MSPmentor

Since the official “end” of the recession in 2009 (which appears to have primarily ended for the economists tracking it), statistics from IDC show that SMBs have increased their IT spending more rapidly than expected. Sure, access to credit is still limited. And some SMBs are still reluctant to hire new employees. But slow hiring could be a promising sign for MSPs that file IT talent gaps in the SMB market. The best news of all: research firm IDC predicts 8 million SMBs will spend more than $125 billion on advanced technology in 2011.

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Our next Webcast is today (Wednesday, June 8th) at 2:00 p.m. eastern. The topic is Managed Video and Collaboration Services: 3 Steps to Profits. During the webcast InFocus will unveil a 55-inch touch screen; think of it as a massive iPad for your customers’ conference room walls. Join us to learn how to generate recurring revenues from this managed video and collaboration service. Two top MSPs and InFocus will describe how the new solution was designed with MSPs in mind. We will answer your questions throughout the webcast. I hope you’ll register now to join us.

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The IT industry isn’t seeing eye-to-eye on the cloud just yet, but you can’t ignore the recent glut of information coming from all corners touting the benefits of cloud computing – particularly for smaller businesses.

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As you may recall, SNC Squared is a managed service provider that lost its office during the recent tornado that leveled Joplin, Missouri. Behind the scenes, HTG Peer Groups helped SNC Squared to keep its business online. The HTG assistance was part of Hands That Give — an insurance policy and emergency program to help member VARs and MSPs during times of professional or personal crisis. Now here’s the interesting twist: The seeds for Hands That Give were planted nearly 40 years ago. Here’s how.

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There is some good news for any MSPs out there wondering if the SMB market offers growth opportunity. According to a recent survey of more than 250 international small business and IT executives from data storage technology provider Drobo, the answer is a resounding yes, especially where on-premises storage is concerned.

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NOVARED, a Chilean-based managed security services company, wants to make a name for itself in the U.S. market.  NOVARED stared as a VAR more than 50 years ago, serving Central and South America. It wasn’t until roughly 10 years ago, according to NOVARED CEO Miguel Perez, that the company saw an opportunity to sell its own managed security solution. And now, NOVARED is pushing North into the U.S. market. Here’s why.

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Kaavo, which develops cloud management and automation services for MSPs, has launched Kaavo IMOD version 3.3. Here’s a look at the update and the potential implications for managed services providers.

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Here’s a quick bit of cloud chatter for the MSP crowd out of this week’s Cloud Computing Expo in New York: i365, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seagate, has announced that it’s hit the 30-partner milestone for its unique EVault Cloud-Connected Service Provider Program (CCSP). Here’s a quick look back.

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Our next Webcast is tomorrow (Wednesday, June 8th) at 2:00 p.m. eastern. The topic is Managed Video and Collaboration Services: 3 Steps to Profits. During the webcast InFocus will unveil a 55-inch touch screen; think of it as a massive iPad for your customers’ conference room walls. Join us to learn how to generate recurring revenues from this managed video and collaboration service. Two top MSPs and InFocus will describe how the new solution was designed with MSPs in mind. We will answer your questions throughout the webcast. I hope you’ll register now to join us.

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It’s been roughly six months since MSPmentor pinpointed South Africa as the next managed services battleground. Fast forward to the present and it’s quite clear that MSP software companies — particularly Kaseya and N-able — are focusing more and more attention on MSPs in the South Africa area. Here’s the update.

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A strategic MSP-related conference is set to start later this week (June 9-11, Philadelphia, Pa.). But there’s no mention of managed services in the conference name. And you’ve got to work closely with TruMethods, an MSP-centric consulting firm, to get your foot in the door. The event’s name: Schnizzfest. Here’s what to expect.

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Which endorsement of a product or service would carry the most weight with you: a paid advertisement, or a positive review from a friend or respected peer? That’s kind of a no-brainer isn’t it? Yet business owners and managers expend large sums of money and countless hours on elaborate marketing plans. This is the case, despite the fact that the best-devised advertising campaigns can be upstaged (or destroyed) in the mind of a prospective customer by little more than a casual observation from someone he or she knows. Why not put this potent force to work for your business? It’s easy to do, and relatively cost-free. In most cases, if you have a satisfied customer, it’s likely that all you’ll have to do is ask.

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ScaleMatrix, a San Diego-based Managed Service Provider that operates 12 data centers across the U.S., has inked a distribution agreement OnRelay. Under terms of the agreement, OnRelay’s Mobile Cloud Exchange (MCX) will be available to ScaleMatrix customers and partners soon.

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Network Strategies Inc. (NSI), a managed services provider, has agreed to offer StillSecure‘s managed security and compliance services to end customers. Here’s a closer look at the relationship.

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Advanced 365 — a managed services provider in the U.K — has found a vertical market opportunity in the cloud. Indeed, Advanced 365 is partnering up with COINS , which develops construction industry software. Under terms of the relationship, Advanced 365 will offer COINS On-Demand as a managed cloud service to the construction sector.

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The term “outsourcing” sometimes carries a negative connotation in the United States. Some critics equate outsourcing with the loss of American jobs — something the slowly rebounding American economy cannot afford. But Chile-IT, a consortium of Chilean technology companies, is set on redefining “outsourcing” as a way to combine international technology with American managed service providers (MSPs) and actually create more U.S. jobs in the process.

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In an interesting twist, Kaseya is extending Salesforce.com‘s CRM to Cloud9 for a global sales forecasting  and pipeline management solution. Ironically, Kaseya was originally on the hunt for an enterprise business intelligence platform when it discovered Cloud9.

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Our next Webcast, scheduled for this Wednesday, June 8, connects the dots between SMB video conferencing, collaboration software and recurring revenues for VARs and MSPs. Imagine a simple big screen solution — similar to a massive iPad — for your SMB customers that delivers recurring revenues every month. InFocus and two MSPs will describe three steps to help you get started in this market. Register now and pose your questions to our experts on Wednesday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m. eastern. Separately: Join us June 22 for Vertical Market MSP Strategies.

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Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of MSPs to help them with their marketing efforts, and I can safely say that over all this time, I’ve never heard anyone complaining about excess marketing staff or budget. In fact, more often than not, it’s folks with management or sales titles that I work with, individuals who are taking time away from their “day jobs” to pitch in and support the business’ marketing objectives.

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During recent channel partner conferences, several MSPs told me they heard a rumor that Zenith Infotech is getting out of the NOC (Network Operations Center) business and/or the RMM (remote monitoring and management) business. I reached out to Zenith for comment and the company dismissed the rumors, stating that they’re firmly committed to VARs and MSPs that depend on the company’s NOC and RMM solutions. Here’s the update.

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More than 1,100 partners have signed up for Zenith Infotech’s SmartStyle/MirrorCloud offering with about 2,000 cloud servers shipped since February, 2011. About 50% of those signings are net new partners, an impressive figure in my mind. But I’ve also heard from a few readers who say they have had technical issues with the solution. I asked Zenith Infotech Senior VP Maurice Saluan for an update on how the SmartStyle MirrorCloud deployments are going, if there have been issues, and how Zenith has been addressing the issues. Here’s the update.

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I spent much of the week at Ingram Micro Cloud Summit in Phoenix, Ariz. There was plenty of managed services chatter at the conference. But as usual, we’ve got too many news leads and too little time. So here are seven managed services blog entries MSPmentor didn’t have time to write for the week ending June 3, 2011.

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Ricoh has rolled out its new Champs Managed Document Services (MDS) Program. The mission? Help Ricoh resellers switch to a service-based business model. Here are the details.

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