MSPmentor

Mergers and acquisitions continue at a rapid pace in the managed services industry. The latest deal involves Alentus — a managed service provider with software as a service expertise — acquiring two Linux-centric hosting firms.

Based in Laguna Niguel, Calif., Alentus snapped up Austin, Texas-based Website Source, Inc. and SpeedFox, Inc., which specialize in Linux website hosting. The acquisitions reinforce the growing popularity of hosting both open source and closed source applications under one roof.

Alentus’s acquisitions are the latest in a growing list of MSP buyouts followed by our MSPmentor M&A Tracker.

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Microsoft is preparing an “application streaming” initiative, in an effort to more effectively position Microsoft Office against Google Apps, according to ComputerWorld. Anyone who thinks this is nothing more than a commodity software war needs to think again.

While Google has lined up major colleges to standardize on Google Apps, Microsoft is quietly pushing cable companies to embrace its software as a service (SaaS) product portfolio. Here’s the scoop. Read More >

When it comes to Dell’s partner communications, subtle statements — and non-statements — count for a lot. On the one hand, Dell has worked overtime to tell VARs and managed service providers how to participate in the company’s growing partner program. Kudos. But on the other hand, Dell is potentially sabotaging its own partner program with some of its software as a service (SaaS) press materials.

A prime example: Check out the press release announcing Dell has completed its $155 million buyout of MessageOne, a SaaS specialist. It plays up the small business managed services/SaaS angle (smart) but makes zero mention of Dell’s partners (not smart). Here’s the deal.

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Do IT Smarter is doing it. Ingram Micro Seismic is doing it. The Utility Company is doing it. And now NetEnrich is doing it. I’m referring to the increasingly popular “Master MSP” business model, where VARs leverage software as a service (SaaS), and a third-party partner hosts and coordinates the VAR’s managed services platforms.

Here’s the latest example, involving NetEnrich offering Level Platforms as a service to solutions providers.

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Software as a service (SaaS) remains a hot topic on Wall Street, especially as Salesforce.com shares hit an all-time high. The company recently announced a partnership with Google, and there’s speculation on TechCrunch.com that the search giant and the on-demand software company may get even cozier together.

Sun made a major software as a service (SaaS) announcement today involving the Solaris operating system. But I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. There’s a high probability, I believe, that Sun will rapidly expand its SaaS efforts to include the MySQL database (near term) and potentially Ubuntu Linux (long term). Here’s why managed service providers should care. Read More >

Microsoft is aggressively pursuing business relationships with cable companies as it strives to strengthen its software as a service (SaaS) strategy, MSPmentor has learned. If it secures partnerships with cable companies, Microsoft could wind up competing with some managed service providers that offer hosted Exchange Server systems to small businesses.

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The convergence of open source with managed services and software as a service (SaaS) continues. The latest example: Red Hat, arguably the world’s best-known open source company, has created two staff positions to serve hosting partners. Plus, Red Hat is evaluating a strategy to work more closely with managed service providers, MSPmentor has learned. Here’s the scoop. Read More >