MSPmentor

Arnie Bellini has multiple irons in the fire. As CEO of ConnectWise, he’s using several tactics — education, collaboration and software integration — to help grow the overall managed services market — and drive customer interest in ConnectWise. In additional to competing with traditional rivals, ConnectWise could wind up facing off against new competitors. Here’s a sampling of the thoughts he shared during an April 18 phone conversation with MSPmentor.

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I’m starting to hear from multiple managed service providers, who say some MSPs are under-pricing their work and hurting overall industry margins. Other critics worry that rapid starter programs for MSPs will saturate the market with poorly trained service providers who charge pennies on the dollar.

I’m not ready to press a panic button. But it is time for the industry to carefully consider pricing strategies. Here are some of the pricing myths — and realities — facing today’s MSPs. Please weigh in with your thoughts. Read More >

The writing has been on the wall for several weeks. MSPmentor told Microsoft partners in March that managed service providers needed to master — or at least explore — hosted versions of Microsoft Exchange Server, Dynamics CRM and SharePoint. Now, Ingram Micro’s Seismic team is hoping to accelerate MSP moves to those hosted applications. Here’s the scoop. Read More >

Chris Lyman is setting in the middle of a perfect storm. As CEO of Fonality, Lyman is building an IP-PBX company that leverages Asterisk (an open source platform) and embraces managed service providers. In other words, Fonality has converged three hot markets (unified communications, open source and managed services) into a single solution.

I realize that big vendors — Avaya, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, etc. — are promoting unified communications solutions. But if you’re an MSP looking to get into IP telephony, it may be hard to ignore Fonality’s value proposition. Read More >

At a time when some managed service providers are worried about Dell, Microsoft and Google moving onto their turf, Cisco Systems is taking a stand and offering assurances to MSPs.

During a phone chat with MSPmentor, Al Safarikas (pictured), Cisco’s senior director of service provider managed services, said Cisco remains true to its word and has no plans to become a service provider.

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N-able Technologies wants to win the hearts and minds of Microsoft’s North American partners and managed service providers. Indeed, N-able is offering Microsoft partners a free one-year subscription to a new software as a service (SaaS) platform called N-central Express.

The N-able announcement reinforces three key trends in the managed services market:

1. Low- or no-cost starter platforms for managed service providers
2. The continued convergence of software as a service (SaaS) with managed services
3. The strategic value of Microsoft partners in the growing managed services market

Here’s a bit more on N-able’s strategy and the three highlighted trends.

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My email inbox today had a Webinar invite from Dell. The company on April 22 plans to educate corporate customers about Everdream, a remote administration and asset management tool for PCs and mobile systems.

Now for the challenge: When Dell acquired Everdream and Silverback in 2007, some managed service providers worried that the PC giant would circumvent partners and market managed services directly to corporate customers.

Memo to Dell: Here’s how to eliminate such fear in your partner base. Read More >

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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