MSPmentor » EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)

Join Us Wednesday: Top 100 Managed Services Provider List

Joe Panettieri — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:06:35 +0000

The fifth-annual MSPmentor 100 — a list of the world’s top 100 managed services providers — will debut during a webcast this Wednesday, Feb. 15. Register now to join us. Here are some hints about what you’ll learn.

1. Managed Services Trends: How fast are the top managed services providers growing? And what services have they introduced? We’ve got the data.

2. The MSPmentor 100, Global Edition: We’ll unveil the complete list of MSPs, including managed services providers from North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and AANZ (Asia, Australia, New Zealand).

3. Analysis: Our confirmed guest experts will include:

Zack Schuler, President and CEO of Calnet Technology Group — an MSPmentor 100 company that has introduced cloud management services.
Tommy Wald, CEO, White Glove Technologies — an MSPmentor 100 company that has mastered mergers and acquisitions.
Jeannine Edwards, Director of Community, ConnectWise — providing perspectives from ConnectWise user groups worldwide.

Schuler, Wald and Edwards will answer your questions throughout the webcast. Note: ConnectWise is the webcast sponsor but the MSPmentor 100 report is vendor-independent research.

4. Deeper Details: Everyone who attends the MSPmentor 100 webcast will automatically receive our complete MSPmentor 100 report PDF — a 22 page document that highlights all of the key companies and trends within the managed services market.

Want more information? Register now for the Webcast. I look forward to unveiling this year’s top 100 managed services providers list on February 15.

StorageCraft Adds Incentives to European Partner Program

Nicholas Mukhar — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:00:59 +0000

StorageCraft, the backup and disaster recovery (BDR) software provider, has decided to update its European partner program to include new training tools and more opportunities for partners earn bonuses. Here’s the scoop on the development that StorageCraft’s European partners should welcome with open arms, as the company says its 2012 Partner Program is designed to help boost all partners’ profits this year.

To begin with, the new partner program is broken down into the following four levels, beginning with the lowest level partnership:

Standard StorageCraft Resellers (Entry Level)
StorageCraft STAR Certified Reseller
StorageCraft Engineer Certified Reseller
StorageCraft Advanced Engineer Certified Reseller

Standard resellers will be able to develop relationships with new business customers, activate storage licenses, manage customers and process renewals, all through the StorageCraft Business Class Portal. Second level partners — STAR Certified Resellers — essentially have the sample capabilities. The difference is, STAR Certified Partners have undergone a half day StorageCraft technical training course and pass an online test. The top two partners conduct on and off site BDR as a service. Level two partners and above have their own StorageCraft Account Managers, free telephone support, free NFR software and bonuses for reaching a customer turnover target.

Keep in mind, no partner is stuck at any one level. Standard resellers can move up by passing a technical test, and STAR resellers can move up by meeting profit margins. The company’s goal with its new European partner structure is the same goal it had in mind when it restructured its storage partner program into three tiers back in August, 2011: reward its best-performing partners, increase sales, and expand the use of its BDR software solution.

ManageEngine to Debut iOS MDM at Mobile World Congress

Nicholas Mukhar — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:10:00 +0000

ManagEngine, the IT management software provider owned by Zoho Corp., hopes to make some noise at Mobile World Congress (Feb. 27-March 1, Barcelona, Spain). Indeed, ManageEngine is set to debut its mobile device management (MDM) solution for Apple iOS (iPhone, iPad) devices at the event.

ManageEngine President Raj Sabhlok told me last week that the mobile device revolution had captured ManageEngine’s attention in a big way. And in a prepared statement on Feb. 7, Sabhlok predicted that tablet sales would “further entrench and complicate security, bandwidth use, and asset management in the enterprise.”

In response, ManageEngine is trying to help IT organizations manage the overwhelming number of mobile devices entering their networks, beginning with iOS devices. The company is extending its Desktop Central solution to mobile iOS devices, including security, asset and configuration management. ManageEngine also is extending its IT360 solution to the iPad, empowering MSPs and corporate IT administrators to manage IT infrastructures straight from the tablet. Lastly, ManageEngine will be unveiling a new user interface (UI) designed specifically for iPad users. The company plans to releases similar MDM solutions for other mobile operating systems, though no timetable has been given yet.

ManageEngine’s launch strategy seems sound. Think about it — there’s really no better place to launch an MDM solution than the World Mobile Congress, where companies will release scores of new smartphones and tablets, and MSPs and enterprise businesses will be looking for solutions to manage all of these new devices.

