add a comment
Whaleback Adds Cloud-Managed Voice Services for Mobile Devices
Posted January 31st, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
Whaleback Managed Services has added managed voice support services for mobile devices to its CrystalBlue Cloud-based Managed Voice Services solution. The company made the announcement this week at IT Expo East in Miami, Fla.
Netology Hires New Managed Services Director
Posted January 31st, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
Netology Technology Services, a managed IT services provider in Stamford, Conn., has hired Gladston Grant as its new director of managed services and support. In his new role, Grant will lead Netology’s IT support department and enable the MSP’s business customers to focus solely on revenue-generating projects.
Help Wanted: Technology Providers Seek Cloud, Managed Services Pros
Posted January 31st, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
The MSPmentor Job Board features job opening for sales and support staff, as well as newer opportunities for software engineers. So if you slacked off a bit on the job hunt at the beginning of the year, no worries. Managed service providers and cloud service providers have posted new opportunities on our board.
NetClarity Pursues SMB Managed Security Services Market
Posted January 31st, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
NetClarity, the intrusion defense and network access control (NAC) company, has its eye on the U.S. SMB managed security service provider (MSSP) market. NetClarity Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Gary Miliefsky (pictured), described the company’s strategy in an interview with MSPmentor.
Rackspace Preps Remote Monitoring, Managed Services Business
Posted January 30th, 2012 by Joe Panettieri
Rackspace, the hosting and cloud services provider, is preparing to launch a remote monitoring service — which will apparently monitor customers’ on-premises servers. Andrew Schroepfer, VP of enterprise strategy at Rackspace, mentioned the potential managed services move during the CA Technologies MSP Symposium today in Miami, Fla.
MSPWorld Tackles Cloud Computing, Cloud Services, SLAs
Posted January 30th, 2012 by Joe Panettieri
When the MSPWorld conference kicks off this week (Feb. 1-3, Miami, Fla.), a healthy portion of the event content will focus on cloud computing and cloud services. That’s hardly surprising, considering nearly 60 percent of top MSPs now offer cloud and SaaS services to their customers, according to our fifth-annual MSPmentor 100 report. But what cloud trends will be on display at MSPWorld? Here are some guesses.
Sales Proposal and Quoting Software: Can You Compete Without it?
Posted January 30th, 2012 by Joe Panettieri
I’m now convinced that all IT service providers — MSPs, VARs, resellers — need quoting and sales proposals software. Ironically, I reached that conclusion while researching a potential home improvement project. Here’s the back story, and how it shaped my views back in the managed services providers.
SMB Accounts Payable: MSP Profit Opportunity?
Posted January 30th, 2012 by Dan Berthiaume
Accounts payable (AP) is one of the most basic processes every business undertakes. Plus, improvements in AP efficiency and cost can have a huge impact on a company’s bottom line — especially in the case of SMBs, which need to run at maximum efficiency just to stay competitive. Investments in AP efficiency can provide significant hard and soft ROI. Here’s where managed services providers (MSPs) can potentially assist SMBs.
SMB IT Spending Patterns Show MSPs the Way
Posted January 30th, 2012 by Dan Berthiaume
Small and midsize businesses can be a fickle bunch. Anyone who spends any time working with entrepreneurial businesses knows they tend to be extremely sensitive to market fluctuations and often dramatically change strategy and positioning with little advance notice. But what if MSPs could gain some insight into the kinds of IT investments SMBs are planning for the rest of 2012?
Roaring Penguin Anti-Spam Software Gains Error Detection
Posted January 30th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
Roaring Penguin, the anti-spam software company, has released a new version of its CanIt anti-spam solution. The upgrade includes a continued focus on the managed services provider (MSP) market.
Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Jan. 27
Posted January 27th, 2012 by Joe Panettieri
I’m packing my bags and heading to the CA Technologies MSP Symposium in a couple of days (Jan. 29-31, Miami, Fla). But before I head for the blogging exit, here are seven managed services blogs and MSP news stories the MSPmentor team didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending January 27, 2012.
2012: End of the World — Or End of the World As We Know It?
Posted January 27th, 2012 by PacketTrap MSP Guest Blog
For those of us that don’t think the world will end in December 2012, this month will bring about a time for Managed Service Providers to do some strategic planning, identifying business goals and outlining ways to accomplish company-wide initiatives. Technology seems to be evolving at an accelerated pace, bringing about both challenges and opportunities for MSPs. Since increasing revenue is likely a business goal for most companies, it’s important to think about ways to leverage IT environment changes in order to offer new services. To do so, let’s first evaluate two trends likely to impact every managed service provider.
