MSPmentor

Google did it with Gmail and Buzz to a resounding silence. Now Microsoft is integrating the upcoming Outlook 2010 with the social network by way of the Outlook Social Connector, now available in beta. Rather than building their own social network, Microsoft is partnering with market leaders like LinkedIn. Here’s the scoop.

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The cat is out of the bag. After several weeks of rumors, Autotask has confirmed plans to build a special edition of its software for Cisco Systems’ channel partners. Here’s the scoop.

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Microsoft plans to ship a Windows 7 release candidate this May, and Mary Jo Foley (the top blogger following Microsoft) suspects the completed Windows 7 will debut in the third calendar quarter of 2009. But I wonder: Will Windows Vista’s successor drive new revenue opportunities for managed service providers? Or are Windows upgrades now ho-hum events for MSPs and VARs alike?

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Microsoft — following Apple’s lead once again — appears ready to launch its own retail stores. Plenty of pundits are expressing skepticism about the strategy. But our sister site, The VAR Guy, points out five reasons the stores could actually succeed.

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How can a managed service provider differentiate itself from Microsoft’s own hosted Exchange Server offering? Azaleos, an MSP in Seattle, has found one potential answer. The company has launched security services to safeguard its Exchange email customers. Here’s some background.

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Microsoft is spending considerable time this week talking up Forefront “Stirling,” a suite of integrated security products for desktop, server and network management. Although Stirling won’t arrive until the first half of 2009, I wonder if it will evolve to become a managed security service platform. 

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mindSHIFT, a managed service provider, is pushing deeper into the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market. The company has acquired Collaboration Online, which specializes in hosted Microsoft applications.

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Each time I chat with a VAR or solutions provider, the topic of Microsoft SharePoint seems to pop into the conversation. Channel players are having great success deploying SharePoint for their customers. It begs the question: Will SharePoint emerge as a managed service as well? I believe so, but what’s your take?

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Bill Gates today is expected to announce that Microsoft plans to offer software as a service to businesses of all sizes, as part of a branded effort called Microsoft Online Services.

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As Microsoft launches Windows Server 2008, I’ve noticed a rather interesting market dichotomy: Traditional, mainstream server application providers (BEA Systems, IBM, Oracle, etc.) are falling all over each other to vow support for the new operating system. But managed service platform providers aren’t saying much about Microsoft’s latest server release. Here’s why.

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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.

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How do you get readers hooked on free services, and then transform them into paying customers? Plenty of Web companies have tried — and failed — to do exactly that. But Google has made two interesting moves in the managed services market that could attract dollars from consumers and small businesses.

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Independent software vendors (ISVs) have always been the lifeblood of Microsoft’s business. But these days, Microsoft is maintaining a careful balancing act — promoting software as a service (SaaS) directly to customers while also recruiting managed service providers to assist the effort.

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During a mid-2007 phone chat with Autotask CEO Bob Godgart, I asked him which managed services-oriented companies he watches most closely. His immediate reply: Google. Fast forward to the present, and it’s clear why Godgart and the rest of the managed services industry keeps close tabs on the search engine giant.

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While the mainstream media focuses on Microsoft-Yahoo today, I’d like to drill down into a rather interesting trend involving Microsoft, managed services and SaaS (software as a service). Seems like Microsoft Dynamics, the company’s ERP offering, is emerging as a platform for managed service providers to potentially host and offer to customers. Here’s why.

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Byte and Switch, a web site that covers storage and networking, offers interesting perspective on recent acquisitions at IBM and Seagate. The IBM deal (acquiring Arsenal Digital) and Seagate’s move (buying MetaLINCS) both have strong managed services angles, according to the site. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

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So, you’re thinking about offering managed hardware as part of a monthly service contract. Before you make the move, consider this: Perhaps it’s time to take a close look at open source desktops (particularly Ubuntu Linux running OpenOffice) as an option for your customers. Here’s why.

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For many managed service providers, hosted email represents a first foray into software as a service (SaaS). But email is a commodity these days — a nice, basic offering that pays decent dividends but won’t make you rich. If you’re looking for growing SaaS opportunities, it might be time to embrace hosted CRM (customer relationship management) or business intelligence. Here’s why.

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Forgive me if I’m a little confused. I’ve read a ton about Microsoft Office Live and Office Online over the past year. Sometimes, it’s a little tricky to understand exactly how Microsoft’s managed services and SaaS (software as a service) offerings are positioned. But the answer is finally emerging.

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