For nearly two decades, PC Helps, a desktop application support provider, has worked behind the scenes for help desk service providers and enterprise end-users. Indeed, PC Helps offers 24×7 live support and vows to answer calls in two rings or less. The company supports 160 different business applications for roughly 160 commercial enterprise businesses with at least five hundred employees.So what’s next? PC Helps CEO Brian Madocks (pictured) offered some insights.
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PC Helps: Help Desk Extension for MSPs, Enterprise Customers
Posted February 6th, 2012 by Nicholas Mukhar
AppCentral CEO Singer Makes 2012 Enterprise Mobile Predictions
Posted December 22nd, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
If you’ve been keeping pace with MSPmentor coverage lately, you’ve likely noticed that there’s no shortage of 2012 predictions from IT service professionals who have been monitoring IT industry trends throughout 2011. Ken Singer, CEO of AppCentral, ist the latest to weigh in.
CommVault Scores as Leading MSP Chooses Simpana 9
Posted December 7th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Backup software provider CommVault has reeled-in another strategic customer. IT-Lifeline, a well-known business recovery service provider, has chosen to use CommVault Simpana 9 Software to support its new BLACKCLOUD Edge cloud-based disaster recovery service that is designed to help SMBs buy, deploy and use IT disaster recovery services.
Avanade, Microsoft Partner on Windows Phone Enterprise Apps
Posted November 14th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Avanade, the Microsoft-centric MSP, is partnering up with Accenture and Microsoft to develop and deploy enterprise solutions and services for Windows Phone. On the one hand, the effort isn’t surprising because Avanade was jointly launched by Microsoft and Accenture more than a decade ago. But on the other hand, we wonder if Avanade faces an uphill battle promoting services for Microsoft’s niche smart phone platform.
Microsoft System Center 2012 Set to Manage Apple iPads
Posted October 27th, 2011 by Joe Panettieri
Microsoft System Center 2012 will be able to manage Apple iPads, according to Heather Logan, a New York Metro Partner Territory Manager within Microsoft’s US SMB and Distribution team. Microsoft has launched several pre-release versions of System Center 2012, signaling the company’s growing focus on cross-platform mobile device management (MDM) and application management. It makes me wonder: Will Windows Intune, a cloud alternative to System Center, ultimately support iPad management as well?
SharePoint Document Management: Can Colligo Help?
Posted October 4th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Colligo Networks, which develops Microsoft SharePoint document management solutions, has launched a new product suite to bolster SharePoint for Enterprise Content Management (ECM). The Colligo for SharePoint 8-product suite now supports PCs, tablets, laptops and smartphones — a potential boost for MSPs focused on mobile customers and managed SharePoint services.
Microsoft Windows Intune Partner Push Accelerates
Posted October 4th, 2011 by Joe Panettieri
When Microsoft Windows Intune receives a major cloud refresh on October 17, Microsoft will back the PC management service with a major partner push. To wit, Microsoft has been evangelizing a Windows Intune partner onboarding and sales reference guide in recent weeks. But will managed services providers plug in?
Managed IT Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Sept 30
Posted October 2nd, 2011 by Joe Panettieri
Amy Katz and I spent much of the week in Fort Collins, Colo., meeting with Penton Media‘s technology editors and staff, and discussing some long-term strategies. Penton, as you may recall, acquired Nine Lives Media and its brands (MSPmentor, The VAR Guy and Talkin’ Cloud) in August 2011. Now, I’m heading to Oracle OpenWorld (Oct. 2-6 San Francisco). But before I arrive, here are seven managed IT services blogs the MSPmentor team didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Sept. 30, 2011.
LabTech Business Transformation Division: Helping MSPs Drive Revenues?
Posted September 30th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
LabTech Software claims to be doubling down on the IT service provider industry. Specifically, the managed services software provider has created the LabTech Business Transformation Division. LabTech has hired Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Administrator Kevin Gibson to lead it.
Recurring Revenues: Big Tech Companies Finally Assist Channel Partners
Posted September 23rd, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
When the Channel Transformation Alliance surfaced this week, it signaled that big technology companies — including HP, Microsoft, CA Technologies and Symantec — are finally ready to help VARs and MSPs to develop recurring revenue business models. In some ways, the Channel Transformation Alliance reminds MSPmentor of the old MSP Partners initiative, where vendors helped channel partners to shift from break-fix business models to managed services and now cloud services business models.
Microsoft Project 2010: Project Management for IT Consultants?
Posted September 19th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Microsoft Project 2010 has been gaining momentum among enterprise companies, SMBs and system integrators for over a year now, according to Director of Microsoft Project Arpan Shah. This in spite of IT budgets shrinking for many businesses over that same time period. It made me wonder: Will MSPs embrace Microsoft Project to manage their customer engagements? I culled some insights from Shah.
