MSPmentor

Despite all the bleak economic information around us, there are still some bright spots in the managed services market.

A case in point: Next week, Datacastle, which focuses on PC data protection and works closely with managed service providers, will announce $5.3 million in Series A financing. The company has also hired a new CEO as it plans for growth in 2009.

This is the 26th deal this year involving mergers, acquisitions or financing in the managed services industry, according to our MSPmentor M&A Tracker.

Here are some more details about Datacastle. Read More >

Is encryption the next big opportunity for managed security service providers? PGP Corp. seems to think so. The company has launched the PGP Managed Service Provider Network (MSPN) to promote encryption solutions to mid-market and small businesses “through a new worldwide network of managed service providers and existing channel partners…”

Find details at www.pgp.com.

The U.S. managed security services market will grow to $2.8 billion by 2012, up from $1.3 billion in 2007, predicts International Data Corp. That’s a healthy 17.2% compound annual growth rate. It’s good to see the market growing, But I’m always a little skeptical of such forecasts. Here’s why.

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Later this week at the MSPAlliance’s Managed Services Summit in Chicago, BlueLock and Shavlik Technologies are expected to describe a new managed security partnership involving cloud computing. Here’s some preliminary information about the relationship. Read More >

Roaring Penguin Software Inc., which specializes in anti-spam solutions, has inked a managed services partnership with LPI Level Platforms Inc. Next up, Roaring Penguin will be at CompTIA Breakaway seeking to recruit more managed service providers and resellers into its channel program.

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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 >

Microsoft is spending considerable time this week talking up Forefront “Stirling,” a suite of integrated security products for desktop, server and network management. Although Stirling won’t arrive until the first half of 2009, I wonder if it will evolve to become a managed security service platform.  Read More >

I often hesitate to publish or quote from research reports, since the data often is designed to hype a market or drive sales of the report. A prime example: Yankee Group says managed security services generated $4 billion in revenue in 2006. Hmmm. What percentage of that revenue went to small managed service providers? And how much of it went to big players like VeriSign, Symantec, EDS, etc.? Read More >