MSPmentor

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.

Read More >

Everyone is blogging endlessly about HP-EDS (okay, I’m guilty of it too). Valued at nearly $14 billion, HP’s buyout of EDS is big news. But IBM, ironically, may be making wiser moves with smaller, more targeted relationships in the managed services and software as a service (SaaS) markets.

Here’s one prime example of what I mean:

Read More >

Jeff Kaplan, a SaaS and managed services thought leader at Think IT Services, has some pretty strong opinions about Hewlett-Packard’s buyout of Electronic Data Systems.

I think Jeff and I are on the same page. HP gains new scale and little overlap by acquiring EDS. On Tuesday I pointed out that EDS doesn’t do much — if anything — for HP’s SaaS and managed services efforts.

But Jeff uses far more direct language when describing HP’s SaaS and managed services shortcomings so far.

Read More >

It’s a question I get asked all the time: How much is a managed service provider (MSP) business worth, and what metrics should MSPs use to set their company valuations?

I still don’t have an exact answer for readers, but here are some clues based on anecdotal info I’ve gathered plus Hewlett-Packard’s buyout of Electronic Data Systems (EDS). Read More >