MSPmentor

Business continuity is the ability of an organization to continue functioning after an unplanned interruption. Data disaster recovery is an important part of business continuity capabilities.

Why does your end client need a business continuity solution? And what are the key components of a business continuity plan? Here are some answers.

Read More >

No, Microsoft hasn’t acquired or launched a managed services platform. But the software giant continues to push deeper into the IT management market. In fact, Microsoft this week is hosting an IT management summit in Las Vegas.

Here are two key highlights from the event. Read More >

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 >

Most managed service providers have heard of hardware as a service (HaaS). Now, here comes “desktops as a service.” The term popped up during a chat I had earlier this week with MokaFive President and CEO Bill Demas.

Many tech media sites describe MokaFive as a desktop virtualization company. But MokaFive’s ability to meld desktop computing with software as a service has some potential implications for MSPs. Here’s a bit more about the company’s strategy, and desktop as a service vision. Read More >

A few weeks ago, I started hearing rumblings about managed service platform providers embracing the virtualization market. One of the first movers in this effort is Nimsoft, which today unveiled automation tools for monitoring VMware environments. But Nimsoft won’t be alone for long. Plenty of companies are looking to convergence virtualization with managed services. Here’s a sampling of what to expect. Read More >

In the world of journalism, there’s an old saying: “Three’s a trend.” I thought of that truism this morning when I learned Tech Data plans to offer VMware to its resellers. Managed service providers should take note. In addition to Tech Data, at least two MSP platform providers are striving to help VARs more effectively manage virtualized servers.

You should expect a steady stream of virtualization-related MSP news over the next few weeks and months. Even though VMware sales recently fell short of Wall Street’s aggressive expectations, demand for virtualized servers and even desktops continues to grow rapidly. The virtualization craze has triggered new opportunities — and challenges — for MSPs and their customers. Read More >

I lifted the headline for this blog entry from a presentation David Strom delivered this morning at the MSP Alliance conference in San Jose. So, what were the five disruptive technologies? Three of them were obvious, but David caught my ear with his analysis of the other two — and some timely perspective on Microsoft Small Business Server. Read More >