MSPmentor

The Cisco Partner Exchange, a new Web destination from Cisco Systems, is designed to help managed service providers and other solutions providers to find and work with one another.

I have to admit: I often doubt that MSPs and channel partners want to work together, for fear of losing account control. But perhaps it’s time for me and skeptical MSPs to keep an open mind: For the typical Cisco channel partner, roughly 31 percent of revenue comes from peer partners, Cisco estimates.

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Economic concerns continue in the US, but some clear IT spending trends are beginning to surface. If you look at recent financial results from networking companies, PC companies, software specialists and service providers, you can get a better feel for how to shape your managed services practice for the rest of 2008. Read More >

Digital signage: At first, it was considered a hardware opportunity for VARs. But a second look reveals that it’s a recurring revenue and software-as-a-service (SaaS) opportunity for managed service providers.

MSPmentor said exactly that on February 6. Now comes word that Ingram Micro, the massive distributor, plans to offer a digital signage SaaS solution from BroadSign to more than 35,000 VARs across the U.S. and Canada.

Similarly, Cisco is helping partners to master new opportunities in digital signage.

It’s not called a managed services program. And it’s not hyped as a recurring revenue effort. But Cisco Systems’ latest pricing plan in the unified communications market is something that may interest managed service providers. The networking giant has introduced “per-user-per-day pricing” to help channel partners accelerate their unified communication sales to small and midsize businesses. Read More >

As video moves onto IP networks, managed service providers are exploring new opportunities in TelePresence — the next-generation video conferencing systems that bring distant parties together into a single virtual conference room. Here’s how TelePresence and managed services will converge in 2008 and beyond. Read More >

As managed services converges with unified communications, partners are speed-dialing Cisco Systems for help. The networking giant launched a managed services partner program last fall, and plenty of MSPs have taken the Cisco plunge. Still, many of Cisco’s rivals are taking a wait-and-see approach to the MSP industry. Read More >

In addition to running content for MSPmentor and The VAR Guy, I blog about Cisco and unified communications for NetWorldWorld (see Joe’s Eye on Cisco). While surfing across the NetworkWorld site today, I spotted this timely podcast about “Living in a SaaS World.” You ‘ll notice that it features Jeff Kaplan of ThinkStrategies. Kaplan is pretty prolific in all things SaaS (software as a service) and managed services.

The retail sector is converging with the managed services sector this week. At the National Retail Federation show in New York, a savvy solutions provider has launched a managed broadband service that promises to modernize retail IT infrastructure. Here’s a look at the solution, and the managed service provider (MSP) behind it. Read More >