successful 2009 managed services partner summit in Scottsdale, Arizona, the N-able conference will return to the same location in 2010. I think the agenda is still pending, but the N-able Partner Summit is confirmed for October 20-22, according to the company’s blog. We’ll be back with more details once the agenda comes into focus.

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Managed security service providers and cloud vendors for about the past year have been broadening their offerings to include application firewalls. Against this backdrop, Citrix Systems Inc. this week rolled out a line of application firewalls, targeting MSSPs and cloud providers as well as enterprise customers. Here’s some background.

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I’m heading over to the Intermedia Partner Summit this morning in Silicon Valley, where several dozen MSPs will be hearing about the hosted Exchange and hosted Unified Communications markets. Intermedia is one of the best-known providers of white label hosted Exchange services to MSPs. But the company has also been building a hosted Unified Communications partnership with Unison Technologies. Here are five things I hope to learn at the conference…

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I’m as tired of the ‘cloud’ word as the next guy. But cloud is everywhere at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. And here’s an interesting twist: The folks at Zscaler, a cloud security start-up, made their case to me that cloud-centric security is pressuring traditional on-premise security appliances. Is that a fact or a marketing claim?

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Your website is the single most important marketing tool your company has. An effective website will increase your search engine hits, capture leads, and establish you as a leading managed services provider. But the key element to building great websites is one that many technology-based companies overlook—relevant, well written content.

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In recent months, I’ve blogged quite a bit about MSPs moving up the stack from from managed infrastructure to managed applications. In fact, I’ve advocated an increased applications focus. But a recent move by NaviSite, Inc. has me rethinking the managed applications market. Here’s why.

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Asigra, the channel-focused cloud backup and recovery software provider that works with a who’s who of cloud service providers, is partnering with NetApp. The duo is promoting a so-called backup and recovery as a service (BRaaS) to solutions providers. Here are some details.

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A hedge fund has offered to acquire Novell, developer of SUSE Linux and a range of systems management and security tools. Moments ago, Novell confirmed that it plans to review the buyout offer. But our sister site, The VAR Guy, wonders if another software company will step in to buy Novell. Here’s the speculation.

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It’s another subtle sign that Dell is listening to feedback. The hardware giant’s lengthy ProManaged Managed Services brand will now be known simply as Dell Managed Services. And yes, Dell’s MSP-centric partner program remains in place. Here are some more details.

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Many MSPs are trying to sort out their software as a service (SaaS) strategies — with an eye toward Hosted Exchange and Hosted SharePoint. The big question: How do you continue to maintain customer control, even as SaaS platforms like Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) move into the market and launch low-ball pricing? Instead of living in fear, smart MSPs may want to start checking in with large web hosting providers — many of whom have already sorted out their SaaS and Hosted Exchange strategies.

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Carpatia Hosting is putting a new twist on cloud computing, pushing beyond managed hosting and colocation services. Specifically, the company has introduced InstantOn — a cloud platform apparently designed with corporate compliance and security in mind. Here are some quick details.

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As the RSA Conference kicks off today in San Francisco, much of the buzz involves security as a service. But here’s the challenge: Nearly 80 percent of top managed services providers already offer some form of managed security to their customers, according to our third-annual MSPmentor 100 results. So where can MSPs go next with managed security? Here are some clues.

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McAfee, Inc.’s Chief Executive David DeWalt made waves last Friday when he told Reuters that they were looking to acquire multiple technology companies this year. Here’s the scoop from the security sector.

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Most eyes are focused on this week’s RSA Security conference in San Francisco. But I took a detour to Las Vegas, where SAP is hosting a partner conference and some news is already  surfacing at the event. And yes, it involves managed services converging with SAP.

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Anybody with a competitive bone in his or her body hates to lose a deal to the “other guy.” But while a loss to a peer MSP can drive anyone to a cold adult beverage, nothing stings like losing to a customer “no decision.” You know the scenario. Here are three ways to solve it.

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