MSPmentor

While MSPmentor strives to be the most timely voice of managed service providers, several managed services blogs are popping up on the radar. Some are from vendors. Others are from distributors. A few are from MSPs themselves. Here’s a quick look at six MSP-oriented blogs we’re reading. Read More >

There’s nothing like healthy competition to keep a market growing globally. In recent days, managed service platform providers have been busy leapfrogging each other with new announcements about their international efforts and milestones.

Here’s a sampling of the blow-by-blow involving Kaseya, Level Platforms and N-able. Read More >

The vast majority of successful MSPs say they now offer managed storage services. In most cases, I suspect, those services involve basic backup and restore capabilities. Still, a growing number of industry partnerships could help you leap from “backup” services to “contingency planning” services, which are far more strategic.

A case in point: N-able Technologies and Iron Mountain have inked a partnership that could empower managed service providers with Iron Mountain’s LiveVault server backup service. The relationship comes only a few weeks after EMC and Symantec each said they were launching managed storage services for VARs and customers.

More than 70 percent of leading MSPs already offer some form of managed storage, according to our recent MSPmentor 100 report. In order to stand out from the crowd, a growing number of MSPs are coupling automated storage management with on-site contingency planning and other services. Read More >

I’ve heard the hype about managed services in Australia. So I decided to reach out for some more information. I wanted to learn how MSP trends in Australia differed from those in the U.S. Scott Jones, general manager and owner of IT Leaders, an Australian solution provider that has more than 1,000 small and midsize customers, answered my call for perspective.

Here are Jones’ thoughts on Australia’s emerging MSP market, and some background on why he chose N-able’s managed services platform. Read More >

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 >

The managed services ecosystem continues to mature rapidly, as platform providers and software-as-a-service (SaaS) specialists ink new partnerships that extend their respective offerings. The latest case in point: Online backup specialist CompuVault Inc. is now a certified vendor for Level Platforms’ MSP offering. Here’s how the deal fits into the larger MSP picture. Read More >

Instead of kicking back and relaxing for the holidays, managed service providers and integrators continue to discuss mergers, acquisitions and other potential business combinations. Two deals were announced on Jan. 2, and more are coming. Read More >

The spirit of former Novell CEO Ray Noorda lives on in the managed services market. In the late 1980s, Noorda coined the term “coopetition” — which described rival technology companies that competed but also cooperated to grow a market.

Such is the case in the managed services sector. In recent weeks, both the MSP Alliance and MSP Partners have formed vendor advisory panels to help grow the overall market. The advisory boards will, in some cases, feature representatives from rival companies looking across the table from one another. Consider these recent moves: Read More >