MSPmentor

At the CharTec Academy conference, CEO Alex Rogers updated me on the HaaS specialist’s new partner sales and marketing strategies. In a nutshell — if you don’t have the expertise or time to hire a dedicated sales rep or run a marketing campaign, CharTec wants to do it for you. Why? Because MSPs have the technical expertise to thrive — but not always the business acumen. Here are some highlights of our discussion.

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LevelCloud, a Corona, Calif.-based cloud and managed services company, has embraced OS33 as its platform for IT automation. LevelCloud has branded its services as “IT Anytime, Anywhere.” Here’s some background on the strategy.

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During a keynote at Autotask Community Live this morning, best-selling author Jackie Freiberg delivered a familiar theme to MSPs and VARs. Her key message: Build your brand to differentiate from the competition. The ultimate goal: If you were to close your business tomorrow, customers should miss you.

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Apptix , an MSPmentor 100 company, continues to pitch a familiar story with regular quarterly updates. The high-level pitch goes something like this: Apptix, a hosted Exchange specialist, began to refine and refocus its business when CEO Dave Ehrhardt arrived in 2008. At the time, Apptix was a hodgepodge of acquired brands and platforms. Today, Apptix seems to be keenly focused on key vertical markets that need hosted unified communications solutions. Here’s why.

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At first glance, NIU Solutions is a roll-up, formed through the acquisitions of  Pasporte, Ipitomi Solutions, Telinet LTD and Evolution Voice and Data LTD. The resulting company had more than 200 employees and 4,000 IT customers in the U.K. But just under a year ago NIU Solutions noticed the market was sharply shifting toward cloud computing and fully managed service solutions. So NIU made a decision to shift with the ebb and flow of the IT sector, focusing instead on 200 core customers. Here’s how.

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The Launch Pad is seeking VARs and MSPs to become managed services franchises. The company, based in Tampa, Fla., is leveraging ConnectWise, QuoteWerks, Zenith Infotech and other managed services platforms to help franchise MSPs promote “business in a box” solutions to SMB customers. We’re intrigued but we’re also curious about the larger question: Are managed services franchises taking off in North America? Here’s some perspective.

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GFI Software is continuing to create ripples through the managed services software market. The latest examples include hiring Tech Data veteran Jarred LeFebvre and recently launching the GFI Max MailArchive service. Those efforts follow the February 2010 hiring of Channel Chief Pat Hume (an SAP veteran). Here’s a closer look at each step, and the bigger picture at GFI.

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First, let’s state the obvious: Some managed services providers (MSPs) & VARs face branding challenges. Sometimes, corporate names don’t stand the test of time. Examples include legacy resellers that used “PC” or “Microcomputer” in their names, only to see the market shift to client-server, the Internet, and now managed cloud services. In some cases, MSPs break with the past and embrace a new corporate name. That’s the case at SSI Solutions, which is now F12 Networks Inc. Here’s what drove the branding change.

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The last time MSPmentor spoke at length with Mike Cooch, he was busy selling his managed services business (Everon Technology Services) to PlumChoice. But Cooch, a serial entrepreneur, always seems to have multiple irons in the fire. We were curious to know how his other business, Kutenda, has been evolving to support marketing and lead generation for MSPs. During a discussion with Cooch this week, he revealed that Kutenda is preparing to push into new verticals. Here’s the update.

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It’s been roughly three months since ClearPointe acquired Do IT Smarter, a well-known Master MSP. We decided to check back in with Do IT Smarter’s Lane Smith (pictured) to get some perspective on (A) how he built Do IT Smarter and (B) key lessons learned from the M&A process. Here’s the update.

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LabtechCloud, an independent company that hosts Labtech software for MSPs, has changed its name to TechlabCloud. The move should help to eliminate potential branding confusion between Labtech (the software company) and the former LabtechCloud (an independent hosting partner). Here’s the update.

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The managed services gold rush has created a cottage industry of consultants and organizations that are assisting MSPs with marketing, sales, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic business tasks. Three recent examples include MSPexcellence, MSPXchange and Ulistic’s MSP Marketing initiative. Here’s a closer look at each organization and its backers, plus a broader update on the coaches and pundits assisting MSPs with their business efforts.

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How green can you get? Apparently, Consonus, which provides data center hosting, has achieved the coveted rank and highest honor for energy efficiency: The EPA’s Energy Star. Congrats. So what’s all this hype about? And will more MSPs pursue the Energy Star rating? Read on for details…

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Our next MSPmentor Live Webcast is this Wednesday, June 23. Three top MSPs plus ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini are prepared to discuss seven ways you can triple your recurring revenue. Also, it sounds to me like the guest MSPs will describe why they are abandoning per-device pricing. Here are some more clues about what we’ll cover.

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Ulistic, a social media consulting firm, is partnering with JoomConnect to promote online marketing services for ConnectWise MSPs (managed services providers). Here are some preliminary details about the effort.

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The rumors are back: After beta testing some managed print services with partners in 2009, Dell might be ready to officially enter the managed print services market. There’s nothing 100% official yet, but there’s plenty of chatter in the market. Here’s the update.

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Question: If you’re a managed service provider that resells laptops and other hardware to your customer base, how do you promote your company brand over the hardware maker’s brand? The answer comes from MJ Shoer, president of Jenaly Technology Group, a managed service provider in New Hampshire.

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I was watching CNBC over the weekend. A special business report explored how Phil Knight built the Nike empire. Ever wonder where that famous “Swoosh” logo came from? The answer involves a low-cost graphic design student from Portland State University. It’s a rather intriguing story, especially for MSPs that need to work on their branding.

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A new wave of optimism is building across the managed services market. Executives from Nimsoft, N-able and other software providers are making upbeat statements about 2010. I certainly agree with the core thesis — many MSPs are going to benefit from an improving economy. But I will repeat a familiar theme around MSPmentor: The rising economic tide won’t lift all MSP boats. Here’s why.

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By now, you’ve likely read the top managed services blog entries from Q1, Q2 and Q3 of 2009. Now, let’s look at the stories and chatter that generated the most MSPmentor readership in Q4 2009…

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Today is a delicate day for Dell’s PartnerDirect channel program. The technology giant is carefully rolling out a new effort called ProManage-Managed Services. On the upside, Dell has designed the program to include VARs that want to get started in managed services. But on the downside, some critics will consider this Dell’s attempt to sell all managed services directly — on a nationwide (US) basis — to small and midsize businesses. Before you listen to the alarmists, here are the facts, and my own perspectives.

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As Microsoft launches Windows Server 2008, I’ve noticed a rather interesting market dichotomy: Traditional, mainstream server application providers (BEA Systems, IBM, Oracle, etc.) are falling all over each other to vow support for the new operating system. But managed service platform providers aren’t saying much about Microsoft’s latest server release. Here’s why.

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As we put the finishing touches on the MSPmentor 100 research report, we noticed several clear business and technology trends. One of them involves marketing and branding. The most successful managed service providers, in fact, leverage successful marketing and branding strategies to build their businesses. Here are five examples of MSP branding and marketing done right.

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