MSPmentor

When Google announced Chromebook price cuts a few hours ago, it was the latest inflection point for MSPs trying to figure out hardware as a service (HaaS). Yes, the HaaS market has had its share of hits. But HaaS has also had its share of setbacks in recent years.

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The ConnectWise IT Nation conference kicks off November 9, but most attendees are already on hand for numerous pre-conference sessions. So what’s the managed services chatter so far? Here are 10 conversations, trends, and news tips worth tracking.

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Xerox has offered managed print services for more than a decade. But Xerox Senior Vice President Jim Joyce sees bigger opportunities ahead. Joyce gave me an update on Xerox’s managed print services strategy earlier this week.

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IBM continues to accelerate its partner strategy in the mid-market. The effort includes a growing push to transform VARs and resellers into managed services providers. Andy Monshaw, general manager of IBM’s global and medium sized business, offered MSPmentor an update.

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MWA Intelligence Inc. (MWAi) and GreatAmerica Leasing Corp. have partnered to extend managed print services (MPS) to both companies’ customer bases. MWA is an international provider of enterprise level M2M (machine to machine) and M2P (machine to people) solutions. MWA will work with GreatAmerica, a commercial equipment financing firm, to offer new service programs for office equipment Dealers (OEDs), IT resellers, and VARs on top of its M2M and M2P platforms.

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One of the underlying conversations at the 2011 N-able Partner Summit involves managed print services. Indeed, two of the event’s sponsors are Oki and Xerox, which both have been putting on their managed print services game faces of late. In some ways, MSPs must now compete with printer and copier dealers. But Oki and Xerox also want to partner with MSPs.

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Google is seeking to train IT help desks and service desks to support Google Chromebooks — which are low-cost cloud notebooks that run Chrome OS. Admittedly, Google Chromebooks remain in their infancy. Chromebooks, built by Acer and Samsung, debuted in June 2011 and cost businesses about $30 per user per month. I haven’t heard about widespread Chromebook deployments but I’m curious to see if any IT help desk providers start to offer Chromebook support.

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The managed print services market continues to see small signs of progress. One example: Xerox has unveiled a free mobile print and wireless MFP solution for its reseller partners. The announcement reinforces managed print moves that the company unveiled at Xerox Partner Summit back in April 2011. Here’s the update.

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Several hundred managed services providers (MSPs) are set to attend this week’s N-able Partner Summit (Oct. 12-14, Scottsdale, Ariz.). What surprises will N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt and his executive team have in store for MSPs? Here are seven questions worth asking.

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Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (Toshiba) and PaperCut Software International are partnering to promote managed document services. The effort is called PaperCut MF. The Toshiba effort arrives just as other big IT companies — particularly Hewlett-Packard — develop channel partner programs for managed print services.

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I’m not suggesting that tablet computers represent a big managed services opportunity. But I do believe MSPs will need to adjust their service level agreements (SLAs), customer contracts, and mobile device management (MDM) efforts to include tablet devices and smart phones going forward. The latest evidence: HTG Peer Groups, a member organization that includes scores of VARs and MSPs — is ramping up to support Apple iOS, the core operating system for iPhones and iPads.

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CharTec, the hardware as a service (HaaS) specialist, has introduced a new backup and disaster recovery (BDR) platform for its managed service providers and channel partners. Chartec’s new BDR platform features additional hardware stacks, a hardware upgrade, remote monitoring and management (RMM) and more memory.

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Here’s a potential next step for companies already providing managed print services: managed document services. For instance Ricoh Americas Corp. has agreed to offer managed document services to Benedict College. The deal covers more than 60 multifunction products (MFPs) throughout the Benedict College campus.

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Toshiba and Lexmark are partnering to nudge the managed print services market forward. Specifically, Toshiba Encompass managed print services now leverage Lexmark Fleet Manager 2.o software. As we’ve said before: A growing number of technology vendors are promoting managed print solutions… but only about 20 percent of MSPmentor 100 companies have embraced managed print services so far. Here’s the update.

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Which campus isn’t looking to save a buck these days? Some colleges and universities are cutting classes, downsizing staff, even closing campus extensions in order to save a dollar. But, as Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio claims, there’s a less dramatic way to save money: managed print services.

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My next business trip is CompTIA Breakaway 2011 (Aug. 1-4, Washington, D.C.). Predictably, the worlds of cloud services and managed services will converge at Breakaway. But I expect several other trends to emerge at the conference. Here’s a preview, along with seven trends that I hope to track at CompTIA Breakaway.

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N-Able Technologies is taking steps to help MSPs manage customers’ copier equipment. The effort involves a closer working relationship with International Business Products Inc., a buying group that helps members purchase printers, copiers, accessories supplies and services for the U.S. market.

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Navitas Lease Corp., a Channel Finance 25 company, has introduced hardware as a service (HaaS) offerings for managed services providers (MSPs) and channel partners. The move caught MSPmentor’s attention because Navitas financial team members have worked with N-able customers and partners for more than five years. Here’s the update.

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Can a vendor-agnostic tool propel printer dealers and VARs into the realm of managed print services? Oki Data Americas seems to think so. The company this week previewed its Total Managed Print Portal, which it says will help partners migrate to the services side. an official announcement is slated for June 27. The portal, which pulls together a number of managed print tools, already has helped one partner land two managed print deals in a 24 hour period, according to Tim Brien, director of Managed Print Service at OKI Data Americas. That partner hadn’t previously sold a printer or toner cartridge, he added.

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Invenio IT, a New York-based managed services provider, is the latest company to partner with Xerox on managed print services. In a prepared statement, Invenio suggests that managed print services can save customers 30 percent or more. But here’s the twist: I think managed print services have faced some market challenges because there’s a bit too much focus on cost savings and perhaps too little focus on predictable, reliable document management services.

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The CharTec Academy conference wound down as I wrote this, with most of the second day dedicated to vendor presentations and nuts-and-bolts sales and technical workshops. If one thing has really stuck with me, it’s that while CharTec’s entire executive team has been available to the over 120 partners in attendance, this is really CEO Alex Rogers’ show.

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At the CharTec Academy conference, CEO Alex Rogers updated me on the HaaS specialist’s new partner sales and marketing strategies. In a nutshell — if you don’t have the expertise or time to hire a dedicated sales rep or run a marketing campaign, CharTec wants to do it for you. Why? Because MSPs have the technical expertise to thrive — but not always the business acumen. Here are some highlights of our discussion.

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As you may guess from the name, CharTec Academy isn’t exactly your traditional partner summit. Rather than share key milestones and promote their HaaS and BDR solutions directly to partners, CharTec CEO Alex Rogers — along with a healthy number of event sponsors and guest speakers — are aiming to promote better business practices for MSPs. And the top tip Rogers had for MSPs in his introductory presentation: Refine your offering and be exactly what your customer needs.

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