Chicago SMBs Embrace IT Services From Switchfast Technologies
Posted September 6th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
The key to every successful business is finding a niche. For Switchfast Technologies that niche started in Chicago, where the company began handling IT infrastructures for non-profits, from setup to support, in 2001. Fast forward to the present and Switchfast has landed on the Inc. 5000 — which ranks the fastest-growing private U.S. companies — five years in a row.
Network Instruments’ OI 3.0 Monitors Virtual Apps in Cloud
Posted September 1st, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Network Instruments, which specializes in network troubleshooting and analysis solutions, has added native cloud infrastructure monitoring to its Observer Infrastructure 3.0 network monitoring solution.
MSPmentor 250: Teresa Bell’s Plan for Florida’s Nature Coast
Posted August 22nd, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Even the most rural areas of the United States have small businesses in need of a managed services provider. You’ll find proof of that in speaking with Citrus Networking Solutions Group President Teresa Bell (pictured). Bell landed on our MSPmentor 250 by focusing her company on delivering IT services in Citrus County, Fla. in the state’s “Nature Coast” — one of the most rural areas in the country.
MSPmentor 250: Chris Andreozzi’s Vision for the Future of MSPs
Posted August 17th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
KnowledgeCentrix President Chris Andreozzi, an MSPmentor 250 member, was working for a Fortune 10 organization in Southern California when he noticed the company outsourced everything they weren’t good at. All of that business was going somewhere, and he wanted a piece of that outsourcing pie. His vision? To create an all-in-one instant IT department for small-to-medium sized companies.
StillSecure Enhances Patching, Authentication Features of Safe Access
Posted August 11th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
StillSecure Safe Access — a Network Access Control (NAC) solution from StillSecure — got a recent makeover. The major changes include Common Access Card (CAC) authentication support for U.S. Department of Defense Smart Cards and faster Microsoft patching capabilities.
RES Software Grows Windows Management, Virtualization Business
Posted August 4th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
RES Software, which develops Windows desktop management and virtualization software, is gaining momentum in several target markets. Indeed, the company says license sales over the past year have grown 185 percent in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Nordics regions. Next up, the company is investing to further accelerate momentum in New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and Dallas, the company says.
BBH Solutions Shifts Customer Call Centers Into the Cloud
Posted August 1st, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
BBH Solutions Inc., a managed service provider in New York, has started to shift customers’ call centers in a cloud computing environment. BBH doesn’t mention customers by name, but the latest project involved moved a national call center’s voice and data applications into the BBH cloud environment. The move is part of BBH’s effort to position itself as a top provider of cloud hosted voice, data, and video applications in the region.
Comtrend Launches Early Adoption Program for Service Providers
Posted July 29th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Comtrend Corp., which develops networking equipment, has launched an Early Adopter Program (EAP) for its service provider partners. Participating service providers can test Comtrend’s hardware and software — and offer feedback — before the products are released in North America.
Microsoft-Parallels Pact Targets Healthcare Partners
Posted July 13th, 2011 by John Moore
Microsoft and Parallels this week at Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 (WPC11) announced a two-year pact to offer a cloud automation bundle geared toward the health industry. Both companies contribute technology to the mix. Parallels Automation provides a system for delivering, managing and billing cloud services. Microsoft, meanwhile, will kick in Microsoft System Center, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Lync Server and Hyper-V. Here’s a closer look at the relationship.
NovaStor Positions as Global Storage Specialist for MSPs
Posted June 24th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
I originally referred to NovaStor last week as a “European-based backup software and data protection solution provider.” My description of NovaStor prompted one of the company’s U.S. representatives to raise their hand and says I’m half-right… kind of. NovaStor Managing Director Mike Andrews wants MSPs to know the company has a strong U.S. presence and global reach. Here’s the update.
Managed Services Merger: Cogent Advises Mother Network-DSPI Deal
Posted June 14th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Mother Network Guardians, a Chicago-based IT service provider, has acquired Decisions Systems Plus Inc. (DSPI) to potentially grow its SMB customer base. Cogent Growth Partners, LLC — a merger and acquisition advisory firm — advised Mother Network on the deal, which highlights continued consolidation in the MSP and VAR markets.
Corporate Network Services: Managed Services Growth Mode
Posted May 18th, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Corporate Network Services, Inc., an MSPmentor 100 company, set a rather lofty business goal two years ago. Specifically, CNS wanted to double its revenues within five years. Marching toward that goal, CNS has expanded its Mac support capabilities, pushed deeper into the government vertical and focused aggressively on application development services and managed services.
