MSPmentor

Earlier today, I raised five key questions about the hosted Exchange and hosted Unified Communications markets. Now, I’ve gathered a few answers to those questions at the Intermedia Partner Summit in Silicon Valley. Here are some clues about how VARs and MSPs are transitioning their hosted Exchange strategies.

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Managed security service providers and cloud vendors for about the past year have been broadening their offerings to include application firewalls. Against this backdrop, Citrix Systems Inc. this week rolled out a line of application firewalls, targeting MSSPs and cloud providers as well as enterprise customers. Here’s some background.

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I’m heading over to the Intermedia Partner Summit this morning in Silicon Valley, where several dozen MSPs will be hearing about the hosted Exchange and hosted Unified Communications markets. Intermedia is one of the best-known providers of white label hosted Exchange services to MSPs. But the company has also been building a hosted Unified Communications partnership with Unison Technologies. Here are five things I hope to learn at the conference…

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I’m as tired of the ‘cloud’ word as the next guy. But cloud is everywhere at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. And here’s an interesting twist: The folks at Zscaler, a cloud security start-up, made their case to me that cloud-centric security is pressuring traditional on-premise security appliances. Is that a fact or a marketing claim?

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In recent months, I’ve blogged quite a bit about MSPs moving up the stack from from managed infrastructure to managed applications. In fact, I’ve advocated an increased applications focus. But a recent move by NaviSite, Inc. has me rethinking the managed applications market. Here’s why.

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Asigra, the channel-focused cloud backup and recovery software provider that works with a who’s who of cloud service providers, is partnering with NetApp. The duo is promoting a so-called backup and recovery as a service (BRaaS) to solutions providers. Here are some details.

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It’s another subtle sign that Dell is listening to feedback. The hardware giant’s lengthy ProManaged Managed Services brand will now be known simply as Dell Managed Services. And yes, Dell’s MSP-centric partner program remains in place. Here are some more details.

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Many MSPs are trying to sort out their software as a service (SaaS) strategies — with an eye toward Hosted Exchange and Hosted SharePoint. The big question: How do you continue to maintain customer control, even as SaaS platforms like Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) move into the market and launch low-ball pricing? Instead of living in fear, smart MSPs may want to start checking in with large web hosting providers — many of whom have already sorted out their SaaS and Hosted Exchange strategies.

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Carpatia Hosting is putting a new twist on cloud computing, pushing beyond managed hosting and colocation services. Specifically, the company has introduced InstantOn — a cloud platform apparently designed with corporate compliance and security in mind. Here are some quick details.

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Most eyes are focused on this week’s RSA Security conference in San Francisco. But I took a detour to Las Vegas, where SAP is hosting a partner conference and some news is already  surfacing at the event. And yes, it involves managed services converging with SAP.

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By now, you know the drill: Each week MSPmentor intends to write dozens of additional managed services blog entries. But each week, our team winds up with distractions — travel, phone calls, and something called “occasional sleep.” Here are seven managed services blog entries we didn’t have time to write for the week ending February 26, 2010.

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I live in New York City, but I suspect that Mountain View (California) is the real city that never sleeps, as Google announces six Gmail features have graduated from Google Labs and are now fully supported in all versions of Google Apps. Here’s what’s new.

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Earlier this week in Miami, I got locked in a conversation about Hardware as a Service (HaaS) with a few skeptical MSPs. Their key question: Can you really turn a HaaS profit without taking on big financial risk? I’ve heard some successful anecdotes, but I’m deferring the question to two top MSPs and CharTec’s Alex Rogers. If you’d like to hear how they’re tackling HaaS, join our March 24 MSPmentor Live webcast. We’ll take your questions through the webcast discussion.

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The rules in the Australia managed services software market continue to evolve. As N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt heads to the land down under for a series of MSP events, rival Kaseya (in partnership with Ingram Micro) has launched a SaaS initiative for Australia and New Zealand solutions providers. Two years ago, I don’t think the Australia market was ready for SaaS-centric managed services offerings. Apparently, that’s changed.

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Kaseya has launched a global Software as a Service partner program. Known as KSP (Kaseya SaaS Partner Program), the initiative allows partners to “promote, refer and market” Kaseya’s SaaS and IT offerings to their respective channels. It’s easy to see what’s in it for Kaseya. The bigger question: What’s in it for partners? And what are the implications for the broader managed services software market? Here are some thoughts.

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Where are managed services providers (MSPs) heading next? I think I found a few answers at the Parallels Summit in Miami this week. Admittedly, I suspect most MSPs and VARs aren’t fully familiar with this SaaS- and cloud-centric conference. Too bad. First movers from the original managed services wave — MSPs like Pointivity — are here trying to catch the next wave. As are MSP-centric team members from Cisco Systems and Google. Here’s what you missed.

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Citrix Systems is the latest company to move into the crowded managed services software market. Specifically, Citrix Online has acquired Paglo Labs Inc. — a provider of SaaS-based IT management software. Here are the details, and the potential implications for the MSP software landscape — where mergers, acquisitions and investments continue to accelerate.

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Vyatta, which positions itself as an open source alternative to Cisco Systems, has launched a service provider partner licensing (VSPL) program. The subscription-based model targets ISPs, MSPs, hosting businesses and cloud providers. The big question: Will MSPs trust their infrastructure to open source routing and firewall services? For at least one MSP, the answer is a resounding yes. Here are the details.

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Microsoft is quietly conducting some informal SaaS and hosting research at the Parallels Summit in Miami. The cloud-centric conference has attracted several hundred service providers and VARs focused on recurring revenue opportunities. Clearly, Microsoft is working hard to connect more closely with summit attendees — many of whom are checking out the Google Apps reseller program. Here’s some perspective.

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Until this week, Parallels was perhaps best known for Macintosh-oriented virtualization software. But that may change — starting today. The reason: Parallels has organized a major SaaS and cloud conference in Miami. Large technology companies (Cisco, Microsoft, Novell) and industry upstarts (Channel Cloud, CloudLinux, and more) are converging on the event. Here’s why MSPs better pay attention.

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Can you afford to ignore seven million college students who will ultimately enter the workforce? That’s the question facing MSPs who overlook the fact that more than 7 million college students now leverage Google Apps. Another key question: Can MSPs learn anything from the Google Apps sales pitch? A new Google Apps Education Edition CIO Road Trip may provide some answers.

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Websense, Inc. is jumping on the managed security bandwagon. The software specialist has launched a global, managed security service provider (MSSP) program.  Plenty of security software companies are preparing similar moves. Here are some of the details.

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Most of us have heard by now that cloud computing is set to displace managed services, forcing MSPs to rethink their role as value-added trusted advisors to their clients. Don’t believe these dire predictions of impending MSP doom. It’s hype and in fact, as a true MSP your value proposition doesn’t have to change with cloud computing. If you play your cards well, the cloud will bring you more business, not less. Here’s why.

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