MSPmentor

It’s great to know you’re competing in a growing market, but sometimes big-picture hype can distract you from regional and local opportunities.

A prime example: The worldwide managed security market will exceed $4.8 billion by 2013, predicts Global Industry Analysts Inc. Impressive, but the report focuses mainly on Fortune 500-type organizations (AT&T, Cisco Systems, etc.) and their managed security services for massive customers. 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 >

If you want to promote your managed service into a vertical market, steal a page from Third Brigade’s playbook. The company, which offers security solutions to managed service providers, is making some PR noise at this week’s huge HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) conference in Orlando.

Third Brigade says it is partnering with Concordant, Inc., to offer Electronic Health Records (EHR) infrastructures for physician organizations and ambulatory practices.

The bigger message for MSPs, however, is that you can generate considerable PR noise in specific vertical markets. The trick is to latch onto major industry events — even if you don’t have the budget or trade show resources to actually attend the event. Here’s how. Read More >

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 >

Some pundits say managed services will become a commodity. I disagree. Managed services are not a single technology. Rather, managed service provider (MSP) platforms are a way to continually deliver new solutions to customers.

Think of it this way: As one managed service matures (for instance, managed storage) a new managed service will emerge (for instance, video surveillance). In order to show this visually, let’s take a look at Gartner’s famed Hype Cycle chart.

Now stick with me, and I’l quickly explain how I see the MSP market evolving.

Read More >

In less than a year, Dell has made three key acquisitions to pump up its managed services and software as a service (SaaS) business. The latest acquisition involves MessageOne, which specializes in email continuity, compliance and archiving as a managed service. Here’s the scoop, and the bigger picture on Dell’s managed services push. 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 >

I’ve read research from firms like Aberdeen Group, Gartner and International Data Corp. for more than a decade. Sometimes I’m impressed. Sometimes I read information that affirms what I already know. But on some occasions, I see data that sounds like thinly veiled vendor messaging.

A case in point: Aberdeen has issued a report stating that “All best-in class companies leverage managed security services to bolster defenses.” As the editorial director of MSPmentor, I’m certainly bullish about managed security services. But anytime you hear a research firm say “everybody is doing it,” you should proceed with caution. Read More >