MSPmentor

In the last few months I’ve spent a lot of time on the road, at events and visiting with countless VARs, MSPs and other technology solution providers. And, I can tell you first hand that this is an industry in motion! As technologies and markets evolve, solution providers are carving out their own unique market segments, areas of specialization and core competencies in order to compete and grow their businesses. Here’s a closer look at the strategies plus seven keys to your continued success.

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Is cloud computing hot or hype? Will cloud computing bolster managed services providers — or destroy MSP revenue streams? Nine Lives Media Inc., creators of MSPmentor, provides the platform for answers starting December 7.

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It’s not a traditional managed services move. But Red Hat is getting into the remote monitoring and management software market. Specifically, Red Hat has acquired Makara, which makes cloud monitoring and management software. The deal is part of Red Hat’s broader Cloud Foundations push. Plus, Red Hat is hoping to line up next generation channel partners — otherwise known as cloud services providers (CSPs). MSPmentor’s sister site, The VAR Guy, has all the details.

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N-able Technologies’ leadership team hasn’t changed. But some executive titles and responsibilities have. Specifically, COO JP Jauvin (pictured) gains the added title of president and continues to report to CEO Gavin Garbutt. The move is part of a larger trend in the managed services market, where some software companies seem to be adjusting their leadership roles or recruiting additional executives for anticipated growth in 2011. Here’s some insight.

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NovaStor , a Europe-based data protection specialist, is reaching out to the managed service provider community. The latest effort involves a new NovaBACKUP xSP release that includes a VMware plugin, allowing agentless virtualized environment backup. Here’s the update.

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Instead of unplugging for the Thanksgiving holiday, Trend Micro was busy working on an acquisition. Specifically, Trend Micro has purchased Mobile Armor, an encryption specialist that seems to be in growth mode. Here’s a look at the deal, which could potentially bolster Trend Micro’s cloud computing strategy.

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Several new job openings and career opportunities have surfaced on the MSPmentor Job board. The opportunities include technical, sales and consulting positions across the managed services and cloud computing markets. Here are some quick details. Take a look.

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The White House has been pushing for cloud computing for a while now, but a recent statement provides an additional nudge. Jeffrey Zients, federal chief performance officer, wrote in a November 19 blog post that the Administration aims to shift “the agency default approach to IT to a cloud-first policy as part of the 2012 budget process.” Hardly surprising, everyone from IBM to Savvis Federal Systems is jumping on the federal cloud bandwagon. Here’s why.

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Security is often cited as a key customer objection to cloud computing. Vendors have been working to allay those concerns and two developments in that regard are taking place in over the pond. First, a European consortium recently launched Trustworthy Clouds (TClouds) as a virtual infrastructure project. Consortium members include IBM, Philips Electronics, and security solutions provider Sirrix AG among other corporate and academic participants. Second, Hewlett-Packard has opened a security-centric cloud demo center in England. Here are the updates.

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Happy Belated Thanksgiving to MSPmentor’s US readers. Even as the MSPmentor staff relaxes for the holiday, our team is hard-at-work on some surprises for December 2010. That means, once again, we didn’t have time to complete every news story we pursued this past week. So here are seven managed services blog entries the MSPmentor team didn’t write for the week ending Nov. 26,  2010.

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Open source network and applications monitoring solution vendor Opsview is reaching out to the managed services provider market. Specifically, Opsview has launched a major new release of its flagship product, which apparently provides MSPs with deeper reporting tools. Here are some details.

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As we continue work on the fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 survey, it’s an ideal time to check in with managed services providers that landed in our third-annual report. This time we’re speaking with Fandotech President John Boyd (pictured). Fandotech has had the cloud, backup, recovery and virtualization game under their belt since 2003, with an eye on healthcare, government, education and horizontal SMBs. The company rode out the recession with minor pains, and a branded Fandotech cloud service — called RAIN — is helping the company to maintain clear focus and consistent messaging. Boyd certainly sounds upbeat about Fandotech’s business outlook. Here’s the update.

