MSPmentor

The same day Microsoft announced its software as a service (SaaS) strategy, some managed service providers are putting their own spin on the hosted Exchange market.

For instance, Azaleos announced a flat-fee offer for midsize companies (up to 1,000 users) seeking to migrate Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise and Pre-2007 Exchange environments to its managed OneStop service.

Aspiring MSPs and established Microsoft partners can learn several key things from the Azaleos strategy. Read More >

Competition drives innovation. A case in point: Because the PC market is now wide-open to competition (Windows, Mac OS, Linux), managed service platform providers are working overtime to support customer choice. Kaseya’s latest platform release, for instance, embraces Intel vPro technology and Mac OS X. Going broad with Intel support and deep with Mac OS X support creates some compelling opportunities for MSPs. Here’s why. Read More >

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 >

Several dozen VARs are heading to a managed services luncheon today in New York, where they’ll learn about best practices for hardware as a service (HaaS), managed printing and managed security.

I’ve attended a few of these luncheons, which are hosted by Do IT Smarter, MX Logic and Xerox. At some point during today’s event, an attendee will surely ask that magic question: What’s the difference between HaaS and good old leasing? 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.

When MSPmentor first wrote about revenue opportunities in digital signage, some managed service providers expressed skepticism. Frankly, we’re feeling a little vindicated today — based on Cisco Systems’ digital signage initiative. Here’s the scoop. Read More >

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 >

TelePresence, the next-generation video conferencing technology, is slowly catching on with big customers. But it could be a few more years before TelePresence becomes a mainstream opportunity for managed service providers. First, the good news: Hewlett-Packard says its Halo video conferencing deployments have been doubling annually since the product’s launch in 2005, according to Reuters. And as new TelePresence systems go in, customers will need managed service providers to deliver related bandwidth optimization services.

Now, for the reality check. Read More >