MSPmentor

After a year of anticipation, Symantec finally launched its managed service/software-as-a-service platform today. The Symantec Protection Network (SPN) initially supports storage services, with security services expected to arrive later this year or sometime in 2009.

Right out of the gate, SPN offers close integration with Symantec Backup Exec. That’s an important point: Hooks between SPN and Backup Exec could provide VARs and MSPs with a powerful one-two punch in the managed services market. Here’s why. Read More >

For the second time in a week, I’m hearing buzz about managed service providers working more closely with Amazon.com’s Simple Storage Service (also known as Amazon S3). For MSPs, the trick is embracing a reliable back-end storage service without mitigating your own brand in the market. Read More >

If I was managed service provider, I’d target a market niche real fast and dig real deep. Or I’d go broad really fast by offering a lengthly list of managed services. The reason: Big technology companies are realizing that can no longer afford to ignore the MSP and software-as-a-service (SaaS) markets.

EMC and SAP, for instance, are discussing a potential relationship that could allow EMC to host SAP applications for small businesses. The discussions have surfaced only a few weeks after EMC unveiled a SaaS-based storage service.

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Big companies — EMC, and soon Symantec — are making big moves into the managed services market. But Vembu Technologies of Chennai (Madras), India, has quietly built a global managed storage business of its own.

More than 550 partners now use StorGrid, Vembu’s backup and storage solution. And Vembu is seeking to push its global partner network to more than 1,000 companies, according to Lakshmanan Narayan, president of Vembu. Read More >

From EMC to Symantec, storage companies want their piece of the managed services pie. Toward that end, EMC is launching a software-as-a-service platform that allows customers to backup their information to EMC data centers. Meanwhile, Symantec is putting the final touches on its Symantec Protection Network — which will allow VARs to offer storage management services to their customers.

For managed service providers, the race is on to find a storage service that complements their existing platforms and sales strategies. Companies such as Symantec and Vembu have vowed to promote their managed storage services through channel partners, while direct sales veterans such as EMC still receive a healthy dose of skepticism from potential partners. Read More >