MSPmentor

Generally speaking, managed service providers are less dependent on IT vendors than traditional VARs, according to Larry Kesslin, president of 4 Profit, a consulting firm to channel companies. Kesslin shared the observation during Cisco Velocity, a marketing summit for about 200 Cisco partners this week in Miami. Read More >

Circle the date: Dell is inviting partners and MSPs to participate in a major channel briefing on December 5. During the teleconference, Greg Davis, VP and GM of Dell’s Americas Channel Group, will discuss Dell’s long-term vision for working with partners, and he’ll announce Dell’s latest channel plans. The call runs 1:15 to 2:15pm eastern. You can join in by visiting here. Read More >

Circle November 29 and December 5 on your calendars. During those days, respectively, Dell will announce quarterly results as well as its new channel initiatives. Both events should provide important clues about Dell’s managed services strategy. Read More >

As you likely heard, Dell is acquiring Everdream, the software-as-a-service and managed service platform provider. I firmly believe this will be part of a growing trend in 2008. Here are seven key lessons and considerations to keep in mind as Dell digests Everdream. Read More >

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.

Read More >

What if you launched a new product or service and never bothered to tell anyone? VARs and solutions providers make that mistake over and over again, because they don’t know how to shape their marketing messages, nor are they sure how to get the word out about a new product or service. Some VARs, however, are savvy to free PR and marketing opportunities. One prime example: Total Tech of San Diego knows how to blitz the media (including MSPmentor) with its PR messaging. Here’s a bit about their approach. Read More >

Well, that didn’t take long. Only days after Cisco announced its managed services strategy, a major solutions provider says it has achieved the premium Cisco Powered Managed Service designations in Managed Unified Communications and Managed Security. The company, Getronics, has about 24,000 employees across 25 countries. Read More >

A growing number of security-focused companies are introducing managed services platforms that support the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standard. Looking ahead, I suspect PCI compliance could emerge as a “check mark” that some customers demand from their managed service providers.

The latest company to embrace PCI is nCircle. The company, which specializes in agentless security management solutions, has expanded its MSSP Partner Program to include PCI compliance solutions. nCircle says the move will allow managed security service providers to more effectively monitor customers’ networks and comply with the PCI standard. Other MSP specialists embracing PCI include Verizon, Cybera and Coolcat.