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So, you’re a managed services provider that needs a small business loan, a lease or some other financial assistance. What are your options? Our sister site, The VAR Guy, is putting together a research report just for you. The VAR Guy’s Channel Finance 25 — an annual report — will help VARs and MSPs to find the key companies, organizations and financial lenders that can assist with short-term cash flow and long-term growth strategies. Here are the details.

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Precise, which specializes in “transaction performance management,” has branched out with Precise MSP, a managed application performance service designed to ensure QoS (quality of service) for end-customers. Apparently, this is Precise’s first-ever managed services play. Here are some details.

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Sure, plenty of big cloud computing companies want to sell direct into small and midsize businesses. So how can MSPs maintain those SMB relationships and generate new profits without bowing to IT giants? For the answer join our next MSPmentor Live webcast on December 8 at 2:00 p.m. eastern. This is our final webcast of 2010. Here’s a look at what we’ll cover.

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Most businesses don’t specifically seek out an online backup solution. I’m sure you’re wondering why I would state that outright as an employee of a company that partners with MSPs to offer this type of solution to their clients. The truth is that the solution providers that are most successful at selling online backup services do so with a great emphasis on their client needs, starting with the challenges they face related to their industry and markets. Federal, state and local regulations continue to be a concern for businesses of all size, but it affects the SMB segment hardest since they have fewer resources available to monitor and manage them. That’s an area where MSPs can flourish with the right knowledge and approach.

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Novell, which has been working more closely with MSPs lately, has been sold. But the deal raises nearly as many questions as it answers. Here’s why: Attachmate has acquired Novell for $2.2 billion. That sounds simple enough. Now for the twist: As part of the deal, a Microsoft-led consortium has acquired certain Novell intellectual property assets. Which assets? That’s a huge question, especially since Novell’s war chest included R&D related to Unix and Linux. Here are 11 questions about the Novell company sale, written as only The VAR Guy can present them…

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As we continue work on our fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 survey,  it’s an ideal time to look back at companies from our third-annual MSPmentor 100 list. Among the companies we’ve been watching: BlueLock, which has leveraged virtualization and managed services to gain some cloud momentum. Here’s how BlueLock’s cloud hosting offerings fit into the IT channel, according to CTO Pat O’Day (pictured). Update: BlueLock contacted us regarding some minor clarifications – see below.

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Managed applications and hosting provider NaviSite has announced that it’s rolled out new management and control features for its NaviCloud platform: role based access control, “Airlock,” and dynamic resource instrumentation. Here’s the scoop.

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Here’s a novel idea: What if there was a central, well-organized list of channel partner conferences and partner summits designed for managed services providers (MSPs), VARs and solutions providers? And what if you could use that list to plan your schedule for 2011? Alas, MSPmentor doesn’t have such a list… Only a lunatic like The VAR Guy would be crazy enough to pull together all that information. And here it is: 75 channel partner events and channel partner conferences designed for MSPs, VARs and everything else channel. Take a look and feel free to post your suggested changes/updates.

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The Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace for MSPs and VARs is getting cloud hosting solutions by way of new corporate ally GoGrid. The idea is to bring cloud infrastructure services mainstream for the IT channel, and the alliance represents the relatively small GoGrid’s first major relationship with a distributor. Here are some details.

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New Intronis CEO Kent Plunkett (pictured) says the online backup company grew about 50 percent over the past year, thanks to deep channel relationships with managed services providers (MSPs). Plunkett’s background includes building and growing Salary.com, which he eventually took public. So is Plunkett planning an IPO at Intronis? Not so fast. In this MSPmentor FastChat video, Plunkett describes a long-term view for Intronis and its managed services partners. Take a look.

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As MSPmentor prepares the fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 survey and report, we’re also looking back at MSPs that landed on our previous MSPmentor 100 list. Stepping into today’s spotlight is Safe Systems. President Darren Bridges says that specializing exclusively in serving small banks and credit unions is exactly what propelled the company to spot 48 on our previous MSPmentor 100 list. Here’s how.

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