Kaseya 2 Updates: What’s Home Grown and What’s OEMed?

Earlier this week MSPmentor noted that Kaseya had launched multiple Kaseya 2 updates — including new modules for management and security. I was confused on a few points. On the module front — especially in the areas of security and storage — I wanted to determine what Kaseya had developed on its own and what Kaseya had licensed or leveraged from third-party software partners. Here’s the quick update…

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Kaseya Extends Managed Services Brand Into Security, Storage

When the Kaseya 2 managed services platform debuted in 2010, Executive VP Jim Alves described the offering as a platform that would ultimately gain numerous plug-ins and modules. It’s a familiar strategy, since most RMM (remote monitoring and management) software platforms offer integration with third-party storage and security solutions. But I sense something different is going on at Kaseya, since a growing number of modules seem to be home-grown and/or Kaseya-branded. Here’s the update.

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Cirtas, Nasuni Point Storage Cloudward, Cultivate Channel

We’ve written a lot lately about the intermingling of disaster recovery and the cloud, but some vendors aim to link the cloud to primary storage. For instance, Cirtas Systems this week launched a cloud storage appliance, which the company will market purely through the channel. Dan Decasper, Cirtas’ chief executive officer, said his company’s Bluejet Cloud Storage Controller plays a role analogous to a storage controller in an onsite enterprise storage array. But instead of storing information on racks of direct-attached disk drives, the Bluejet appliances tie into a cloud storage provider on the backend, he said. Here’s how.

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Intronis: Online Backup Meets ConnectWise

Intronis, an online backup specialist, is the latest company to plug into ConnectWise’s Professional Services Automation (PSA) platform. The move could give ConnectWise’s partner base easier access to the managed storage market. Here’s why.

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SaaS Stocks Up 53 Percent So Far In 2009

With one month remaining in 2009, software as a service (SaaS) stocks remain red hot. Nine Lives Media Inc.’s SaaS 20 Stock Index is up 53.74 percent so far this year — with 19 of the 20 index members seeing their shares rise. Here’s a look at the index’s year-to-date winners, plus the reason why Rackspace Hosting Inc. is joining the SaaS 20 Stock Index.

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Amazon Web Services: The Big MSP Disconnect

Talk about two extremes: Yesterday, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth (the guy behind Ubuntu Linux) said Amazon Web Services has emerged as a de facto cloud standard until open, vendor-neutral cloud standards can be developed. Yet only three percent of MSPs leverage Amazon’s cloud, according to our ongoing MSPmentor 100 survey. What’s behind the disconnect? Here are some thoughts.

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Microsoft’s Windows Azure Cloud: Dark for a Day

Microsoft Windows AzureWindows Azure — Microsoft’s cloud platform — went dark for nearly 24 hours last weekend. Let’s keep the darkness in perspective: Azure is not a production network yet; it’s merely a test cloud environment that Microsoft is still optimizing. But 22 hours of darkness doesn’t inspire peace of mind in cloud systems. And I’m starting to think that Amazon.com — backed by loads of open source applications — is the cloud to beat.

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Amazon Web Services: MSPs Keep An Open Mind

Amazon Web ServicesCan Amazon Web Services and other cloud services from the online retailer catch on with managed service providers? The vast majority of MSPs are keeping an open mind as Amazon continues to expand its cloud, according to MSPmentor’s latest weekly reader poll. Take a look at the results.

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SaaS Stocks Fall Nearly 7 Percent In January 2009

First, the good news: Software as a service (SaaS) stocks performed better than the Dow Jones Industrial Average (down 8.84 percent) and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (down 8.57 percent) in January 2009. Now the bad news: SaaS stocks still fell almost 7 percent during the month, according to our SaaS 20 Stock Index. Here’s a look at the biggest monthly SaaS winners and losers, plus a SaaS market forecast from IDC.

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Managed Cloud Services: Build vs. Rent

Should  you build your own cloud computing system or simply leverage a third party cloud service? The answer to that question depends on which managed service provider you ask.

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Will Microsoft Azure Catch On With MSPs?

Microsoft Windows Azure for Managed Service ProvidersMicrosoft’s new cloud service — known as Azure — has multiple implications for managed service providers and the IT channel.

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Why Do Managed Service Providers Keep Looking Back?

Rear View Mirror Why do so many managed service provides spend so much time looking in the rear view mirror? That question popped into my head while moderating a session at the N-able Partner Summit last week.

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MSPs Will Blur the Line Between SaaS and On-Premise IT

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.

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Windows Server, SQL Server Move Into Amazon Cloud

It was only a matter of time. Amazon.com’s Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) will soon support both Windows Server and SQL Server, according to this blurb on the Amazon.com Web site.

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Not Everybody Believes In SaaS

Software as a Service. That little term receives plenty of hype. MSPmentor’s own SaaS 20 Stock Index — down roughly 15 percent so far this year — shows that the SaaS hype isn’t quite living up to expectations this year.

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IBackup Recruits 2,000 Online Storage Resellers

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.

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Amazon.com Lifts SaaS 20 Stock Index for Week Ended July 25

Amazon Web ServicesA strong financial report from Amazon.com lifted the SaaS 20 Stock index a tiny 0.20% gain for the week ended July 25. The index has now climbed almost four percent since early July. Are software as a service (SaaS) stocks ready to continue a rally? We’ll find out on July 30, when RightNow (RNOW) is scheduled to announce 2Q results after the market closes.

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Apple’s MobileMe Managed Service Misses Mark

Apple MobileMeDoes 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.

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SnapLogic Builds Bridges Between SaaS Islands

Software as a service (SaaS) sounds so simple. But the SaaS model gets complicated when businesses depend on multiple SaaS applications from multiple companies. The big challenge: How can an organization — or a managed service provider — coordinate data between multiple SaaS clouds? SnapLogic, an open source startup, is working to address that issue.

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Amazon S3 Storage Service Goes Dark Again

Amazon.com’s Simple Storage Service (S3) suffered its second big service outage this year on Sunday, July 20, notes GigaOm. Om Malik reports that some S3 services were down for eight hours.

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Climbing From Managed Services to SaaS Clouds

SaaS CloudsThe move from managed service provider to software as a service (SaaS) can seem intimidating, but the barriers to market entry continue to fall. Each week, yet another company introduces a SaaS framework that you can plug your managed services business into.

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