Dell made a subtle but important move when the company announced storage management and data protection services on June 25.
Within the press release, which focused on Dell’s infrastructure consulting services, the company including this little note to partners and managed service providers: Read More >
As part of its ongoing managed services push, Dell hopes to launch a Master MSP strategy in late 2008 or early 2009, MSPmentor has learned. The move has potential implications for anyone involved in managed services. Here are some of the preliminary details, based on a conversation I had with Greg Davis, vice president and general manager of Dell’s Americas Channel Group.
MSPmentor’s SaaS 20 Stock Index, which tracks the software as a service industry, slid 1.75 percent for the week ended June 20, 2008. But that’s not so bad, considering the Dow slipped 4 percent on the week and hit a 3-month low.
Of our 20 index members, only Amazon.com (AMZN, up 2.44%) and Taleo Corp. (TLEO, up 6.07%) posted sharp gains on the week. The index’s biggest weekly losers were Constant Contact (CTCT, down 6.85%) and Salary.com (SLRY, down 10.92%). The overall index (containing these 20 companies) currently stands at 859.98, down 14% from a starting value of 1,000.00 on January 1, 2008.
Here’s more about our weekly winners and losers.
Apparently, managed service providers are developing a love-hate relationship with Dell. While some solutions providers worry about Dell’s intentions in the MSP market, other partners are pushing — aggressively — to have Dell executives included on our forthcoming MSPmentor 250 list.
Here’s some more background on the list and the current nominees.
Although managed services coverage hasn’t quite pushed into the mainstream media, some business publications are starting to more effectively cover small business IT services.
Forbes, in particular, does a reasonably good job contrasting Dell’s remote management strategy to Hewlett-Packard’s buyout of Electronic Data Systems. The Forbes article, for instance, mentions the fact that SilverBack will be a key tool both for Dell as well as the PC giant’s integration partners.
Here’s a look at the Forbes piece on Dell’s small business strategy.
I’ve been especially critical of Hewlett-Packard in recent months, openly wondering how the company has so badly missed the managed services market in the US. But a new partnership in India may provide some clues abou where HP is heading in the MSP space.
A case in point: Netmagic Solutions, a managed IT service provider in India, has inked a partnership with HP to service midmarket customers in such markets as retail, healthcare, utilities, education and manufacturing, according to a release from Netmagic. In order to win over potentially skeptical customers in the US, Netmagic promotes the fact that its data centers are ISO 27001 and SAS 70 Audit (Type II) compliant.
Other MSPs should follow that lead. Here’s why.
If Hewlett-Packard buys Electronic Data Systems, as The Wall Street Journal is speculating, it could mean good news for managed service providers.
Think about it for a minute: Dell has already moved into the managed services market. And Microsoft is sizing up the MSP space. Likewise, Hewlett-Packard could be developing software or buying platform providers to better manage the company’s own servers and desktops — especially in small and midsize businesses.
But an EDS buyout could distract HP for years to come, leaving MSPs plenty of opportunity to manage small and midsize businesses that deploy HP gear.
Dell, in its latest bid to build trust and profitable relationships with managed service providers, hosted a Web seminar for about 75 partners on May 1. More Web seminars are planned, but something far more interesting caught my attention: It seems like some Dell managers truly do have the channel in their DNA.
In fact, Dell’s partner team includes channel veterans who have built partner networks for Cisco Systems, ComputerLand and McAfee, just to name a few. And Mike Menegay, director, Dell Business Services, has been a solution provider himself.
Does that mean Dell’s partner program will be perfect? Absolutely not. But is Dell sending the right signals to managed service providers? In many cases, yes.
