MSPmentor

InfoPrint Solutions — a Ricoh company — is the latest technology provider to jump on the cloud computing bandwagon. Specifically, the company has launched InfoPrint Solutions Managed ADF Services (ADF is short for Automated Document Factory) — a managed, turnkey production print workflow solution.What does this have to do with cloud computing? Glad you asked…

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Precision IT, an MSPmentor 100 company, has a track record for managed services success. In each fiscal year since its founding, Precision IT has grown its revenue by 30 percent to 40 percent, according to David D’Arcy (pictured), managing partner and president of the company. In 2010, the IT service company earned a spot on the Inc. 5000 annual list of the fastest growing privately held companies in the United States. Here’s a look at the strategy, which includes some key marketing twists for managed services providers.

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There’s nothing like procrastinating — just a little longer than usual. Here are seven managed services blogs the MSPmentor team didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending March 18, 2011.

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I’m trying to spend a bit more time reading and replying to emails each Friday afternoon. As a result I’m a bit late with this blog entry (and a few others…). Sure, we had another busy week at MSPmentor, The VAR Guy and TalkinCloud. We realize: Some readers don’t have time to track all the conversations across all of our web sites each week. So, here are the 15 most read channel blog entries across our channel blog network for the week ending March 18, 2011.

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Often when speaking with IT Solutions providers and MSPs I hear a concern about the long term viability of the model. That is, IT infrastructure is moving to the cloud.  What this means is that, there will be, over time, less on premise IT infrastructure to monitor. Well, we all know that the ‘cloud’ (or whatever buzzword du jour for describing data centers, remote data infrastructure, etc.) is coming, and that more and more apps and infrastructure are headed offsite. If you listen to the folks at Salesforce.com or Google, they will have you believe it has already happened and that there is no such concept as on-premise IT infrastructure anymore.  Nonsense.

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Over the past two or three years, most of the major managed services software providers have made the leap from North America to Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). But if you take a closer look at the story, Kaseya was one of the companies that enjoyed first-mover advantage in the ANZ market, thanks to executives like Martin Ashby and Tim Dickinson. Now, IBM veteran Dermot McCann is joining the Kaseya team to drive further expansion in ANZ.

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A growing number of MSPs seem to be reaching the following conclusion: Maybe running a successful lifestyle business isn’t so bad after all. Indeed, earlier this decade thousands of VARs jumped into the managed services market with a common goal: Automate operations, drive recurring revenues, and vastly increase the value of their businesses. In some cases the goals are now changing. Some MSPs are deciding it’s time to focus on highly profitable lifestyle businesses rather than hyper-growth, high-valuation dreams. Here’s why.

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Even as free and low-cost Internet video conferencing catches on, the market for paid managed telepresence services continues to accelerate. The latest proof point involves Glowpoint Inc., which says its cloud-based managed services revenues grew 46 percent in Q4 2010 vs. Q4 2009. Generally speaking, those managed services revenues involve telepresence, video conference and collaboration services. So, how can smaller VARs and MSPs potentially wrap their arms around managed telepresence services?

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Level Platforms, according to multiple managed services providers, has caught its second wind. The company, which develops remote monitoring and management software for MSPs, spent most of 2008 and 2009 stabilizing its platform. Fast forward to the present and multiple factors — a new software release, an improving economy, key software partnerships, and an emerging relationship with Synnex — apparently are giving Level Platforms a timely lift.

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Life’s good for Computer Service Partners, an MSPmentor 100 organization. The nearly 20-year-old custom IT solutions company based in Raleigh, N.C., has grown into a roughly 50-person company targeting small and midsized business (SMB) throughout the United States focused on data center initiatives, virtualization, unified communications and ruggedized computing. So what’s new? Here’s some perspective from CSP Director of Managed Services John Kilgore (pictured).

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Multiple sources say Microsoft has circled July 1 as a potential launch date for Office 365, the forthcoming successor to Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). The potential target date would allow Microsoft to heavily promote Office 365 at the annual Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC, July 10-15, Los Angeles). No doubt, Microsoft is betting its cloud strategy on Office 365 and its sister cloud site, Windows Azure. But will MSPs warm up to Office 365 when it arrives?

