MSPmentor

Ingram Micro continues to accelerate its cloud strategy, today launching Ingram Micro Cloud and a related marketplace for VARs and MSPs that are seeking a range of SaaS and cloud solutions. In an MSPmentor FastChat Video, Ingram Micro VP Renee Bergeron says the distributor’s cloud strategy is a natural extension of Ingram’s services strategy for partners. Here’s the update plus some perspective from MSPmentor.

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Intermedia claims to be the world’s largest independent Microsoft Exchange hosting service provider — so it’s no wonder that they’re looking to streamline self-service management for their SMB customers. The new release of the Intermedia HostPilot Control panel for gives their hosted services customers the ability to change their own passwords, enable call forwarding, and get SMS service status updates. Here’s the scoop.

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Anecdotal evidence suggests the managed services market remains healthy. But for the second time in 12 months, I believe MSPs are reaching a major inflection point. There’s no cause for panic. But the rules for managed services seem to be changing — yet again. Here’s why.

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When Microsoft announced plans to re-brand its SaaS platform from BPOS to Office 365, I took a day or so to digest the news. No doubt, Microsoft has made some solid SaaS and cloud computing moves in the past year. But I believe this week’s rebranding efforts reveal that Microsoft’s cloud initiatives are experiencing considerable turbulence. Here’s why.

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More affiliate program buzz as well-known hosted Exchange provider Intermedia looks to expand their partner success outside of the US. Specifically, Intermedia wants to help European partners capitalize on a projected boom in hosted mailboxes. Meanwhile, some VARs and MSPs say they may move away from Microsoft’s own BPOS services. Here’s the story.

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During this week’s HostingCon conference I noticed a rather interesting trend: A healthy number of hosting firms, telcos and ISPs seem to be turning to a specific partner — Parallels — to launch and manage new SaaS applications, everything from Hosted Exchange to Hosted SharePoint. Even Microsoft’s cloud computing team has embraced Parallels. And now, there’s chatter about major distributors giving Parallels a close look for their long-term cloud strategies. Here’s some perspective and some potential implications for managed services providers.

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When HostingCon starts July 19 in Austin, Texas, I’ll be a first-time attendee. But even before HostingCon starts, I’m hearing buzz from managed services providers (MSPs) and managed hosting providers. Here are seven MSP-oriented trends that I expect to surface at the conference.

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Hosted email specialist Intermedia says it has experienced explosive growth in its Exchange 2010 customer base — and a spokesperson says that these numbers represent proof that Intermedia is leading Exchange’s charge against Google Apps. Here’s the scoop.

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Hosted Exchange 2010 seems to be gaining critical mass. Verio this week became the latest hosting company to offer Microsoft’s latest email platform release. And we’ve heard from several additional hosting providers that are preparing to offer Exchange 2010. But can MSPs continue to differentiate — especially as Microsoft prepares to offer Exchange 2010 as part of BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite)? Here are some thoughts.

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Several hundred VARs and managed services providers are wrapping up another day of meetings at the Ingram Micro VTN conference in Hollywood, Fla., today. There’s plenty of SaaS, product and partner chatter in the halls. Here are 15 key observations from today’s meetings.

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Many MSPs are trying to sort out their software as a service (SaaS) strategies — with an eye toward Hosted Exchange and Hosted SharePoint. The big question: How do you continue to maintain customer control, even as SaaS platforms like Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) move into the market and launch low-ball pricing? Instead of living in fear, smart MSPs may want to start checking in with large web hosting providers — many of whom have already sorted out their SaaS and Hosted Exchange strategies.

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By now, you know the drill: Each week MSPmentor intends to write dozens of additional managed services blog entries. But each week, our team winds up with distractions — travel, phone calls, and something called “occasional sleep.” Here are seven managed services blog entries we didn’t have time to write for the week ending February 26, 2010.

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Where are managed services providers (MSPs) heading next? I think I found a few answers at the Parallels Summit in Miami this week. Admittedly, I suspect most MSPs and VARs aren’t fully familiar with this SaaS- and cloud-centric conference. Too bad. First movers from the original managed services wave — MSPs like Pointivity — are here trying to catch the next wave. As are MSP-centric team members from Cisco Systems and Google. Here’s what you missed.

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Until this week, Parallels was perhaps best known for Macintosh-oriented virtualization software. But that may change — starting today. The reason: Parallels has organized a major SaaS and cloud conference in Miami. Large technology companies (Cisco, Microsoft, Novell) and industry upstarts (Channel Cloud, CloudLinux, and more) are converging on the event. Here’s why MSPs better pay attention.

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Intermedia, which specializes in hosted Exchange solutions for VARs and their end-customers, has launched hosted Exchange 2010 service in the United Kingdom. Here’s some background. Plus, some chatter about where Intermedia may be heading next.

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Intermedia and Ingram Micro Seismic are marching forward with their plans to offer Hosted Exchange 2010 to managed service providers. The move comes as many VARs and MSPs continue to sort out their SaaS (software as a service) strategies for Microsoft applications.

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Intermedia, which specializes in hosted Exchange, has unveiled a 100 percent data protection guarantee. But what exactly does the guarantee mean and will rival SaaS (software as a service) providers follow suit? Here are some fast facts and potential implications for managed service providers.

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If you’re an MSP trying to decide whether to cooperate or compete with Microsoft’s SaaS offerings, here’s another avenue for you to consider: Ingram Micro Seismic, the master managed service provider, has inked a co-marketing and sales agreement to offer Intermedia’s hosted Microsoft offerings — including hosted Exhange 2007, SharePoint and Dynamics 3.0. Here’s a closer look at Ingram Micro Seismic’s overall strategy, Intermedia’s business model and the emerging Microsoft SaaS industry.

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How’s this for ironic: As Microsoft pushes ahead with its Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), some of Microsoft’s own SaaS partners say their hosted offerings are several steps ahead of Microsoft’s internal BPOS efforts. A case in point: Consider the situation at Intermedia, a major hosted application provider that’s working with nearly 5,000 channel partners.

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Long View Systems, an MSPmentor 100 company, is the latest managed service provider to push aggressively into the unified communications market. And I expect plenty of MSPs to follow Long View’s lead — especially as nimble UC start-ups like Unison Technologies counter entrenched giants like Cisco Systems and Microsoft.

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D-day is nearly here. Microsoft is expected to launch a range of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications — known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) — in October. The BPOS offering could wind up competing head-on against some managed service providers. Here’s why.

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Intermedia, which specializes in software as a service (SaaS) and collaboration solutions, has launched a managed service provider (MSP) partner program. The program was announced at the MSPAlliance’s Managed Services Summit in Chicago, hosted by organization president Charles Weaver (pictured).

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