Comments on: Zenith Infotech Preps SmartStyle Cloud Solution http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/ Managed Services & Cloud Services Blog for VARs & MSPs Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:29:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Joe Panettieri http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-66537 Joe Panettieri Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:55:53 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-66537 Rob, Keep me posted. Let us know how it goes. We'll always push to cover the pros and cons of technologies in a responsible manner. -jp Rob,

Keep me posted. Let us know how it goes. We’ll always push to cover the pros and cons of technologies in a responsible manner.
-jp

]]> By: Rob Bogle http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-66511 Rob Bogle Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:38:53 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-66511 We're trying out our first Zenith Smartstyle ... Lets just say if you expect to set this thing up and spin up VM's like cake... your kidding yourself. We’re trying out our first Zenith Smartstyle …

Lets just say if you expect to set this thing up and spin up VM’s like cake… your kidding yourself.

]]> By: Joe Panettieri http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-53330 Joe Panettieri Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:33:41 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-53330 Andy: If/when you give SmartStyle a try please send me some updated thoughts. -jp joe [at] NineLivesMediaInc.com Andy: If/when you give SmartStyle a try please send me some updated thoughts.
-jp
joe [at] NineLivesMediaInc.com

]]> By: Andy Myers http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-53327 Andy Myers Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:22:22 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-53327 In Zenith's defense major changes in the market (namely Citrix Consolidating several products into XD4) have caused Zenith to "delay and evolve". I think they have also put extra effort into the unexpected success of their BDR. I don't know of ANY offering that will match these features and deployment options that would scale low enough for a 10 to 20 user deployment and stay under $50k. There are plenty of cheap desktop virtualization solutions but they dont offer any of the features Zenith is promising. I agree it would serve the community well for Anonymous to step out of the shadows. Andy Myers www.andymyers.net In Zenith’s defense major changes in the market (namely Citrix Consolidating several products into XD4) have caused Zenith to “delay and evolve”. I think they have also put extra effort into the unexpected success of their BDR.

I don’t know of ANY offering that will match these features and deployment options that would scale low enough for a 10 to 20 user deployment and stay under $50k. There are plenty of cheap desktop virtualization solutions but they dont offer any of the features Zenith is promising.

I agree it would serve the community well for Anonymous to step out of the shadows.

Andy Myers
http://www.andymyers.net

]]> By: Joe Panettieri http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-53323 Joe Panettieri Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:42:02 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-53323 Anonymous: Thanks for taking the time to post a comment. I do realize that Zenith has talked off and on about SmartStyle for about 18 months. And it sounds like the strategy now involves on-premises virtualization appliances (to start) with broader cloud to follow. I have heard privately from a few MSPs that grew frustrated with SmartStyle delays and looked for alternatives. But I've also heard from several that are pushing ahead and plan to bet on SmartStyle. One of my challenges: Getting MSPs to go on the record with their thoughts... I understand the need for MSPs to post anonymous comments (from time to time) but MSPmentor pushes hard for readers to disclose their names and company affiliations, so that all readers can make more informed decisions. In this case, I think you have a point -- SmartStyle delays have frustrated some MSPs. But on the other hand, I can't confirm whether you're a Zenith partner or rival... so it's difficult for me to draw conclusions from your comment. -jp Anonymous: Thanks for taking the time to post a comment.

I do realize that Zenith has talked off and on about SmartStyle for about 18 months. And it sounds like the strategy now involves on-premises virtualization appliances (to start) with broader cloud to follow. I have heard privately from a few MSPs that grew frustrated with SmartStyle delays and looked for alternatives. But I’ve also heard from several that are pushing ahead and plan to bet on SmartStyle.

One of my challenges: Getting MSPs to go on the record with their thoughts… I understand the need for MSPs to post anonymous comments (from time to time) but MSPmentor pushes hard for readers to disclose their names and company affiliations, so that all readers can make more informed decisions.

