MSPmentor

MSPmentor and its sister site, The VAR Guy, are scheduled to record a podcast August 26 with Greg Davis, vice president and general manager of Dell Inc.’s Americas Channel Group. Davis leads Dell’s PartnerDirect channel initiative. If you have questions or comments for Davis, please send them to our editorial director, Joe Panettieri (joe [at] ninelivesmediainc.com).

I spent some time at Kaseya’s User Conference in Las Vegas. Here is a poolside video interview featuring Kaseya CEO Gerald Blackie.

During our conversation, Blackie describes:

• How Kaseya and managed services have evolved from 2007 to 2008
• International trends in managed services
• Key trends Kaseya customers should monitor at the user conference.

Take a look:

As I mentioned August 8, software as a service (SaaS) stocks have been moving higher lately. In fact, MSPmentor’s SaaS 20 Stock Index has climbed four consecutive weeks.

What’s behind the upward trend — empty Wall Street hype? Actually, no. In recent weeks, surprisingly strong earnings results have given our index members a boost. Last week’s biggest winners included Athenahealth Inc. (ATHN, +19.47 for the week ended Aug. 8), SuccessFactors Inc. (SFSF, +18.18%), Kenexa Corp. (KNXA, +16.31%), Concur Tech Inc. (CNQR, +16.17%), Taleo Corp. (TLEO, +13.18%) and Omniture Inc. (OMTR, +10.55%).

Here’s a closer look at each SaaS company and its recent momentum.

Read More >

MSPmentor’s SaaS 20 Stock Index rose a record 6.98% for the week ended August 8, marking the fourth consecutive week that the index, which tracks software as a service (SaaS) companies, has climbed.

I’ll be back on August 11 or sooner with some analysis of the weekly winners and losers. In the meantime, you can view the index members and their performance by visiting our SaaS 20 Stock Index center.

Led by Salary.com, the SaaS 20 Stock Index, which tracks the software as a service market, has posted one of its strongest showings this year. The index rose 3.30% for the week ended August 1 — easily beating one-week performances for the Dow (down 0.5%) and the S&P 500 (up .02%).

The SaaS 20 Stock Index’s biggest weekly winners were:

• Salary.com (SLRY, +22.73%)
• Websense Inc. (WBSN, +16.20%)
• Concur Technology Inc. (CNQR, +14.45%)
• Taleo Corp. (TLEO, +13.95%) and
• RightNow (RNOW, +12.25%)

Still, the news wasn’t all good. The index’s biggest weekly losers were Omniture Inc. (OMTR, -7.28%) and SuccessFactors Inc. (SFSF, -6.45%). And despite a one-month rally, the index is still down more than 13% so far this year.

Here’s a closer look at some of the weekly trends. Read More >

A strong financial report from Amazon.com lifted the SaaS 20 Stock index a tiny 0.20% gain for the week ended July 25. The index has now climbed almost four percent since early July. Are software as a service (SaaS) stocks ready to continue a rally? We’ll find out on July 30, when RightNow (RNOW) is scheduled to announce 2Q results after the market closes.

Read More >

Small businesses with 20 to 100 employees are the most ideal targets for managed service providers, according to Dan Shapero, senior VP of marketing at Kaseya. Dan made that statement during lunch with me on July 21. I was quick to agree with Dan. But why? Was I guilty of shaking my head in agreement without really crunching the numbers?

Is there a solid, logical reason why MSPs should target small businesses with 20 to 100 employees? Actually, yes. Here’s the quick reasoning. Read More >

I’ll be in Los Angeles Monday afternoon meeting with Dan Shapero, senior VP of marketing for Kaseya. I’ve known Dan for about two years now, and he’s a straight-shooter when it comes to answering key questions about the company or the broader managed services industry. If you have questions, you can post comments below or email me (joe [at] ninelivesmediainc.com).