As voice and video continue to flood IP networks, demand for storage will continue to escalate. Instead of buying on-site storage, backup and recovery systems, many businesses are opting to outsource these offerings to manage storage service providers. Get Started: Register to enter our Resource Center, where you can download guides to emerging managed storage services. And check back often. We post new guides in the MSPmentor Resource Center every week.
Call it a sign of things to come: Verizon Wireless is running television ads in the US for Hewlett-Packard Mini Netbooks tied to 3G wireless services. I’m not suggesting managed service providers should run out and introduce Netbooks. But if you’re interested in hardware as a service (HaaS), there are some emerging Netbook trends you should closely track.
Forgive The VAR Guy for being briefly confused. Symantec announced Managed Backup Services earlier this week. But the announcement made zero mention of Symantec Protection Network (SPN), a software as a service (SaaS) platform that offers managed backup and storage. So, what’s the difference between SPN and Managed Backup Services? The VAR Guy found the answer.
What’s the best model for managed storage: On premise solutions or in the cloud/software as a service (SaaS)? Instead of forcing managed service providers and customers to choose one model or the other, many technology companies are offering up both options or hybrid options. The latest example comes from Asigra.
Eric Webster at Intronis Technologies sent me a storage horror story, involving a service provider that lost the backups of more than 7,500 customers. Now, the same story is making headlines across the blogosphere. Here’s a look at the details, plus the implications for managed service providers.
Zmanda is connecting the dots between open source backup, cloud-based storage, Microsoft applications and managed services. Zmanda CEO Chander Kant told me a bit about the effort Thursday in New York. Here are some details.
A quick update involving the online storage market: Storage Guardian is the latest software company to launch an online data backup and business continuity partner program for managed service providers (MSPs) and VARs. The service is designed, in particular, for partners that specialize in Exchange Server, Small Business Server, SharePoint Server and Active Directory customers. You can find a free 30-day trial here.
Hewlett-Packard is emerging from its famed R&D garage and joining the managed services party. The hardware giant has announced some new SMB initiatives for solutions providers. Buried within the release was news about HP’s Insight Remote Support tools for MSPs. HP also partnered with USA.NET to offer hosted Microsoft applications to VARs. Here’s MSPmentor’s perspective.
In a number of surveys, various researchers have determined that nearly 70% of companies are at risk for an e-discovery litigation headache. The root cause of the litigation headache is the fact that everyone from government agencies to regulators to judges views electronic communications as business records that must be produced and, in many cases preserved, by organizations.
StorageCraft Technology Corp., which specializes in disk-based backup and information protection, has inked a partnershup with Zenith Infotech. Under terms of the deal, StorageCraft ShadowProtect will back up Zenith Infotech’s managed servers, storing the backup images both locally and remotely, providing multiple access points, in the event of a catastrophic failure, according to a joint company release.
A quick observation: Despite the economic turbulence — or perhaps because of it — 26 companies within the managed services market have completed merger, acquisition or investment deals this year, according to MSPmentor M&A Tracker.
MaxSP, which appears to be a business continuity expert of sorts, says it has bolstered its Data Protection Suite with storage management software from Acronis.
While some managed service providers are wary of Amazon.com, a growing number of MSP software companies see strong potential for the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Amazon cloud services and distribution services. Two prime examples:
Here’s a closer look at each deal, and their implications for managed service providers.
Jeff Kaplan did it again. In his latest Think IT Services blog entry, Kaplan describes the a hybrid software as a service (SaaS) model that blurs the line between on-premise and cloud-based services. If you’re skeptical of this trend, check out these examples involving managed service providers working with Symantec, Vembu, Amazon.com and Fonality.
Talk about timing. Earlier today, I expressed concern that Symantec wasn’t really promoting its SaaS (software as a service) platform during a partner conference here in Washington, D.C. A few hours after my rant, Symantec launched a partner program for the Symantec Protection Network. Here are some of the details.
During the opening session at Symantec Partner Engage in Washington, D.C., Chief Operating Officer Enrique Salem described several opportunities awaiting partners in the IT market.
Zenith Infotech has been briefing managed service providers about a range of new services from the company. In an October 1 blog entry, the folks at Everon Technology Services offer some perspectives regarding Zenith’s Data Center as a Service, Box Office and Data Center in a Rack efforts.
When the ConnectWise Partner Summit kicks off this week in Orlando, Fla., I’ll be sitting down with managed service providers and vendors to gather their observations. Roughly 700 MSPs are expected to attend the event. Here are five key trends I expect to track at the conference.
Talk about timely, on-point messaging. MasterIT, one of our MSPmentor 100 companies, is hosting a “non-technical” symposium October 30 at the FedEx Institute of Technology in Memphis, Tenn.
It would be interesting to see how many terabytes (petabytes? exabytes or more?) of data were backed up and moved out of the Gulf Coast area ahead of Hurricane Gustav. Also, I wonder how much of that data was moved into commercial cloud services. Anybody have any estimates or seen any editorial coverage worth noting?
Managed storage providers take note: CDW is launching a remote backup service based on Asigra Televaulting, according to a press release from Asigra. The CDW-Asigra relationship comes only a week after MSPmentor readers debated whether basic online backup services would commoditize. Anybody concerned about CDW pushing deeper into this market or is this a non-event for managed service providers?
At what point does the online backup market become saturated? I ask myself that question at least once a week. The reason: I get flooded with emails, voicemails and press releases about managed service providers and resellers signing up for online backup services.
Does Apple want to be a managed service provider? In some ways, yes. But so far those efforts aren’t going too well. The company’s MobileMe service — a cloud-based system designed to manage your contacts and calendars across a range of devices — is taking a beating from critics. Even The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, typically an Apple advocate, is telling readers that MobileMe is filled with problems.
More than 70 percent of successful managed service providers offer some form of managed storage, according to our MSPmentor 100 survey. Despite that lofty figure, the online storage market continues to enjoy strong growth.
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