MSPmentor

Another week has flown by. Missed deadlines. Dropped cell phone calls. Delayed video posts. Boy, I’m on a roll. Kidding aside, here are seven managed services blog entries that MSPmentor didn’t have time to write for the week ending March 19, 2010.

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We got a bit distracted this week by CA Inc.’s surprise buyout of Nimsoft for $350 million. Several other stories and deadlines slipped through he cracks. Here are seven managed services blog entries our team didn’t have time to write for the week ending March 12, 2010.

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CA’s Chris O’Malley (pictured) and Nimsoft’s Gary Read dialed me about an hour ago to offer additional insights on CA’s $350 million buyout of Nimsoft. When did the negotiations start, how did Nimsoft initially react — and why is CA so intrigued by the managed services market? O’Malley and Read provide the answers. Here they are.

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Another day, another MSP deal. The latest: CA Inc. has purchased privately held Nimsoft for $350 million in cold hard cash. The move has far-reaching implications for managed services providers as well as the MSP software industry. Here’s a first look at the deal, and how we expect it to impact the MSP landscape.

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Anybody with a competitive bone in his or her body hates to lose a deal to the “other guy.” But while a loss to a peer MSP can drive anyone to a cold adult beverage, nothing stings like losing to a customer “no decision.” You know the scenario. Here are three ways to solve it.

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Kaseya has launched a global Software as a Service partner program. Known as KSP (Kaseya SaaS Partner Program), the initiative allows partners to “promote, refer and market” Kaseya’s SaaS and IT offerings to their respective channels. It’s easy to see what’s in it for Kaseya. The bigger question: What’s in it for partners? And what are the implications for the broader managed services software market? Here are some thoughts.

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Hewlett-Packard evangelists sound pretty excited by the company’s latest quarterly financial results. The Associated Press noted “revenue was up in most of the technology company’s major divisions and HP raised its 2010 outlook, citing accelerating market momentum.” Great news for HP partners. But there were two weak spots in the earnings report: HP Services and HP Software. Here are the details.

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The old rumor is back. Some skeptics think Kaseya is taking more and more of its business direct. Kaseya CEO Gerald Blackie has written a blog to combat the rumor. In the piece, Blackie describes where Kaseya works with partners and where Kaseya expects to work directly with customers. So what’s the strategy? Here’s some perspective.

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When I want to learn about a business topic, I always try to get the scoop from people who are battling it out in the trenches. Real-world success trumps the white board gurus any day. So, for this blog post, I’m culling business insights, sales advice and cloud strategies from three MSP All-Stars. Here’s their guidance.

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When Hewlett-Packard this week launched a security services portfolio, the announcement included a brief mention of managed security services. No doubt, HP promotes managed services to large enterprises. But is the hardware giant starting to take a closer look at channel-centric managed services? Here are some thoughts.

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Nimsoft and Groundwork Open Source are strikingly different companies. And they rarely run into each other in competitive settings. Now here’s the irony: Both companies claim they are displacing BMC, CA, HP Openview and IBM Tivoli in some enterprise accounts. And yes, there’s a managed services hook here. Let me explain.

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Our first MSPmentor Live webcast of 2010 has nearly arrived. It’s scheduled for January 20. Here’s a look at the topic, our guest speakers and two surprises (yes: they involve Amazon’s Kindle) we have in store for the webcast.

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Our first MSPmentor Live webcast of 2010 is scheduled for January 20. Here’s a look at the topic, our guest speakers and two surprises (hint: they involve Amazon’s Kindle) we have in store for the webcast.

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We spend quite a bit of time on MSPmentor covering small but fast-growing software companies that cater to the managed services market. But occasionally an industry titan will catch our attention. A case in point: IBM made a key move this week, and it involved small and midsized communication service providers (CSPs). Does this mean the Big 4 systems management companies (BMC, CA, HP, IBM) are finally waking up to managed services? Here’s some perspective and speculation.

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Our first MSPmentor Live webcast of 2010 is scheduled for January 20. Our guest speakers — representing three top managed service providers and Nimsoft — will cover key questions for growth-oriented small, midsize and large MSPs. Here’s a closer look at the webcast.

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Before you celebrate the New Year please do one thing: Register now for MSPmentor’s January 20, 2010 webcast. We’re shaking up the format a bit to ensure the content answers key questions for growth-oriented small, midsize and large MSPs. Here’s a quick look at what we’ll cover — plus, our guest speakers.

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Intronis, an online backup specialist, is the latest company to plug into ConnectWise’s Professional Services Automation (PSA) platform. The move could give ConnectWise’s partner base easier access to the managed storage market. Here’s why.

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Service Providers are worried about the future prospects of their current managed service offerings in the face of emerging competition. More and more customer compute dollars could flow toward cloud providers with huge scale advantages like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.  I get the concern. But the cloud genie is not going back in the bottle. Here’s how to move forward.

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Paessler AG, an old hand in the network monitoring game with more than a decade of experience, is taking a fresh look at the managed services market. I spoke to Ken Sanofsky, Paessler’s general manager for North America, about the company’s push into the managed services channel. Here’s a recap of the conversation.

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Nimsoft has launched a Unified Monitoring Alliance that includes Autotask, ConnectWise, FusionStorm, Ingram Micro, Rackspace Hosting and roughly 30 other service providers and independent software vendors. What does all this mean? Here’s my take on Nimsoft’s efforts.

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When managed service providers say they target midsize customers, the statement can mean many things. In one scenario, the MSPs remotely manage midsize corporate networks. In another scenario, the MSPs resell remote monitoring and management software into midmarket IT departments, and therefore develop new business relationships with midmarket customers. N-able’s channel partners seem to be gaining momentum in that latter scenario. Here’s some analysis.

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Take a look at recent financial data points from CA Inc., Nimsoft and Siemens Enterprise Communications Group (SEN Group). You’ll notice an emerging trend: It’s hip to disclose recurring revenue and managed services revenue information. The reason: Wall Street and financial watchers consider the recurring revenue model a sign of business stability. Plus, there’s a need to rise above the MSP industry noise, where the mainstream press and some of the high-tech press continue to foolishly hype managed services as recession proof. Here’s some perspective…

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ServiceKey, a master MSP, is attracting a growing partner base with a portfolio of services that aim to address some basic end-customer needs. The Norcross, Ga. company strictly follows a channel model, providing services that VARs, integrations, MSPs and other channel partners offer under their own brand. Roughly 75 VARs and MSPs are on board. Here’s the scoop.

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