MSPmentor

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 >

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.

N-able, the managed service platform provider, is looking to make a splash in Australia. Smart move. A few weeks ago, MSPmentor described how the managed services market is growing more than 20 percent annually in Australia. And N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt (pictured) estimates that there are nearly 2 million small and midsize businesses in Australia, providing fertile ground for managed service providers. Here’s how N-able — and some of its rivals — hope to grow that market.

Read More >

If you’re still skeptical about managed services and software as a service (SaaS), spend a day at Long Island’s Hofstra University. Roughly 13,000 Hofstra students have access to Google Apps Education Edition to collaborate online, according to Robert W. Juckiewicz, Hofstra’s VP of IT.

The university’s ongoing experience with SaaS — and Hofstra’s future goals — provide some clear hints about how the corporate software market may evolve.

Nobody is predicting the death of Microsoft Office, but it’s clear from case studies like Hofstra that Google Apps and Microsoft’s desktop productivity suite are on a long-term collision course.

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 >

Logicworks, a managed service provider in New York, has made a rather interesting move that other MSPs should note: The company claims it is the first authorized MySQL Platinum Hosting Partner in the U.S.

Smart move. MySQL is the open source database recently acquired by Sun Microsystems for $1 billion. It is, in my estimation, one of the top 10 open source technologies VARs should be watching — or embracing — this year. Read More >

Got a technical or business question about managed services? MSPmentor has developed a fast way to help you out. Several dozen MSPmentor readers have used our Ask a Mentor service to find answers to their most pressing managed services questions.

We launched the Ask a Mentor service when the redesigned MSPmentor.net debuted January 2. Early on, we hit a few bumps as a few readers waited a bit too long for help from our mentors. But now we seem to be hitting our stride. Read More >