MSPmentor

If that headline made you do a double-take, you’re not alone. I was surprised when I read a Seattle Times’ blog indicating Google was suing the US Department of the Interior for only taking bids from Microsoft partners reselling BPOS/Office 365 cloud solution. The Google lawsuit definitely has cloud channel partner implications. Here’s the update.

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OpenDNS is a fairly well-known name in the IT world, with a claimed 1% of all Internet users taking advantage of their DNS services. But what many don’t know is that for the last year, OpenDNS has provided enterprise services like web filtering and security by way of the cloud. And now they’ve packaged OpenDNS Enterprise up for MSPs, enabling them to offer SaaS web protection with the MSP’s logo on it. Here’s the scoop.

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Our next Webcast is this Wednesday (Nov. 3) at 2:00 p.m. eastern. During the webcast we’ll cover How to Market and Brand Your First SaaS Services. But that’s not all we’re working on. On November 17, our webcast will cover Managed Services Pricing Strategies (per user, or per device… or something else?) and we’ll wrap up 2010 webcasts on December 8 but sitting down and exploring ConnectWise’s 2011 Vision for MSPs. In the meantime, we hope you join MSPmentor and The VAR Guy this Wednesday, November 3 for the SaaS marketing and branding webcast. Thanks for your time and for visiting MSPmentor.

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LabTech Software and CharTec — two companies that received ConnectWise Capital investments earlier this year — are partnering up to introduce a new appliance for managed services providers (MSPs). The LabTech-CharTec development debuts in time for ConnectWise, CharTec and LabTech conferences later this week in Orlando. Here are some preliminary details.

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Big broadband service providers continue to expand their managed services portfolios. The latest example involves Cox Business — a unit of Cox Communications — launching “business-class backup, security and email” managed sevices for small and midsize business (SMB) customers. The Cox efforts leverage SaaS services from Mozy and McAfee as well as a TV advertising campaign. Here’s a look at the strategy.

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How can a managed services provider conquer a vertical market? Perhaps it’s time to steal a page from HEIT, which specifically targets the financial services vertical — particularly community banks and credit unions. The strategy seems to be working well. But rather than resting on its laurels, HEIT is turning its attention to the entire state of Texas. The strategy involves a working relationship with the Texas Bankers Association and its subsidiary, TBA Services Company Inc. (TBASCO). Here are the details.

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Roughly 1,100 MSPs and VARs will gather later this week at ConnectWise IT Nation (formerly ConnectWise Partner Summit). The conference (Nov. 4-6, Orlando) also serves as a magnet for several related events hosted by CharTec, HTG Peer Groups, LabTech Software, Level Platforms and TruMethods. No doubt, attendees will hear a lot of themes related to cloud computing, the last mile of IT and managing the modern office for SMBs. Here are 35 key questions MSPmentor plans to raise during the conference.

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It’s good to make the front page of industry blogs. It’s better to get that attention for a reason other than a cloud application security breach that exposes company secrets or personal information. Aprigo, which specializes in permissions management products, is now offering a solution for avoiding that kind of situation by tweaking Google Docs settings. Here’s the scoop.

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The Microsoft Partner Network, a new channel program that includes cloud computing initiatives, officially launches today. For deeper details, The VAR Guy has a complete report — including a look at Microsoft’s so-called Cloud Accelerate and Cloud Essentials offerings for VARs and MSPs. Here’s a look.

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