A growing number of MSP-centric software companies have introduced mobile device management capabilities. Two recent examples: Kaseya launched a mobile device management module in 2011, and Level Platforms is planning to offer MDM as part of its Managed Workplace 2012 launch.

Autotask Proclaims UK Momentum Following VARStreet Exit

Joe Panettieri — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:13:23 +0000

After quietly selling off its VARStreet business in December 2011, Autotask is putting the public spotlight back on its international push. The latest chatter: Autotask says 500 IT channel partner customers in the United Kingdom now use the company’s SaaS and cloud platform. Autotask’s timing and wording is worth noting. Here’s why.

When Mark Cattini arrived as Autotask CEO in December 2010, he gradually shifted the company’s messaging to emphasize the broader IT channel (rather than just MSPs), pure SaaS solutions, and an international push that depended heavily on the United Kingdom. In fact, Autotask’s UK staffing has grown from three people to more than 15 in roughly six months, the company claims.

The UK push doesn’t surprise MSPmentor. Of the top 50 MSPs across EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), 30 are located in the United Kingdom. (We’ll share more details about that data point when we unveil the fifth-annual MSPmentor 100 report on Feb. 15.)

Autotask, meanwhile, is now used by “thousands of IT service providers, value-added resellers (VARs) and managed services providers (MSPs) in 54 countries,” the company said today. Mark Banfield is leading Autotask’s international charge. Autotask is also playing up its pure SaaS focus, attempting to established a valuation multiple that’s closer to cloud companies rather than traditional software companies.

Of course, Autotask isn’t alone in its global push. ConnectWise has engaged user groups across the globe. I believe ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini is in Australia for user group meetings now. ConnectWise has both an on-premise and hosted version, though I don’t know the nitty-gritty architectural differences between the Autotask and ConnectWise approaches to hosting/SaaS.

Meanwhile, Autotask apparently experienced little — if any — fallout from its December 2011 decision to sell the VARStreet business back to VARStreet’s staff. The deal was announced just before the holidays, freeing Autotask to focus on its core business management SaaS platform. VARStreet helps VARs and MSPs to source and price IT products from a range of distributors and suppliers.

Zendesk Debuts 4th European Partner Program for Customer Referrals

Nicholas Mukhar — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:15:35 +0000

Zendesk has launched a European partner program to help help accelerate demand for the company’s customer service and help desk solutions.

Currently, Zendesk offers the following three types of European partner programs:

Zendesk Solution Partners who help businesses implement Zendesk software.
Zendesk Integration Partners who integrate Zendesk’s customer service software into their own managed services offerings.
Zendesk Incubator Partners who offer Zendesk Plus+ for free for one year to qualifying European start-up companies.

This newest Zendesk partner program — called Zendesk Ambassadors — gives a referral cash bonus to customers who bring additional business to Zendesk. They will also gain access to private Zendesk discussion forums and meet-ups with the Zendesk team. Zendesk Ambassador Program partners also have the chance to become Zendesk Authorized Partners and have access to even more benefits through the invite-only Authorized Partner program.

But Zendesk Ambassadors have to do more than bring repeated business through referrals to become Zendesk Authorized Partners. They have to provide Zendesk software end-users with professional services and training in order to help them use their customer service software in the most efficient way possible. Authorized partners will continue to receive cash bonuses for customer referrals just like regular Zendesk ambassadors. The difference is, Authorized partners will also get leads from Zendesk customers who are searching for professional services. So in the end, both Zendesk and the Authorized partner will gain new customers.

The software provider’s 4th European partner program comes six months after the company launched a new version of its customer service software — Zendesk Enterprise Plan — for enterprise businesses. This newest partner program based on customer referral is likely aimed at driving more enterprise business customers throughout Europe.

Photizo Group: Europe Will Be Largest MPS Market by 2013

Nicholas Mukhar — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:09:35 +0000

Just under a month after acquiring Lyra Research, the Photizo Group has released an update and roadmap research study on the European managed print services (MPS) sector. Among its most significant findings, the managed print services research and consulting firm predicts that the European MPS market will be the world’s largest MPS market, in terms of number of companies entering into MPS contracts, by 2013. Europe is already second only to the United States in overall MPS revenues.

In its published Research entitled 2011 European MPS Market Update and Roadmap, the Photizo Group estimates that approximately 5,000 brand new MPS contract opportunities will emerge this year for MPS solution providers to bid for. The Group also gave three specific reasons for why the European MPS market will grow so rapidly in 2012 and 2013.

The development of the MPS channel in Europe
Strong European outsourcing trends
European businesses are beginning to spend more money on IT solutions

The report goes on to say that the European market is, and will continue to, steer away from “traditional purchase models” and towards MPS. That, according to Photizo, will force manufacturers to adjust their business models to make up for the loss in revenue from traditional hardware solutions.