In this case, I think you have a point — SmartStyle delays have frustrated some MSPs. But on the other hand, I can’t confirm whether you’re a Zenith partner or rival… so it’s difficult for me to draw conclusions from your comment.
-jp

]]> By: anonymous http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-53320 anonymous Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:29:23 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-53320 Joe, You might want to look into this further. Zenith has been promising DCIR\BoxOffice\SmartStyle for 2 years now. The product promised has changed many times since the original announcement. Many MSPs invested alot of time and money, received trained, evaluated demo units, and developed go to market strategies. Then Zenith, without notice, changed it all up again. They've simply failed to deliver, they've failed to communicate and many MSPs no longer trust them. Joe,

You might want to look into this further. Zenith has been promising DCIR\BoxOffice\SmartStyle for 2 years now. The product promised has changed many times since the original announcement. Many MSPs invested alot of time and money, received trained, evaluated demo units, and developed go to market strategies. Then Zenith, without notice, changed it all up again. They’ve simply failed to deliver, they’ve failed to communicate and many MSPs no longer trust them.

]]> By: Joe Panettieri http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-53307 Joe Panettieri Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:27:17 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-53307 Andy: Thanks for sharing your perspectives. Akash: Thanks for explaining SmartStyle a bit more. Curious to see how MSPs potentially take SmartStyle and Vu Telepresence to market. As you know, I was always impressed with LifeSize Communications' low-cost telepresence. We'll be watching to see if you can disrupt LifeSize and the bigger players. -jp Andy: Thanks for sharing your perspectives.
Akash: Thanks for explaining SmartStyle a bit more. Curious to see how MSPs potentially take SmartStyle and Vu Telepresence to market. As you know, I was always impressed with LifeSize Communications’ low-cost telepresence. We’ll be watching to see if you can disrupt LifeSize and the bigger players.
-jp

]]> By: Akash Saraf http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-53300 Akash Saraf Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:15:18 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-53300 Joe, one small comment here. Dont mean to disparage competitors, but Kaseya K2 is Kaseya's remote monitoring software hosted in their cloud. Smartstyle is a full infrastructure offering for MSPs to provide a private or public cloud to their customers. In short this enables MSPs to sell the complete IT infrastructure the client needs as a branded monthly service as compared to just managing their existing infrastructure. To create something like Smartstyle today you would need to buy a product like VMWare vSphere Essentials Plus, a SAN, servers, thin clients, a backup system and monitoring from probably 7-8 different vendors and most likely it will cost an MSP 5-8 times what the pricing for Smartstyle is. Joe, one small comment here. Dont mean to disparage competitors, but Kaseya K2 is Kaseya’s remote monitoring software hosted in their cloud. Smartstyle is a full infrastructure offering for MSPs to provide a private or public cloud to their customers. In short this enables MSPs to sell the complete IT infrastructure the client needs as a branded monthly service as compared to just managing their existing infrastructure. To create something like Smartstyle today you would need to buy a product like VMWare vSphere Essentials Plus, a SAN, servers, thin clients, a backup system and monitoring from probably 7-8 different vendors and most likely it will cost an MSP 5-8 times what the pricing for Smartstyle is.

]]> By: Andy Myers http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-53299 Andy Myers Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:36:37 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-53299 Zenith definitely is more of a "sign and fax your app first and we will assign a rep to you after" company but I one of the reps has told me he gets about 50 inquiries per day. It is probably hard for them to tell the tire kickers from serious partners. You gotta love these prices though! The only snafu seems to be the upstream band at smaller companies can't handle the daily changes. Andy Myers www.andymyers.net Zenith definitely is more of a “sign and fax your app first and we will assign a rep to you after” company but I one of the reps has told me he gets about 50 inquiries per day. It is probably hard for them to tell the tire kickers from serious partners.

You gotta love these prices though! The only snafu seems to be the upstream band at smaller companies can’t handle the daily changes.

Andy Myers
http://www.andymyers.net

]]> By: Joe Panettieri http://www.mspmentor.net/2010/04/19/zenith-infotech-preps-smartstyle-cloud-solution/comment-page-1/#comment-53286 Joe Panettieri Tue, 20 Apr 2010 03:22:32 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=7761#comment-53286 Bobby: Thanks for taking the time to post a comment. Are you an existing partner or potential partner? A rival? I've certainly heard some complaints from a few MSPs who were upset by SmartStyle delays. But please let me know... What issues have you specifically experienced? -jp Bobby: Thanks for taking the time to post a comment. Are you an existing partner or potential partner? A rival?

I’ve certainly heard some complaints from a few MSPs who were upset by SmartStyle delays. But please let me know… What issues have you specifically experienced?
-jp

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