MSPmentor

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A backup and archive software vendor announces that their trademark solution is getting an upgrade to integrate seamlessly with a who’s-who of cloud storage providers. This latest example involves CommVault, and their Simpana 8 software joining the hybrid backup solutions club. Here are the specifics.

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I’ve leveraged two-factor authentication for my personal banking for about five years. But I’ve never really thought of it as a managed security service opportunity. Until now. The reason: Tata Communications says it’s working with RSA (the security division of EMC) on a managed security service that involves two-factor authentication. Here are some quick details.

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While financial stocks were on a roller coaster ride, software as a service (SaaS) stocks delivered a strong showing for the week ended Sept. 19. In fact, MSPmentor’s SaaS 20 Stock Index rose 3.81% on the week. It was the first time the index rose since mid-August.

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Is the party over for VMware and the virtualization market? Yes and no. In a surprise move, former Microsoft executive Paul Maritz has been named president and CEO of VMware, replacing ousted co-founder Diane Greene.

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Software as a service (SaaS) may represent the future of IT, but MSPmentor’s SaaS 20 Stock Index continues to slide downward like the rest of Wall Street. While the Dow is approaching bear market territory — down nearly 20% from its October 2007 high — the SaaS 20 Stock Index has slid 16.38% in 2008 and 3.63% for the week ended June 27.

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I wouldn’t quite file this under “managed services,” but EMC’s latest acquisition — involving Infra Corporation — still caught MSPmentor’s attention. Unfortunately, the EMC press release is filled with technology jargon. But there are some key takeaways for managed service providers.Infra Corporation develops a Web solution that automates IT Service Management processes (including Incident, Problem, Change, Configuration, Release, Availability and Service Level Management). Infra Corporation’s specialties include ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library), a set of best practices that are gaining critical mass with managed service providers.Ultimately, the deal is part of a larger services-oriented trend at EMC. The storage giant a few weeks ago named former Microsoft executive Paul Maritz to head its cloud computing initiatives. And EMC has also launched online storage services based on an earlier acquisition.Terms of the Infra Corporation buyout were not disclosed.

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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.

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