The study is line with MSPmentor’s prediction a few months back that Managed Document Services (MDS) would take center stage as far as the most in-demand managed service, along with mobile device management (MDM).

eXo 3.5 Multi-Tenancy Targets Cloud, Managed Service Providers

Nicholas Mukhar — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:43:01 +0000

eXo, which develops a content management system, has released eXo 3.5. The multi-tenancy platform could allow managed services providers (MSPs) and cloud services providers (CSPs) to offer customers dedicated portals for content and collaboration, social streams and services, and mobile access. eXo Founder and President Benjamin Mestrallet (pictured) described the strategy to me last week.

“Even though we released eXo 3.0 more recently, we’ve been working on this multi-tenancy feature for the last three years,” Mestrallet said. “It’s not something that can be created overnight.” The multi-tenancy capability in version 3.5 allows cloud service providers and MSPs to deploy the platform in either a public or private cloud environment. It’s a capability that, according to Mestrallet, eXo’s enterprise customers have been asking for.

eXo 3.5 also offers mobile support for Apple iOS and Google Android mobile devices. As a result, mobile users can interact with dashboards, activity streams and other platform capabilities.

eXo has introduced new collaboration tools — including support for Wikis, forums, polls, FAQs and shared calendars. Users can now store, share and organize documents, and integrate more advanced workflows into their existing environments by leveraging eXo 3.5′s enhanced content management features. The platform includes a new search engine optimization (SEO) feature and an inline editing feature so that customers can edit and publish content from the front-end more efficiently. And finally, 3.5 comes with integrated sample sites that customers can use as examples of how to leverage all of the new technology included in eXo UXPaaS 3.5.

Mestrallet said that eXo plans to leverage channel partners to double its enterprise customer base in 2012. eXo currently sells its solution in North America, Europe, Asia and South American.

Mestrallet did not rule out a potential SMB push. MSPs could be a doorway into that market, and Mestrallet hinted that eXo is working on some sort of solution for SMBs. He did not give specifics or a timetable for such a solution.

Webcast: Partner the Right Way on Cloud Backup

Joe Panettieri — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:23:56 +0000

Two top MSPs — Data Storage Corp. and Bumi (Backup My Info!) — and Asigra are set to share their secrets to cloud backup. Their guidance will surface during our Channel Expert Hour webcast on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Join in to learn how you can set your own cloud storage pricing, margins and service level agreements.

Indeed, our guests will describe how they set their own pricing, margins and service level agreements. Both Data Storage Corp. and BUMI partnered with Asigra to build the cloud storage businesses. Now you can learn from each of them. Our confirmed guest speakers include:

Matthew P. Grosso, executive VP, Data Storage Corp.
Jennifer Walzer, CEO, BUMI (Backup My Info! Inc.)
Eran Farajun, Executive VP, Asigra

Sales Proposal and Quoting Software: Can You Compete Without it?

Joe Panettieri — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:49:39 +0000

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.

My wife and I have spent the past few weeks meeting with home improvement contractors and Home Depot. We may — or may not — remodel our aging kitchen. We’re still weighing the potential project “components” and costs. Call me crazy, but the process reminds me of a potential sales engagement in the managed services market.

Consider these three scenarios:

1. Contractor one is well-spoken and comes with numerous references. His work for some of our neighbors is stellar and he has incredible vision for how our kitchen could be remodeled. But we’ve met this contractor twice and we’ve asked him — multiple times — for a project estimate. He originally told us the sales quote would arrive in two weeks. It has been a month. We’ve yet to see an estimate from him.

2. Contractor two has a well-regarded team — rip-and-replace specialists, plumbers, electricians. We suspect he could handle the entire job. He’s a project manager of sorts and extremely personable, spending considerable time on-site making sure home renovations meet customer expectations. Here again, we’ve asked multiple times for a job quote but we’ve yet to receive one.

3. Contractor three is a tag-team involving Home Depot and a local contractor that is part of Home Depot’s outsourced “service provider” network (no joke). Here’s where things get really interesting:

Home Depot has essentially given us 20 hours of free in-store consulting. A Home Depot employee has sat with us two or three hours per weekend, designing kitchen layouts and then using the layout software to generate a real-time price quote for all the “hardware” (cabinets, etc.). Each time we change a cabinet or a design point, the sales quote is updated dynamically — in real time.
The local contractor, potentially working in combination with Home Depot, visited our house with a laptop. Using (1) our kitchen dimensions, plus (2) some custom requests (from us) plus (3) the Home Depot “hardware” quote, the contractor was able to generate a price quote for us during his first visit to our house. The quote covers installation services.