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In case you missed it… The VAR Guy (MSPmentor’s sister site) has updated his list of the top channel partner conferences and summits for 2011. The list includes a complete schedule of events for MSPs, VARs, IT service providers, resellers, cloud service providers (CSPs) … well, you get the picture. You can find the list, continually updated, here.

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In my experience working with managed services providers, I have seen that the most successful MSPs tend to have a systematic approach to accelerating their knowledge curve, considering education as important a component of doing business as, say, managing their books. These MSPs know that what they know and how much they know translates directly into client satisfaction and improved growth. They read, take advantage of classes, and develop trusted relationships with their suppliers, so that when they are ready to integrate new tools and technologies into their business, they’ve done their homework.

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I moderated a cloud computing panel at the Intermedia Partner Summit yesterday in New York. But here’s the interesting part: For the most part, the panelists referred to themselves as managed services providers. Not cloud integrators. Not cloud service providers. But established, growing MSPs. Here’s why.

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What’s the single best way for managed services providers (MSPs) to find new sales leads? Before I answer the question let me start with a news hook: This morning, MSP Leads, a new company, launched lead generation services for U.S.-based managed services providers. Another company, called MSP Telemarketing, has been offering lead generation services to MSPs for quite some time. So what makes MSP Leads different? And where, ultimately, can MSPs find qualified leads?

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For the second time in roughly 12 months, Intermedia is pitching hosted unified communications and hosted PBX services at its annual partner summit. But this time around Intermedia has adjusted its strategy quite a bit. Here’s the update, including perspectives from Chief Marketing Officer Manlio Carrelli (pictured).

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I’m heading from my Long Island home into New York City today, attending the Intermedia Partner Summit — where roughly 80 to 120 MSPs will discuss cloud computing and hosted PBX opportunities. Much has changed since I commuted to the city as part of my daily routine from 2004 to 2006. For starters, I’m seemingly always connected to the Internet — thanks to a MiFi service from Verizon Communications. Although the service costs about $60 per month, I suspect it saves me about $100 per month on hotel and airport WiFi fees. And MiFi sure does come in handy on a passenger train.

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Intermedia, a hosted Exchange specialist that works closely with VARs and MSPs, kicked off its annual partner conference this morning by sharing several business milestones. CEO Serguei Sofinski (pictured) told roughly 100 attendees that Intermedia now hosts more than 100,000 Exchange 2010 mailboxes. Plus, Intermedia’s channel has pushed beyond 6,500 partners. For MSPs sorting out hosted Exchange and hosted PBX opportunities, here are four highlights from Sofinski’s keynote.

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With all the buzz around cloud computing, it’s easy sometimes to lose perspective on this whole phenomenon. The fact is the cloud has tremendous transformative power, and we are about to see an acceleration of the adoption of cloud services as CIOs take action on ways to get the most bang for their IT bucks.

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CoreLink Data Centers, a colocation provider with a number of MSP customers, is looking to double its revenue and boost its service offerings in 2011. The company, which launched in 2007, acquired its initial data centers from PacWest. That deal provided facilities in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Seattle. The backing from M/C Venture Partners let CoreLink upgrade those centers to current colocation standards, noted Mike Duckett, president and chief operating officer at CoreLink.

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Say hello to this year’s fourteenth managed services merger or acquisition. This time it’s MBCSolutions merging with Britec Computer Systems — an accounting software specialist. The deal creates a growing Canadian MSP with deep Dell, Microsoft, Sage Software expertise.

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Roughly 80 to 120 managed services providers (MSPs) are set to attend the Intermedia Partner Summit on Tuesday in New York. Most of those MSPs promote Intermedia’s hosted Exchange to end customers. But where are those MSPs heading next? I’ll be digging for answers during the conference — and posing the five following questions to attendees and Intermedia.

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Larry Andrus (pictured) made good on his word. As CEO of Trivalent Group, an MSPmentor 100 company, Andrus hinted in February that he was preparing to make another managed services acquisition. Now, details of the deal have emerged. It involves Trivalent Group, a $22 million MSP in Grandville, Mich., buying Innovative Software Strategies (ISS) of a Battle Creek, Mich. Here’s the update, including a list of more than a dozen MSP-related mergers and acquisitions that have occurred so far in 2011.

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