MSPmentor

As itControl Solutions prepares several initiatives within the managed services market, sources confirm VP of North American Channel Development Ted Roller (pictured) has left the company. Here’s an update and some perspectives on itControl Solution’s strategy for the itControl Suite platform.

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The MSPmentor team is preparing for a three-day holiday weekend here in the U.S. But before we unplug (at least for a little bit…), here are seven managed services blog entries we didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending May 28, 2010.

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Here’s some sobering, contrarian news for manage security services providers: a newly released study suggests CIO have cut back on the outsourcing of IT security. Market research firm Ovum this week reported that 18 percent of the more than 500 CIOs it surveyed outsource IT security, compared with 22 percent when Ovum queried IT managers in 2007. What’s more, only 7 percent said they were planning to outsource IT security within the next two years. Here are more details.

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I hate to sound like a hype machine but the iPad is seemingly everywhere in the managed services market. Dave Sobel sounds addicted. Brett Martin is hooked. Scott Spiro is jazzed. And Michelle Nelson sat down with an iPad during recent testimony before Congress. Who are these people, what’s their role in the managed services industry, and why are they all carrying iPads? Here are some thoughts.

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Uncle Sam and the IT industry continue to focus heavily on federal cloud computing. In recent days, MSPmentor has noticed a series of cloud-related news involving the federal government. Here’s a rundown of what’s happening and the implications for managed services providers.

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Computer Troubleshooters (which has roughly 475 managed services franchises locations worldwide and nearly 40 locations in the UK) is partnering with CentraStage — a SaaS-based remote monitoring and management (RMM) company in the United Kingdom. The Computer Troubleshooters-CentraStage relationship reveals three larger trends in the managed services market. Here they are.

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While Google already offered tools to help administrators migrate Exchange and Lotus Notes data to the Google Apps platform, there wasn’t much for end-users do the same. Until now, that is, with the launch of Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook, designed to help users get their stuff from Microsoft’s mail client onto Google’s cloud quickly and painlessly. Here are the details.

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When it comes to universities and colleges deploying SaaS (software as a service) applications, most of our recent coverage has involved Google Apps. But Microsoft is looking to make some SaaS noise in the higher education space as well. One prime example: The University of Arizona’s (UA) 18,000 faculty and staff are going to Microsoft BPOS for e-mail, calendaring, and collaboration. Here’s the scoop.

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There are many ways to brand your business: website, business cards, brochures, social media, and more. One opportunity you may have overlooked is ON the products and services you provide. Are you driving your brand or are you allowing vendors to promote themselves to your clients?

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PacketTrap Networks is the latest managed services software specialist to develop a SaaS (software as a service) strategy targeting Europe. Specifically, a European distributor will start hosting PacketTrap’s platform soon, according to Mike Byrne, director of product management at PacketTrap.

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As part of N-able Technologies’ lawsuit against MSP on Demand, N-able is seeking financial records from the hardware as a service (HaaS) specialist and its founder Ramsey Dellinger. Court documents in the case also reveal a 2008 bankruptcy filing in which Dellinger allegedly owed Tech Data and other creditors a combined $1.3 million. Here’s the update.

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Most companies understand that providing an outstanding customer experience builds customer loyalty and ultimately grows business. Some of the aspects that are part of building the customer experience include product design, technical support, and marketing. But your efforts shouldn’t stop there.

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Zenoss, maker of open source monitoring software, has added another managed services adopter: Digital Parallels, a master MSP in the United Kingdom. Although most MSPmentor 100 companies seem to be using traditional closed-source software, there are niches where open source alternatives are gaining momentum. Here’s a closer look at Zenoss and open source in the MSP ecosystem.

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LabTech Software, which develops remote monitoring and management (RMM) software, is now available in a hosted configuration from T2 Solutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This is the first step in a broader SaaS (software as a service) strategy planned by LabTech. Here are the details.

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While reading about IBM’s software strategy today in The New York Times, I noticed the following line: “The line between software and services is increasingly blurred, and IBM has many thousands of developers these days in its big services group.” I began to wonder: Is the situation similar within managed services providers? Should it be?

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Scores of managed services providers (MSPs) are getting ready to converge on the Kaseya Connect User Conference (June 1-3, Las Vegas). The conference arrives roughly three to four months after the Kaseya 2 platform launched. With that fact in mind here are five questions MSPmentor will raise at the conference.

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You’re launching a managed services business or expanding your organization. Where do you get the money to fund those new operations? A study from the University of Michigan suggests the answer has very little to do with angel investors and venture capitalists. Here are some small business funding stats worth noting.

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The MSPmentor Career Center has received several new job listings for managed services professionals in recent days . All of the submissions — including management, technical, sales and marketing posts — are now advertised in our free MSPmentor Career Center. Here are some quick details.

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No doubt, Microsoft’s empire is under attack on all fronts. But two key pieces of information — from the American Customer Satisfaction Index and from the Millward Brown research company — suggest that Microsoft remains a top brand that customers won’t abandon anytime soon. Here are the details.

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A dispatch from the web hosting services front: PEER 1 Hosting, which has recently been working to increase its profile among the MSP community, has recruited Jay Newman as VP of sales. Newman is a veteran of Rackspace Hosting and EMC Corp. Here’s a closer look at Newman’s new post.

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The MSPmentor blog team was stretched in several directions this week. As usual, there’s never enough time to write every blog entry that we wanted to generate. So, without delay, here are seven managed services blog entries  MSPmentor didn’t publish for the week ending May 21, 2010.

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Dell Inc.’s PartnerDirect channel partner program showed some momentum in the company’s most recent quarter. But Channel Chief Greg Davis (pictured) concedes Dell Managed Services is only seeing “small momentum” with managed services partners. Here’s the update from Davis, who spoke with MSPmentor about Dell’s channel performance earlier today.

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Apptix is continuing its push to build its name in the messaging services market as they launch two new products aimed at providing hosted security solutions for on-premises e-mail systems: Apptix Perimeter Email Defense and Email Defense with Continuity. Here’s the scoop.

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