MSPmentor

For the founder of an early-stage MSP, critical decisions come fast and furious – acquiring capital, investing that capital, finding talent, selecting SD, PSA and RMM tool kits and, oh yeah, closing some deals – that would be good too.  Sometimes in all the fury, the most obvious initial questions do not get answered, “What am I selling?”  “How should I price and discount?” “How do I establish SLAs?”  Netting it out:  “How do I productize a service offering so it’s easy for my customers to understand my stuff and buy it?”

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At the Ingram Micro Cloud Summit in Dallas earlier this month, an attendee asked a keynote speaker why big service providers had yet to promote cloud computing. My response: Careful what you ask for because companies like Verizon Business are very serious about the cloud. For instance, Verizon Business claims to be the first U.S.-based  global service provider to deliver hosted Cisco unified communications and collaboration applications in the cloud “as-a-service.” What does that mean for MSPs that specialize in VoIP and unified communications? Here are some thoughts.

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Hitachi Data Systems is taking a two-pronged approach to storage in the cloud. The company this week announced a private cloud storage service for enterprises as well as a public cloud storage offering that service providers, integrators, and telcos can offer their consumer or SMB customers.

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The MSPmentor Career Center has received several new job posts in recent days. Check our job board and you’ll find new submissions — including management, technical and business posts — in our free MSPmentor Career Center. Here are some quick details.

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Nirvanix is launching an “industry first” hybrid cloud storage service. We must concede: There are a lot of vendors claiming to offer first-of-their-kind hybrid services and appliances. But here’s why Nirvanix thinks its hNode storage offing is unique.

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Yesterday, we mentioned Google Apps Education Edition was making some SaaS waves in the academic market. Now, we’re back to report Brown University has signed up for Google Apps in a big way. Here’s the scoop.

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Hewlett-Packard continues to piece together a small business managed services strategy for VARs and MSPs. The latest HP move involves a storage partnership with LPI Level Platforms Inc., the remote monitoring and management (RMM) specialist. Here are some details.

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The SaaS and cloud computing war between Microsoft and Google is triggering some collateral damage among managed services providers (MSPs) and VARs. Two cases in point: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is now visiting customers to personally pitch BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite) and Exchange Online, sometimes to the detriment of partner MSPs. And Microsoft is quietly offering special pricing on some direct BPOS engagements, MSPmentor has learned. Here are the details and the potential implications for MSPs.

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Don’t settle for stagnation! With the economic downturn, you’d be smart to replace any lost business and pursue growth. Here in our local IT company, we’re ready for new business; we have the manpower and capacity, and there is plenty of talent we can hire if we need more staff. So here’s how we’re filling our sales funnel: a trade show.

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Sepaton Inc., developer of enterprise-class disk-based data protection solutions, has launched a hardware appliance aimed squarely at affordably securing data for multiple organizations on private cloud infrastructures with the release of version 5.4 of their software. Here are some quick details.

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Google has launched a program to certify resellers on Google Apps Education Edition. In return, Google is offering their partners better marketing support, more training opportunities, and business visibility in the Google Apps marketplace, the search giant says. It’s all part of Google’s continued push into the education space. Here’s the skinny.

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Azaleos, which specializes in managed services for Exchange, is gaining momentum with mid-market customers and in some cases connecting with Fortune 100-type accounts. There’s also an interesting twist to the Azaleos mid-market momentum: The company has less and less interest in the small business market where competition from SaaS and cloud companies seems to be intensifying. Here are the details.

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Competition in the backup and recovery market continues to intensify. The latest example involves LabTech Software launching a so-called LT Backup platform for managed services providers. Here are the details. Plus, a hint about where the next major online backup trends may unfold for MSPs.

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Forgive me for stealing an idea from Inc. magazine (yet again). A few hours ago, Inc. published a list of “15 things every business owner needs to know.” It’s a solid list but I’d like to add a managed services twist to the discussion. So, here’s my own spin on Inc.’s timely list.

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A few days ago, I received an email alert indicating that I’d been nominated for the SMB Top 150 — a survey that attempts to track the 150 most influential people (SMB Pros…) in the SMB market. I appreciate the nomination. But I have to respectfully decline the potential honor. Here’s why.

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Crossbeam and Sophos are teaming up for real-time email security. The partnership targets enterprise customers and service providers. Crossbeam now has relationships with roughly half-a-dozen well-known security companies. Here’s a closer look at the Crossbeam-Sophos relationship and potential implications for managed services providers…

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I’m not sure how, when or why it happened. But this weekly “Seven things…” blog entry has developed a cult following of sorts. My inbox is filled each Friday morning with rumors, gossip and, um… music picks (thanks Gerard…) from readers. And each Friday afternoon, we publish seven pieces of reader chatter that MSPmentor’s blog team otherwise didn’t have a chance to cover. Here’s the rundown for the week ending June 25, 2010.

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As Microsoft transitions its channel chief title from Allison Watson to Jon Roskill, the shift provides an inflection point for both Microsoft and the broader IT channel. No doubt, Watson has made cloud computing and SaaS a channel priority during 2010. But Roskill has the opportunity to both clarify and accelerate Microsoft’s SaaS channel strategy — especially as it relates to small VARs and emerging managed services providers. Here are five steps Roskill should take.

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Sometimes the best managed services sales tips are short and sweet. During our June 23 MSPmentor Live webcast, ARRC Technology CEO Alex Rogers called on MSPs to rethink their approach to sales. Among Rogers’ three recommendations…

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GroundWork Open Source (GWOS), the open source systems and network management specialist, says it has quadrupled its customers base during the past eight months or so. GWOS already has a channel partner program but it’s safe to expect a strong focus on MSPs within the next few months. Here are the details.

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Opengear, which develops self-professed “next-generation” console server and KVM over IP solutions, now integrates with SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor. The duo hope to give managed services providers centralized remote management of distributed computer, network, and smart devices. Here’s the scoop.

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Forget Web 2.0 and anything else 2.0. Zmanda, the open source backup specialist, is pitching Zmanda Cloud Backup (ZCB) 3.0. Zmanda certainly has plenty of competition when it comes to online backup. But the company says ZCB 3.0 includes enhanced geography control across datacenters on three continents, optimized Microsoft Exchange data backup, bandwidth management, and cloud-based disaster recovery. And it drops the overall price, too. Here’s the scoop.

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Microsoft Channel Chief Allison Watson is taking on a new role at the software giant, opening the door for Jon Roskill (pictured) to assume Watson’s former role as corporate VP for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group. The Microsoft Channel Chief move comes less than three weeks before the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2010. The VAR Guy has all the details over here.

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