MSPmentor

Security solution provider ManTech International has won a $99.5 million contract to provide the FBI with managed security services for the next five years. Here’s the scoop.

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We’ve rolled out part III of our MSPmentor 250. You can see the complete 33-page report — tracking all 250 managed services executives, entrepreneurs, experts, coaches and community leaders — in a PDF from our resource center (registration required). Or, check out a quick HTML listing of the executives: Parts III, IV and V of the list are now live web pages. Parts I and II will debut Aug. 19-20. And stay tuned to our MSPmentor 250 center for more daily updates. The center also describes how we pulled together the report.

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The commercial real estate sector may be slumping on the whole, but data center investment and build out continues with managed services firms in the thick of things. Here are some quick stats behind the trend.

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Our next MSPmentor Live webcast is today (Wednesday, Aug. 18) at 2:00 p.m. eastern. If you’re trying to expand your recurring managed security revenues then join us for today’s discussion. We’ll take your questions throughout the webcast. Here’s a closer look at today’s guest speakers.

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Proving that even a 137-year old dog can learn new tricks, Cincinnati Bell subsidiary Evolve has launched a voice-over-IP (VoIP) suite designed for business customers. Here’s the scoop.

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Tigerpaw Software, which develops PSA (professional services automation) software, is sticking to its niche. Outside of the managed services market, Tigerpaw has enjoyed good momentum in the telecom market. Building on that theme, Tigerpaw is partnering with Reilly Telecom to better serve Avaya channel partners. Here’s how.

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Rob Bissett (pictured), director of product management at N-able Technologies, is making the leap into the cloud. He’s set to join 6fusion International, a cloud services provider that works with a range of data center providers across Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. Here are some quick details about Bissett’s move to 6fusion.

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We continue to pull back the curtain on the third-annual MSPmentor 250 report, which tracks the world’s top managed services experts, executives, entrepreneurs, coaches and community leaders. You’ll find the complete 33-page PDF in the MSPmentor Resource Center (registration required). Or, get a high-level look at Part IV (last names, M through S) and Part V (last names, S through Z) of the MSPmentor 250 list. We’ll unveil Parts I through III (A through M) Aug. 18 through Aug. 20. Plus, we’ll offer the data sorted by company, region, area of specialty, etc. For details on how we pulled together the report, visit the MSPmentor 250 center.

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Autotask is preparing to launch a so-called community marketplace. If the service works as promised, it could allow VARs and MSPs to more easily find a range of applications and integration code to further automate their businesses. Autotask CEO Bob Godgart and Executive Director of Community and Business Development Mark Crall shared some preliminary details during the CompTIA Breakaway conference. Here’s a closer look at Autotask’s marketplace strategy.

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A new Forrester Research report indicates that Microsoft, Google, Cisco, and IBM — which is to say, the major SaaS email players — have more-or-less reached price parity for cloud messaging at about $5 per user per month, confirming that the cloud is axiomatically cheaper than on-premise for most MSPs and the enterprises they serve. Here’s the scoop.

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With all the talk of how the cloud can help even the largest enterprises affordably meet IT needs, it’s easy to forget how useful SaaS can be for even the smallest businesses. In a blog post, Google Apps highlights that aspect with the story of how Oregon-based ice cream company Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss uses their cloud collaboration suite. Here’s the scoop — so to speak.

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Our third-annual MSPmentor 250 report is now complete and ready for you to read. But before I introduce you to this year’s top managed services executives, experts, entrepreneurs, community leaders and coaches, I’d like to share a brief story about how we pulled together this year’s MSPmentor 250 list. Here are the details and links to the third-annual MSPmentor 250 report.

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Our next two MSPmentor Live webcasts are fast approaching. One is this Wednesday (Aug. 18); the other is September 8. Both events focus on sales and profitability strategies — though each event will lead down a different path. If you’re trying to bolster your managed security services revenues, sharpen your sales strategies or cut your operating expenses then take a closer look at these two webcasts. Here are some quick details.

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Though cloud-based media companies have pioneered the freemium model, there’s been some chatter lately about the use of freemiums in the managed services space. The reasoning behind the model is that there’s value in giving something away for free in hopes of snagging a fatter cow — i.e., super users — who are willing to pay for extra features (Skype), advertising-free content (Pandora), or unlimited use (Flickr). But can the freemium model work with MSPs? I’m skeptical. Here’s why.

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Social media can be overwhelming. Some skeptics think social media is a complete waste of time. But during a meeting at Dell’s headquarters last week, Cloud Computing Evangelist Barton George gave me some friendly, simple reminders about the value of social media. The entire conversation can be boiled down to three core points for managed services providers and small business owners. Here they are.

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Networking management and monitoring software vendor SolarWinds has made upgrades to its Orion IP SLA Manager and Orion NetFlow Traffic Analyzer (NTA) modules to integrate more tightly with Cisco Systems offerings.

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Disaster recovery solution specialist Continuity Software has launched RecoverGuard 5.2, the new version of their flagship product. New to this release is a Private Cloud Advisor targeted at helping customers ensure availability and compliance with best practices in the private cloud. Here’s the scoop.

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MSPmentor had a busy week covering the CompTIA Breakaway conference. We also managed to visit quite a few technology companies headquartered in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. What exactly did we hear during those meetings and visits? Here are seven managed services blog entries we didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Aug. 13, 2010.

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An era of tighter government spending seems to have arrived, but cloud computing and managed services may still provide a growth opportunity. Recent evidence of the former comes from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. In an August 9 press briefing, Gates said the Pentagon now looks to cut “a third of the budget for services and support contracting over the course of the next three years.” He observed that service support and advisory contractors of all kinds accounted for  39 percent of DoD’s workforce cost in 2009, up from 26 percent in 2000. Here are more details.

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Artisan Infrastructure, which provides “wholesale” infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) to MSPs, has separately announced the launch of a disaster recovery (DR) template for their customers and the quadrupling of their storage cloud scalability to near-petabyte size to make use of it. Here’s the scoop.

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During CompTIA Breakaway, I spent most of Wednesday in partner and executive meetings. Most of the chatter, predictably, involved managed services and the cloud. But what exactly did I hear? It’s going to take me a few days to pull together some deeper thoughts and analysis. But here are five observations from Day 3 of CompTIA Breakaway in San Antonio, Texas.

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Boomi, the self-described “Integration Cloud Company,” has announced record growth in the first six months of 2010, adding 150 new customers and tripling subscription revenues year over year. Here’s a closer look at the company.

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Google quietly launched an update for their Microsoft Exchange migration tool. The feature list may look anemic, but a few new Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Exchange features can go a long way. Here are some details.

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