MSPmentor

LPI Level Platforms Inc. says it has enhanced and simplified its partner program to help managed service providers (MSPs) go to market more quickly and effectively.

In some ways, I think Level Platforms’ announcement represents an inflection point for the managed services industry. The early mover stage is over, with many solutions providers succeeding (check out our MSPmentor 100 list) but others failing to cash in on managed services. Going forward, the challenge is to make sure new MSPs don’t repeat the mistakes of first-generation MSPs.

With that thought in mind, Level Platforms is documenting information from its most successful MSPs, and then sharing that content with aspiring managed service providers. Here’s a bit more on the strategy.
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When it comes to managed services partnerships, Tech Data’s strategy can be summed up in four words: The more the merrier. The big distributor has inked an MSP platform partnership with Zenith Infotech. The deal comes only a few weeks after Tech Data partnered to offer managed print services.

So far, 2008 is shaping up to be the year that distributors solidified key partnerships and programs across the managed services market. All of the major players — Arrow, Avnet, Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Synnex, etc. — are making MSP-related moves.

And for good reason. While some skeptics worry about managed services becoming a commodity, MSPmentor anticipates a different market scenario: As VARs continue to embrace managed services platforms, they will begin to layer on new, higher-margin services such as video surveillance and unified communications. For a peek at these emerging services, check out MSPmentor’s Managed Services Hype Cycle, which is based on Gartner’s classic technology hype cycle curve.

Or, continue along with this blog post for more on the Tech Data-Zenith Infotech relationship. 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 >

For the second time in a week, I’m hearing buzz about managed service providers working more closely with Amazon.com’s Simple Storage Service (also known as Amazon S3). For MSPs, the trick is embracing a reliable back-end storage service without mitigating your own brand in the market. Read More >

It wasn’t long ago that adopting managed services was a considered to be a pretty scary proposition. You had to build a NOC (whatever a NOC is – but we will leave that to another discussion), spend $50,000 (U.S. dollars) or more on software, turn your business upside down (or go out of business in case you missed the point!), move from low-risk time and materials to high-risk fixed price billing, replace most of your sales team and technicians and of course obey the obligatory command to “fire your customers” that enjoyed the old way of doing business with you.

Fortunately the meaning of “managed services” has changed, and changed for the better. Here’s how. Read More >

Roughly 90 percent of companies don’t know what they’re spending on printing, according to Kenneth D. Winters, a business advisor for Xerox’s North American Partners Group. To help VARs and customers quantify and better manage those costs, Xerox continues to evangelize its PagePack managed printer service.

The latest pitch occurred earlier today near Philadelphia, during a VAR luncheon hosted by Do IT Smarter (a member of our MSPmentor 100), Xerox and MX Logic.

PagePack, for those who haven’t heard the Xerox pitch, allows VARs to remotely monitor and manage customers’ printer infrastructure — hardware, software and consumables. And PagePack can deliver 20 percent to 60 percent or more recurring profit margin to partners, according to Winters. Over 36 months, a $22,800 printer hardware deployment can generate roughly $221,400 in managed services revenue, according to one scenario shared by Winters.

Whether you work with Xerox or another printer provider, there are some proven methods for entering the managed printer market. During an earlier luncheon hosted in Boston, Xerox and Do IT Smarter outlined seven key steps to promoting managed print services.

Generally speaking, Xerox partners I’ve spoken with given PagePack good grades. And Xerox’s latest quarterly financial results indicate that the company’s transition to services-led engagements continues to gain momentum.

I’ve got to admit, I was a bit skeptical about managed print services in mid-2007. Are managed service providers really interested? Do customers truly understand hardware as a service? After watching and reporting on this market over the past six months, I think managed print services are for real, with heavy hitters like Tech Data and Xerox aggressively promoting managed hardware services. Read More >

Gavin Garbutt, CEO of N-able Technologies, is on a role. Last week, he strolled around N-able’s Ottawa offices displaying an award from Deloitte, ranking N-able among the 500 fastest growing companies in North America. Now, he’s been named the first executive member of the MSP Alliance’s (MSPA) new Vendor Advisory Board. But what does the working relationship between N-able and MSP Alliance mean to other platform providers? Read More >