MSPmentor

The cloud storage and online backup markets are fiercely competitive. So how does a company like Intronis hope to stand out from the crowd? The answer involves a healthy mix of MSP community building and a new cloud software release — dubbed Intronis Fall Release 11, which arrived today. Here’s the update.

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Business appears strong at OS33, the international IT-as-a-Service provider for MSPs. The company says its partner base grew 166 percent from OS33′s previous quarter. The company claims it now has the “potential” to reach 240,000 end points – up 125 percent from early 2011. I chatted with OS33 President Jacob Kazakevich, Director of Sales Aron Derstine and Director of Marketing Paul Angelides to get a closer look at the strategy.

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New job openings have surfaced on the MSPmentor Job Board. The career opportunities involve IT positions across the SMB and corporate sectors. Most of the postings are closely related to the managed IT services and cloud services markets. So whether you’re an IT specialist looking to help small businesses, or a seasoned salesperson searching for the next challenge in the software industry, you’ll likely find something that catches your attention.

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ControlCircle, an MSP focused on the banking, accounting, legal and commercial sectors, wants to become “the UK’s foremost managed services provider,” according to a prepared statement from ControlCircle CEO Carmen Carey. To that end, ControlCircle has added three members to its management team, each set to lead three separate company initiatives.: sales, finance and technical services.

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Servoyant continues to enhance its network monitoring platform for MSPs. The Servoyant system is available via the cloud or as an appliance-based solution. The latest release, called Servoyant 4.1, includes more than 70 enhancements, most notably an updated integration with Autotask APIs for more efficient workflow, new adaptive recievers to generate alerts, an improved automatic provisioning system, and remote monitoring improvements, the company claims.

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MSPWorld, part of IT Expo West, runs Sept. 13-15 in Austin, Texas, this week. So what exactly should managed services providers expect to see and hear at the conference? Here are six potential clues from MSPmentor.

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Len DiCostanzo (pictured), senior VP of business development at Autotask Corp., is set to lead the Autotask Community, sources say. The move helps to clarify Autotask’s partner strategy, which briefly faced question marks amid former community leader Jay McBain’s departure. Here’s the update.

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A recent survey commissioned by IDrive and conducted by Harris Interactive shows that many people are tackling a common high-tech problem in a surprisingly low-tech way. In response to a question about how they get existing contact info into a new smartphone, 27% of respondents said they manually entered the contacts. IDrive estimates each manual entry takes about 1.3 minutes, a not insubstantial period of time for those with dozens or even hundreds of contacts.

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While there are a variety of opinions on why it is happening, there is no denying the US government is making it harder for skilled IT professionals from overseas to obtain temporary work visas. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Indian consulting services such as Tata and Infosys, which is under federal investigation for alleged visa abuse, are being hit especially hard. A senior executive from Tata was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying so far the increased scrutiny of temporary visas for its consultants to work onsite for US clients has not affected his company’s profitability, but also that increased planning would be needed moving forward.

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Our next two webcasts are approaching quickly. The first webcast, scheduled for Sept. 21 at 2:00 p.m. eastern, will show you how to deliver new customer value with the managed services tools you already have. And on October 5 at 2:00 p.m. eastern, we’ll show you five habits of highly profitable MSPs that have mastered SaaS. Our Channel Expert Hour webcasts are designed to serve readers of MSPmentor, The VAR Guy and Talkin’ Cloud.

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I kept my hands off the keyboard over the weekend. It didn’t feel right blogging about the managed services industry at a time when the United States remembered the victims and the heroes of September 11, 2001. So now, after a slight delay, here’s a look at seven managed services blogs MSPmentor didn’t write for the week ending Sept. 9, 2011.

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If you had a job where you had to report to — gasp, a boss — you would manage that relationship, doing what we in corporate America call “managing up.”  You’d make sure that you knew what your boss thought and what affected her decision to give you a raise.  You’d also make sure you could do everything within your power to make your boss’ job easier so that you were considered a valuable asset to both your manager and the company. As an MSP, you must manage up, too. Here’s how.

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Geeks On Call apparently has overhauled its IT services franchising model. At its height in 2007, Geeks on Call claims it had more than 300 IT services franchises across the United States. But by 2009, the company fell off a cliff and SEC filings revealed deep financial problems. But by late 2010, there were signs that new owner Glenn Davis was overhauling Geeks on Call. Fast forward to the present and Geeks On Call is introducing a new IT services franchising model. Will VARs and MSPs give it a look?

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Annese & Associates inc., a $54 million VAR, is the latest IT service provider to deploy Zyrion’s Traverse software to monitor customers’ networks, servers and applications. Annese focuses on designing, installing and maintaining integrated voice, video and data systems for schools, government agencies and commercial businesses throughout the New York and New England areas. The company has been in business since 1970, but it recently developed a managed services offering called ARMS (Annese Remote Managed Services).  That’s where Zyrion’s Traverse software platform comes in.

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MSPs now use a range of mobile devices to remotely manage customer networks. But managing networks from a mobile device isn’t a new trend. Just ask Cormant Technologies Chairman & CEO Paul Goodison, and he’ll tell you Cormant has empowered service providers with mobile apps that manage enterprises for nearly a decade.

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Technology Capital Investors (TCI) has added another managed services provider (MSP) to its nationwide portfolio on Sept. 12. The latest deal involves TCI buying Bravura Networks, a full-service managed services provider with operations in San Diego, Calif. and Chicago, Ill. The deal empowers TCI with an MSP that has vertical market expertise in such areas as financial services, corporate compliance and franchising.

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Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (Toshiba) and PaperCut Software International are partnering to promote managed document services. The effort is called PaperCut MF. The Toshiba effort arrives just as other big IT companies — particularly Hewlett-Packard — develop channel partner programs for managed print services.

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Generally speaking, many of Hewlett-Packard’s managed print services announcements over the past few years have involved enterprise initiatives and direct sales engagements. But now, HP is finally making a more vocal managed print services partner push. Indeed, the HP Partner Managed Print Services effort is designed to help SMBs lower internal costs and better manage workflow. The announcement surfaced at the HP Global Imaging and Printing Conference in Shanghai, China. It arrived the same day that Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. added the PaperCut MF solution to its managed document services portfolio.

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When Microsoft activates the next major Windows Intune release on October 17, I’ll be watching closely. Peer blogger Matt Weinberger accurately positions Windows Intune as a cloud-based remote PC management platform. But I’ve got my usual questions for the managed IT services audience.

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I’ve been mulling this blog for a few days. Across the managed services market, entrepreneurs are selling their companies or participating in M&A (merger and acquisition) deals. Some of those entrepreneurs stick around for the long haul. Other entrepreneurs exit when the deal is announced or shortly thereafter. The big question for those entrepreneurs who stick around: Can they be good long-term employees — especially when they can’t call all the shots within a larger parent organization?

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Some key names and faces have changed at Autotask this year. But CEO Mark Cattini seems to be executing on an International and cross-platform browser strategy he described in May 2011. The latest example: Autotask has opened its first European office in London, and I sense that more international moves could be coming. But I must concede: I don’t have a “feel” for Autotask’s overall business performance this year, and I’m curious to learn how Cattini feels the company is performing.

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Our look at MSPmentor 250 leaders resumes today after a short hiatus throughout the madness of VMworld 2011 last week. Today, we put the spotlight on Claris Networks President and CEO Larry Bodie. And he has a clear message for readers: Now is the time for MSPs to embrace the cloud.

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FusionStorm, which promotes cloud services and managed services, is building closer ties to VMware. The latest example: FusionStorm’s IT Xpress Cloud is now recognized as a a vCloud Powered Service.

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