Avnet Technology Solutions and Hewlett-Packard are promoting managed storage services into midsize businesses. The partnership, expected to be announced later today, involves HP’s Electronic Vaulting Services — which feature off-site data backup and recovery services for a monthly fee.
Avnet’s partnership with HP is the latest example of distributors polishing their managed services strategies.
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.
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:
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.
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 >
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.
If the managed service market is so darn hot, when can we expect MSP platform providers to begin launching initial public offerings?
I raised that question during an interview with Nimsoft CEO Gary Read on Monday (April 7). While Read can’t speak directly for other MSP platform providers, he certainly has some strong opinions about Nimsoft’s potential path to an IPO. Here’s a sampling of his thoughts. Read More >
How do you attract managed service providers and disrupt a traditional software market dominated by CA, BMC, Hewlett-Packard and IBM-Tivoli? For Nimsoft, the answer to that riddle involves organic growth coupled with acquisitions.
Indeed, Nimsoft today has acquired Indicative Software in a bid to accelerate its momentum as an alternative to “Big 4″ IT performance and availability solutions. The deal is the latest in a growing list of business combinations followed by MSPmentor’s M&A Tracker.
Nimsoft’s buyout of Indicative has several potential implications for MSPs and the systems management market, according to Gary Read, CEO of Nimsoft.
