MSPmentor

Quick observation: Over the next few weeks it’s safe to expect managed service platform providers to voice support for Intel’s Centrino 2 processors for notebooks.

Level Platforms has already hit the news wires with a press release, and rivals will surely follow. (Update 7/17: I originally overlooked similar news from N-able regarding Centrino 2 and vPro.)

Many platform providers promote their support of Intel’s vPro technology, which allows MSPs to more easily remotely manage PCs and notebooks.

Update 7/17: If you’re an MSP platform provider that supports vPro and Centrino 2, feel free to post a comment below alerting our readers.

N-able has inked a security-related managed services partnership with Untangle. But I believe there’s a bigger trend here.

Untangle has a strong position in the open source industry. That position is prompting MSP platform providers — N-able, Level Platforms, Kaseya and others — to evaluate their definition of “open” platforms, and (in some cases…) their potential use of open source software.

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Autotask continues to build out its online communities, and plans to launch an online store where VARs and managed service providers will be able to license the company’s software, according to Len DiCostanzo, senior VP of professional services at Autotask.

I met with DiCostanzo and Autotask Director of Business Development Brian Sherman in Framingham, Mass., today, where the MSPAlliance is kicking off its latest Managed Services Summit. Here’s a bit more about what DiCostanzo and Sherman had to say.

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When ConnectWise and Kaseya announced new cross-company efforts earlier today, it made me wonder: Which managed service platform providers are best positioned to sit at the middle of the MSP universe?

First, let me tell you a little about the ConnectWise-Kaseya relationship. Then, I’ll share a few theories about how the MSP platform universe is evolving.

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James Zachman is adding another twist to the Master MSP business model. As president of Real Time Data Services LLC, Zachman is leveraging offshore support in New Delhi, India, while continuing to build out his managed services business in Newport Beach, Calif.

Zachman says his company is blending:

• MSP platform hosting;
• software as a service (SaaS);
• 24×7 network operation center (NOC) initiatives; and
• help desk support services.

If Real Time Data Services truly delivers on all of those efforts, it’s the latest example of SaaS converging with the MSP industry. Read More >

Do IT Smarter is doing it. Ingram Micro Seismic is doing it. The Utility Company is doing it. And now NetEnrich is doing it. I’m referring to the increasingly popular “Master MSP” business model, where VARs leverage software as a service (SaaS), and a third-party partner hosts and coordinates the VAR’s managed services platforms.

Here’s the latest example, involving NetEnrich offering Level Platforms as a service to solutions providers.

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Joe’s recent blog entry — asking whether MSPs were killing their own margins — touches on one of the most widely held misperceptions in the business.

The growth of the managed services model has always been accompanied by the specter of commoditization and the related “race to the bottom” discussion. But on the contrary. the race will be to the top. Here’s why. Read More >

Calyptix Security and Level Platforms are introducing a manage security solution for established and aspiring MSPs. Here are the details, along with a bit of background on Calyptix — one of the more recent entrants in the MSP space. Read More >