MSPmentor

When it comes to the cloud IBM is getting aggressive. They’ve launched a new cloud services platform to help communication service providers get an edge on public cloud services. Read on for the scoop…

Read More >

Four years ago this October Google launched the Google Apps for Education suite of student, faculty, and staff-focused cloud productivity and collaboration applications. Fast forward to the present, and Google says the company has landed its 10 millionth education space user on Google Apps. Here are some highlights of Google’s report card.

Read More >

PEER 1 Hosting looks to enhance its relationship with the IT channel with the launch of a partner directory designed to connect customers with service providers. Here’s the scoop.

Read More >

Jason Beal, a well-known veteran of Ingram Micro Services, North America and Ingram Micro Seismic, will soon shift his attention to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Effective January 1, 2011, Ingram Micro EMEA will leverage Beal as senior director, software and services, Value Division. Beal’s new role is the latest update to Ingram Micro’s cloud, managed services and IT services strategy. Here’s the update.

Read More >

I’m starting to believe the cloud computing market will face less resistance than the early managed services market faced. Why’s that? And what will the cloud computing trend mean to MSPs? Here are some updated educated guesses.

Read More >

Google loves to highlight enterprises big and small that have made the leap to the Google Apps suite. But now the search giant is looking for up to five companies from each of the major geographic regions to star in a new billboard campaign. Maybe they should try Googling for them.

Read More >

Patch Tuesday is one of those Microsoft traditions that I suspect many administrators wish would quietly vanish into the ether, but until we’re all running cloud-based operating systems, it looks like it’s here to stay. Microsoft shows no signs of slowing down, either, with yesterday’s security updates containing a whopping 16 patches for 49 problems – numbers that analysts say set a new record. Here’s the scoop.

Read More >

Logicalis, a $1 billion managed services provider based in the United Kingdom, continues to expand its North American efforts. To wit, the company is set to host a how-to cloud and managed services event in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 13. The planned gathering shows how large MSPs are taking their message directly to customers in face-to-face settings. For small MSPs, it’s a healthy reminder that you need to stay in front of customers as larger rivals seek to expand their footprints.

Read More >

When Cisco announced that it was adding cloud service designations to its expanding Managed Services Channel Program (MSCP), MSPs had questions about where they fit in and how best to take advantage. In a new blog post, Cisco Director of the MSCP Todd Roth gives some answers. Here are the highlights.

Read More >

Microsoft has acquired AVICode, Inc., a specialist in .NET application and service monitoring. Is there a managed services hook here? You bet. AVIcode will be rolled into the Microsoft System Center, giving MSPs a unified view into physical, virtualized, and cloud applications. Here’s some more perspective on the deal.

Read More >

Sometime in 2011, McAfee will roll out a channel partner designation specifically for SaaS specialists and managed services providers. The effort will offer partners three SaaS security options: (1) you can just sell it (2) or you can sell it and bill it or (3) you can sell it, bill it and support it. As I heard about the McAfee SaaS effort, I began to wonder: Will Microsoft ever offer that type of SaaS flexibility to channel partners?

Read More >

GroundWork Open Source, which develops monitoring and network management software, today announced general availability of GroundWork Monitor Enterprise 6.3. The software, designed for IT administrators and managed services providers, allows users to create customized views of their processes and infrastructure. Here are some quick details.

Read More >

At the McAfee Global Partner Day and McAfee Focus 10 conferences in Las Vegas, the security software provider is delicately balancing partner efforts that involve on-premise security, managed security services and cloud-based services. The effort comes as Intel awaits regulatory approval for the McAfee takeover, announced in August 2010. Here’s the update, and the potential implications for managed services providers.

Read More >

There’s clearly a lot to learn in public sector cloud computing. As cloud providers seek more government business, they need to get up to speed on federal-specific requirements. Government agencies, meanwhile, need to review vendors’ security profiles. Into that environment steps Apptis Inc., an IT and communications service provider based in Chantilly, Va. The company this month announced its cloud services offering. Here’s the background.

Read More >

LogMeIn made its name in the IT world for its remote desktop product line. Now, the company has added a new tool to its arsenal with the addition of IT automation to the LogMeIn Central web-based management console. That means MSPs leveraging LogMeIn’s products can do things like run scripts and install software on machines on- and off-LAN. Here’s the story.

Read More >

MSPmentor’s bloggers had their hands full covering a range of events in recent days, including the Tigerpaw User Conference in Dallas. Alas, we were so busy running to flights that we didn’t have time to write the following seven managed services blog entries for the week ending Oct. 8, 2010. Take a look…

Read More >

For less than the price of a cup of coffee per month, you can save a gigabyte of data – as long as it’s stored locally. At least, that’s the pitch behind Storage Guardian‘s new local backup offering, which starts pricing at $0.25/compressed GB/month.  The company says it’s designed to enhance their cloud play, not replace it. Here’s how.

Read More >

The fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 survey is now live. The survey is global, and helps MSPmentor to identify the world’s top manged services providers. The survey runs through December 17, 2010, and we’ll announce the fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 list in early 2011. But that’s not all… Here’s how to participate in the survey plus some background on how we compile the results. And most importantly: We explain how MSPs potentially benefit from participating in the survey.

Read More >

How can MSPs and IT service providers better manage their finances, motivate their sales teams and maximize their profits? Coreconnex‘s Frank Coker and Service Leadership Inc.‘s Paul Dippell provided some eye-opening answers during the Tigerpaw User Conference in Dallas today. Here are their top six financial tips. I don’t often say this but this particular blog entry is one that you should print and re-read a few times. Take a look.

Read More >

Vu Telepresence, the video conferencing company closely related to Zenith Infotech, stepped into the keynote spotlight this morning at the Tigerpaw User Conference in Dallas. The company’s pitch was pretty simple: Until now, telepresence has been too expensive and too complex for small businesses to deploy, Vu claims. Hardly surprising, Vu believes it has solved those issues, and sees telepresence as the next natural managed service for MSPs. Here’s the Vu pitch and MSPmentor’s insights.

Read More >

Communications services company Level 3 Communications and Presidio Networked Solutions are collaborating on managed services under a newly announced agreement, which involves customer premise equipment-based managed services. And the government sector will be one of the partnership’s shared targets.

Read More >

Sometimes, family businesses do grow up. One prime example: Tigerpaw Software, founded and led by the Foxall family, is hosting its first user conference for VARs, MSPs and customers this week in Dallas. During a keynote by Tigerpaw President James Foxall (pictured), I’d estimate roughly 300 VARs, MSPs and customers were in the room. Here’s a recap of where Tigerpaw has been… and where Tigerpaw is going.

Read More >

Claris Networks, ranked number 52 on our MSPmentor 100, specializes in cloud hosting — a pretty familiar term these days. But how does Claris differentiate from rivals?  Here’s an update on how the Knoxville, Tennessee company is thriving down south…

Read More >