Here, we cover Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) for managed services providers. Plus, check the MSPmentor Resource Center for cloud computing guides. (Registration required.)
Microsoft Office 365, the cloud service for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and more, turns one year old in June 2012. I’ve gradually warmed up to Office 365, but I continue to wonder if managed services providers (MSPs) will actually “manage” Office 365 for customers, especially since the cloud suite lives in Microsoft’s own data centers. Now here’s the twist…
Sophos, the security software company, is preparing to promote cloud solutions to managed services providers (MSPs) later this year, according to Emmanuelle Skala, VP of global channels and sales operations as Sophos. It’s the latest example of a potential MSP land grab among anti-virus and endpoint security companies.
The cloud-based data services market (including cloud-based) is on the upswing, according to new data from J.D. Power & Associates, and the SMB sector in particular shows substantial room for growth. Twenty percent of large enterprises currently use a cloud-based services offering, while only 14 percent percent of SMBs and 5 percent of very small businesses do so.
Intronis, which promotes cloud storage and online backup to managed services providers (MSPs), has raised $3.85 million to fuel company expansion, CEO Kent Plunkett (pictured) has confirmed to MSPmentor. The investors include…
The varied benefits cloud computing offers SMBs have been cited many times by many people: increased flexibility, reduced overhead, extended accessibility of applications and data. However, a new survey of SMBs in the US and Asia by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shows another benefit cloud services can deliver to SMBs: improved security.
Anybody else been watching the drama unfold at Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), parent of managed services provider mindSHIFT? Best Buy founder Richard Schulze is stepping down as chairman; former CEO Brian Dunn exited amid an alleged improper relationship; and Wall Street is wondering how the technology retailer will compete in the cloud market. Now I’m starting to wonder…
Who are the world’s top 100 cloud services providers (CSPs), VARs and MSPs working in the cloud? Check Talkin’ Cloud now for the entire list and research report. The Top 100 Cloud Services Provider list, also called the Talkin’ Cloud 100, is here: http://www.talkincloud.com/tc100.
What do you do when your customers tell you that competitors keep coming in to offer a service you don’t yet offer? You figure out a way to offer it. That’s just what Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) reseller Annese & Associates did recently and now it is rolling out a brand new managed service it co-developed with Cisco — managed wireless. The offering, called AnyAccess, is designed to provide management of highly secure and reliable wireless networks for indoor and outdoor environments. Here’s the scoop.
What if you could take a blueprint of an entire SMB (small and midsize business) network and reproduce it (or virtualize it) in the cloud for safe keeping? That’s the concept behind the latest Axcient Cloud Continuity upgrade. Axcient claims the updated cloud service allows SMBs to launch complete virtual offices in the cloud if the primary network goes down.
Intronis is the latest MSP-centric software company to hire a CFO (chief financial officer) and raise new funding. Other MSP- and cloud-oriented companies to hire new CFOs in recent months include Autotask, Axcient and Kaseya. What’s the common thread here? Many privately held technology companies, including those in the MSP market, need seasoned CFOs to organize appropriately for their next stage of growth.
If you can’t fight them — join them? A growing number of MSPs and VARs seem to be finding cloud success promoting Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps to customers. And old arguments about thin SaaS profit margins and cloud customer billing models seem to quieting down. Why’s that? Here’s the update.
Things are apparently going well over at IT management platform provider BMC Software (NASDAQ: BMC). The company today announced that more than 300 enterprises have adopted its cloud-based IT service management solutions. And BMC Remedyforce Service Desk solution has doubled its customer base in less than six months.
SMBs plan to adopt server virtualization at a much faster pace than their enterprise peers this year, according to the 2012 Global Disaster Recovery Index from Acronis, a provider of disaster recovery/data protection technology for SMBs. However, potential security risks related to server virtualization, as well as SMB trends relating to cloud computing, offsite backup strategy and downtime, present very tangible opportunities for MSPs.
Last fall, I wrote how the trend of Big Data – huge, almost unmanageable volumes of data that large enterprises collect via social media, internet, mobile devices, sensing technologies and other means, is impacting data storage trends in the SMB sector (i.e., a likely increase in cloud-based storage among SMBs). However, once that Big Data is stored, SMBs need to analyze it in order to obtain ROI (return on investment) on increased data storage investments. And MSPs just may be able to help them out.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) is putting a sharper focus on MSPs recently, recruiting 500 new managed service providers in the last five months alone. The uptick coincides with the appointment of a new channel chief in January as the company’s new CEO Virginia Rometty assembled her own executive team. Mark Hennessy, IBM’s general manager for the IBM Global Business Partners and Midmarket has spent his career at IBM in a variety of sales roles, and he’s no stranger to the value provided by channel partners. Hennessy told me that he is looking for partners to continue to grow as a percentage of IBM revenues between now and 2015.
A poolside party at the Kaseya Connect 2012 user conference just wrapped up in Las Vegas. During a few dozen conversations with managed services providers (MSPs) and Kaseya employees, I picked up several more anecdotes worth sharing with the MSPmentor readership. Here’s the update.
Our next Channel Expert Hour webcast is today (Wednesday, May 2, 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT). You’ll learn how some MSPs can restore customer data within four hours or less, using the EVault cloud. Pose your questions to two MSPs (EverGreen Data CEO Bob Burns and CoreBTS National Director of Cloud Services Jon McComb) and John Gorsin, senior manager of NA Channel Sales at EVault, a subsidiary of Seagate. Learn about service level agreements (SLAs) for cloud storage, online backup and data protection. Register now to join us.
GFI Software continues to connect the dots between its managed services software tools and cloud services. The latest example involves GFI MAX Managed Online Backup joining the GFI MAX RemoteManagement platform for managed services providers (MSPs). If you look at the GFI software portfolio, it’s clear the company is trying to give MSPs a one-stop shop (remote monitoring, security, storage) for recurring revenue opportunities.
Cloud based IT operations management solutions provider Summus Software has announced summer availability for the latest version of Summus IT Management Suite, powered by the company’s Summit Platform 4.0. So what’s new in this update? Summus Software says it delivers an IT contextual dashboard plus enhancements to its incident, service level agreement (SLA), configuration management database and product management.
Our second-annual Top 50 Cloud Services Providers survey ends today (Friday, April 27). Complete the survey, available on Talkin’ Cloud (MSPmentor’s sister site), and perhaps your company could be ranked among the world’s top CSPs in the Talkin’ Cloud 50. Yes, the survey is open to MSPs and VARs that generate revenues from cloud-related projects and services. Survey participants also include cloud brokers, cloud aggregators and cloud consultants. Participate before time runs out today (April 27). We’ll unveil the Top 50 CSPs during a May 16 webcast, and we’ll honor all of the companies with cross-links and other surprises throughout 2012.
The release of version 5 of Servoyant isn’t the only news coming from the provider of the cloud-based unified network management platform. CEO Enrique Krajmalnik told MSPmentor that the company has made good on its promise of an international expansion. Just how did he do it?
Network management platform provider ihiji is taking its technology to IT solution providers, offering a network management as a service (NMaaS) offering, currently as a private beta The new platform builds on the company’s remote monitoring and management product, ihiji invision, providing alerts on equipment status, enabling remote installations, and reducing the time needed to troubleshoot and fix issues with network-connected devices.
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