MSPmentor

ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini and Autotask CEO Bob Godgart are scouring the software market for potential acquisitions. And each CEO says they’d consider buying the other company. To be clear: I think this is more talk than action. But the talk provides clues about where the MSP and PSA (professional services automation) markets are heading. Here’s the scoop and some analysis for managed service providers.

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While the managed services market continues to converge with SaaS (software as a service) and cloud computing, I’m increasingly hearing from readers who have a far more basic request: They want all of their managed services platforms to support the three major browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari — with Google Chrome also popping up on some request lists.

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A tip of the hat to Mark Crall, founder of Charlotte Tech Care Team, a managed service provider. In his personal blog, Crall notes that Autotask plans to more closely integrate its software with Zenith Infotech. This is part of a bigger picture race between software companies to embrace so-called open APIs (application programming interfaces). Here are some perspectives.

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If you’re looking for new ways to partner with peer managed service providers, join us on May 13 for our MSPmentor Live webcast. During the one-hour webcast, which starts at 2:00 p.m. eastern, we’ll explore how MSPs are finding each other, and how you can coordinate projects — service tickets, billing and more — between multiple MSPs.

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Picture this: You compete in an emerging, fast-growth software market. The highly fragmented industry is filled with multiple,  successful software companies. Most of the companies are relatively small and privately held. Suddenly, industry growth rates slow a bit amid the recession. So, what happens next? Mergers and acquisitions. That’s the scenario facing the managed services software market. Here’s where I think we’re heading next.

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Nimsoft CEO Gary Read (photo, right) sounds like a lot of the executives I’ve interviewed lately. Although Nimsoft is growing and remains cash flow positive, customers and managed service providers are delaying purchasing decisions amid the recession, Read told me today. Read’s statements coupled with anecdotes from across the MSP industry provide an important reality check.

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Talk about going to extremes. MSPmentor started last week at the Autotask Community Live conference, and we ended the week touring ConnectWise, and participating in a ConnectWise TV segment recording. Publicly, Autotask and ConnectWise are fierce rivals and extreme opposites in the professional services automation (PSA) market. But privately, there are actually some similarities between the two companies. Skeptical? Read on.

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The Autotask Community Live conference wrapped up yesterday. But the steady flow of content from the conference continues. Here’s my conversation with Autotask CEO Bob Godgart. He provides a healthy reminder that some managed service providers are cutting staff during the recession. But Godgart also delivers some optimistic messages — including a new strategy to eliminate the wall between MSPs and corporate IT. Take a look.

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Monday at Autotask Community Live is now history. Here are eight quick highlights — so far — from the managed services conference held in Nashville, Tenn.:

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During the Autotask Community Live conference in Nashville, Tenn., Autotask CEO Bob Godgart disclosed some company financial milestones. Godgart also described how Autotask hopes to eliminate the walls between managed service providers (MSPs) and corporate IT. Here are four quick highlights from Godgart’s keynote.

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Amy Katz and I land in Nashville, Tenn., this Sunday (March 29) for the Autotask Community Live conference. The grapevine tells me roughly 300 IT service providers and managed service providers will converge on Nashville for the conference, plus many of the remote monitoring tool providers will be on hand. Here are five discussion points we’ll be tracking at the event.

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This blog entry has nothing — and everything — to do with managed services. Let me explain: I’ve been riding the economic roller coaster this week. Monday, I visited my accountant and heard horror stories about the credit crunch destroying small businesses across New York — the type of small companies that typically pay for managed services. But Wednesday, a simple comment from a small business owner lifted my spirits. Dramatically.

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Autotask will unveil a steady stream of news during the Autotask Community Live conference, starting March 29 in Nashville, Tenn. The event’s central focus will involve collaboration and community. Autotask CEO Bob Godgart (pictured) offered some thoughts to me yesterday. And if you look back at some 2008 Autotask announcements, it provides some clues about what’s on tap for next week.

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I’ll be at the Autotask Community Live conference starting March 29, but news slated for the event is starting to leak out on Autotask’s Twitter feed. Here are three Autotask tweets that caught my ears (actually, my eyes).

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The last time I visited N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt at the company’s headquarters in Ottawa, he was celebrating N-able landing on Deloitte Canada’s Technology Fast 50 list. This time around, I expect to see Garbutt in New York the week of August 18, where he’ll be meeting with customers and investors. Yes, investors.

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Are you charging “by device” for your managed services? Perhaps it’s time to move to a “per user” model that also includes quarterly — instead of monthly — fee adjustments. The approach, which Autotask CEO Bob Godgart described to me earlier today, caught my attention. Here’s why.

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During a conversation with Autotask CEO Bob Godgart this morning, he mentioned that Autotask is seeking a VP of sales for the core Autotask Pro product line. Godgart is willing to consider a director-level person who can grow into the VP position.

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At the Everything Channel conference (Aug. 17-20, Dallas), Autotask and OnForce expect to announce an integration partnership, MSPmentor has learned. The deal will allow Autotask customers to easily outsource IT projects and tasks to OnForce — the marketplace for computer repair services and IT consultants, according to several sources in the know.

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In the 1990s, long distance phone companies wanted to offer “last mile” local phone services. Now, a similar trend is emerging in the managed services market — where regional and even national MSPs want to offer personalized, local, on-site services.

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On June 25 at 2pm eastern, I will host our next MSPmentor Live: CEO Exchange Webcast. Unlike traditional Webcasts, we typically answer dozens of attendee questions throughout the event. Our goal is to interact with managed service providers, and address your most pressing questions.

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A range of managed services trends are surfacing here at the Kaseya User Conference in Las Vegas. We’ll be counting down the top 30 trends and takeaways over the next two days. Here are items 30 to 21 on our list:

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