ManageEngine Enhances Java Apps Monitoring and Management
Posted January 27th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
ManageEngine has kicked off 2012 with a flurry of announcements. This time, ManageEngine has released version 10.2 of the ManageEngine Applications Manager — a software solution designed to ensure that business servers and applications have high uptime.
CA AppLogic Gains Cloud Services Momentum With MSPs
Posted January 27th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
Novatrend is the latest hosting and managed services provider (MSP) to embrace CA Technologies’s AppLogic platform for cloud services. The news surfaces as roughly 100 MSPs prepare to attend CA Technologies’ MSP Symposium (Miami, Jan. 29-31). In recent months, a growing number of MSPs have embraced AppLogic. Here’s why.
Wavelink Expands Reporting for Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Posted January 27th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
Wavelink continues to bolster its real-time telecom expense management (TEM) solution, called Wavelink Avalance Telicost. Indeed, Wavelink has added reporting and usage capabilities to the platform. Now IT administrators and IT service providers can use the new features to monitor, analyze and manage data, voice, SMS and roaming usage on network-connected mobile devices.
Managed Video Services Acquisition: AVI-SPL Buys Iformata
Posted January 27th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
AVI-SPL, a video communications provider, has acquired Iformata Communications LLC, a managed video services provider. Under the terms of the deal, AVI-SPLwill take over Iformata’s Video Network Operations Center (VNOC) business and its VNOC Symphony management platform. Overall, AVI-SPL is adding a suite of end-to-end automation services that includes call setup, intelligent framing, automated monitoring and event correlation, as well as a new managed conferencing offering.
MSPs: Communicate Value and Stop Focusing On Price
Posted January 26th, 2012 by N-able Guest Blog
If a customer doesn’t see the business value in what you do, your services are expendable. It’s a harsh reality, but one that we all face. As an MSP, the challenge lies in communicating your customer value day-in and day-out. For most, promoting value at the front end of the sale to earn the customer’s business comes easy. But once the ink dries, many MSPs turn the focus to meeting the SLA (service level agreement) and recognizing the recurring revenue. The selling stops. The relationship is managed, but is the business still being earned and relationship nurtured?
NetIQ Releases Cloud Manager 2.0 for Managed Service Providers
Posted January 26th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
Attachmate’s NetIQ division, which develops management software, has released NetIQ Cloud Manager 2.o. NetIQ hopes MSPs will embrace the software to managed Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) more efficiently.
Small Businesses Crave Software Programmer Expertise
Posted January 26th, 2012 by Dan Berthiaume
The essence of all technology lies in coding, yet it has become an overlooked part of the IT management process. While crack coders were stars of the tech world in the 1980s and early 90s, by the mid-90s industry attention had shifted more toward whiz-bang end results and away from the lines of 0s and 1s that make those results happen. When coders do get attention, it is usually for the wrong reasons, such as major hacking attacks or systems failures.
Caringo Debuts CAStor 5.5 Object Storage Software Solution
Posted January 26th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
Caringo, the object storage software company, has released CAStor 5.5 — the newest version of its storage platform that can now support up to four terabytes of files.
Paessler PRTG 9.2 Monitoring Solution Supports VMware 5
Posted January 26th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
Paessler, the network monitoring software company, will soon release PRTG 9.2 — the newest version of its flagship monitoring solution for SMBs and enterprise businesses. The upgrade includes a Mobile Web GUI, speedier web page loading and support for VMware vSphere 5. The new version of Paessler’s PRTG monitoring solution is set to debut at Cisco Live London 2012 (Jan. 30 – Feb. 3). And when it does, Paessler says it will include over 400 improvements.
NetEnrich: A Closer Look at Closet to Cloud Strategy
Posted January 26th, 2012 by Charlene OHanlon
You may or may not have heard of NetEnrich’s “closet to cloud” approach to IT operations. But it’s a simple concept: NetEnrich has a solution for MSPs to effectively monitor their customers’ IT infrastructure no matter where it’s located — on premise or in the cloud. And NetEnrich CEO Raju Chekuri believes such flexibility is critical as MSPs increasingly deal with closet infrastructure, cloud infrastructure or a combination thereof.
Microsoft Windows Intune Cloud Momentum: The Real Deal?
Posted January 25th, 2012 by Joe Panettieri
And so it begins. Microsoft has started to promote noteworthy Windows Intune wins, describing how the cloud-based PC management and security service is helping small, midsize and large organizations. Key Windows Intune adopters, Microsoft notes, include Save the Children, geotzpartners and eLitigation Solutions (a managed services provider, by the way). The key question: Are those isolated Windows Intune wins, or is the Microsoft’s cloud service really gaining momentum?