Also of note: We don’t have any “personal’ experience or “personal” references yet from Home Depot and the contractor, but we’re impressed by what we’ve seen so far. If we work with Home Depot and the associated contractor, all of the cabinet installation would be guaranteed for 25 years. And, the Home Depot service provider network leverages some sort of customer survey — making sure contractors have at least a 90-plus percent approval rating to stay in the service provider network.

Information Technology Projects and Managed Services

Now, apply our home improvement example to the managed services market. As Big Box retailers (Best Buy, Staples, etc.) continue to push into managed services, you can imagine the Home Depot price quoting model taking hold.

First, Best Buy can offer some basic hardware quoting services to small businesses — generating on-the-fly cost estimates for a 25-node small business network running email, for instance. Next, perhaps mindSHIFT — Best Buy’s managed services arm — could further customize the quote to blend in managed services and cloud services.

Get Moving

Where does that hypothetical scenario leave independent MSPs, VARs and IT resellers? The short answer: To compete with the big guys and with entrenched MSP rivals, you’ve got to generate accurate, comprehensive price quotes far more rapidly. It’s not enough to sit down with a customer, offer sound advice and great customer references. You need to follow-up rapidly and seal the deal with a compelling proposal.

That’s where sales proposal and price quoting software enter the picture. Two of the best-known options are Quosal and QuoteWerks. I’ve also heard some buzz about BigMachines, CIS QuoteBuilder, CNet ChannelOnline, QwikQuote and VARStreet (which Autotask recently sold back to VARStreet’s employees).

I wonder: How many incomplete sales proposals are sitting on your desk? And how many of your customers are choosing alternative IT service providers simply because they received a timely price quote?

Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Jan. 27

Joe Panettieri — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:14:29 +0000

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.

7. Congrats, Rob Leon: The grapevine former Spam Soap insider Rob Leon is joining KnowledgeCentrix, effective January 30. Leon spent considerable time educating me about the inner workings of MSPs just as MSPmentor was getting off the ground.

6. Coming Soon: I think it’s a safe to say Continuum (formerly Zenith RMM) is really close to launching Continuum Vault, a BDR solution co-developed with Datto, the storage company. Datto referred launch timing questions over to Continuum. And now I’m playing email-tag with the Continuum team to pinpoint the potential launch day…

5. Speaking of Datto: I spoke with CEO Austin McChord a week ago. I got a little distracted this week writing the MSPmentor 100 report (see item 1 below) but I still have some intriguing notes from the McChord conversation. Hopefully, I’ll work it into a blog the week of Jan. 30.

4. Another PSA Player?: Promys claims to be a PSA (professional services automation) player that delivers what Autotask and VARStreet failed to be: A single solution to handle professional services and IT equipment. (Autotask continues strong in the PSA market, but sold off VARStreet to VARStreet’s employees in late December 2011.) Promys serves larger IT shops (typically 40+ employees) that work on larger IT engagements, according to Director of Business Development Jim Barnet. I’m poking around for more details.

3. The Man Down Under: Annitel‘s Tim Brewer — one of the top MSP leaders in Australia — seems to have a plan to take on one of his nation’s largest telecom providers. Annitel’s managed services strategy apparently involves voice — at least over the long haul. How’s that? More thoughts soon…

2. Really?: Private equity firm threatened to walk out on an MSP relationship because three customer contract signatures seemed to be forged. The alleged discrepancy surfaced during an annual audit of the MSP. If anyone wants to go on the record, I’m listening. In the meantime file this under “loud rumor.”

1. MSPmentor 100 Details: The fifth-annual MSPmentor 100 report is coming February 15. Plus, we’ve got some bonus materials for you this year. The entire report is now written and being fact-checked. It includes:

The MSPmentor 100, Global Edition
The MSPmentor 200, North America Edition
The MSPmentor 50, EMEA Edition for Europe, Middle East and Africa
The MSPmentor 25, AANZ Edition for Asia, Australia, New Zealand
Plus: We’ll look at up-and-coming MSPs in Central and South America
And special honors to MSPs that made the most hires in 2011

We hope you enjoy the data and analysis when the fifth-annual MSPmentor report surfaces Feb. 15, 2012.

MSPmentor » EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)

Join Us Wednesday: Top 100 Managed Services Provider List

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Sales Proposal and Quoting Software: Can You Compete Without it?

Information Technology Projects and Managed Services

Get Moving

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Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Jan. 27

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