MSPmentor

CA Technologies continues to take multiple paths into the IT service desk and IT help desk markets. On the one hand, CA owns Nimsoft — which promotes its own service desk solution. On the other hand, CA this week partnered with xMatters to integrate CA Service Desk Manager and the xMatters IT Support Engine. Here are the details.

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MSPWorld, part of IT Expo West, runs Sept. 13-15 in Austin, Texas, this week. So what exactly should managed services providers expect to see and hear at the conference? Here are six potential clues from MSPmentor.

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Compared to a lot of businesses, Nimsoft (my employer) is in a unique position in that we sell to two core markets, with hundreds of enterprise customers and hundreds of MSP customers. Over the course of my eight years with the company, I’ve worked quite a bit with executives in both markets, and that vantage point has helped me gain some insights into what makes a successful MSP/client relationship.

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Consider this riddle: How can VARs and MSPs monitor — and enforce — their service level agreements (SLAs) with cloud service providers? CA Technologies may have solved that riddle by acquiring WatchMouse today. The CA-WatchMouse deal also shows how CA is targeting acquisitions that bolster multiple CA divisions and products — including Nimsoft and CA Application Performance Management (APM).

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The times they are a changing. Our fourth-annual MSPmentor 250 list is set to debut the week of August 1. The MSPmentor 250 will help you to rapidly build a Rolodex containing managed services experts, entrepreneurs and executive names. But there are big changes to this year’s MSPmentor 250. In fact, here are eight well-known industry names who didn’t make this year’s edition…

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If there weren’t already enough reasons to embrace ITIL (the Information Technology Infrastructure Library), here’s one more to add to the list: Over the past few years, I’ve heard about all kinds of benefits MSPs gain by aligning their service desk operations with ITIL. That includes improved operational efficiency, optimized service levels that fuel better market traction, and the list does go on.

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ScienceLogic, which develops IT management software for enterprises and service providers, is aggressively pursuing virtualization and cloud opportunities. What’s the strategy? I caught up with CEO Dave Link and other ScienceLogic executive team members. Here’s some perspective.

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When CA Technologies acquired Nimsoft about 15 months ago, I openly wondered if CA would suffocate Nimsoft’s corporate culture and business strategy — which involves selling managed services software into the midmarket. Instead of killing Nimsoft, CA maintained a hands-off approach and Nimsoft flourished. But more recently, a new challenge has popped up: Some of Nimsoft’s top talent — including former CEO Gary Read and former VP Phil LaForge — have left in recent months. So how has Nimsoft responded?

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VaultLogix, the  online backup and recovery specialist, has updated the VaultLogix Information Portal (VIP) to help MSPs and VARs more easily manage client accounts. The VIP portal lets partners manage their online backup businesses while automating many tasks.

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Telephone and Data Systems Inc., a subsidiary of TDS Hosted and Managed Services (TDS HMS), has acquired OneNeck IT Services from WestView Capital Partners. The move surfaces roughly one month after TDS HMS hired Nimsoft veteran Phil LaForge to help drive the company’s merger and acquisition strategy, though we don’t know if LaForge was involved in this particular deal.

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When it comes to profitably scaling a service provider business, there are two key requirements: First, delivering effective customer service that leads to more and more happy customers. Second, establishing the operational processes that enable this level of service, while boosting the efficiency and productivity of staff.

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TDS Telecommunications Corp., the eighth largest telecom provider in the United States, has hired former Nimsoft VP Phil LaForge as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of TDS Hosted & Managed Services LLC. LaForge will play a key role in the organization’s merger and acquisition strategy, which apparently includes some deals that could be announced soon. Here’s the update.

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Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of MSPs to help them with their marketing efforts, and I can safely say that over all this time, I’ve never heard anyone complaining about excess marketing staff or budget. In fact, more often than not, it’s folks with management or sales titles that I work with, individuals who are taking time away from their “day jobs” to pitch in and support the business’ marketing objectives.

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I spent much of the week at Ingram Micro Cloud Summit in Phoenix, Ariz. There was plenty of managed services chatter at the conference. But as usual, we’ve got too many news leads and too little time. So here are seven managed services blog entries MSPmentor didn’t have time to write for the week ending June 3, 2011.

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About one-third of small, midsize and large companies in the United States can imagine a time when all of their IT assets and operations are managed by an MSP. That’s one of the key stats from a Nimsoft survey of 100 company executives representing companies with 1,000 to 20,000 employees. Here are some more findings from the survey.

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Sometimes you need to look back to get ahead. A case in point: Clint Harder and Craig Carter — two managed services experts — recently offered some valuable insights to MSPs that are in the process of replacing their RMM (remote monitoring and management) software platforms. Here’s the insight from Harder and Carter, plus my open perspectives.

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CA Technologies has purchased Base Technologies, a privately held IT consulting firm in the government market. Base offers virtualization management, mainframe technology, security and managed IT infrastructure services to the government vertical. I don’t see any potential channel conflict with MSPs serving the SMB sector. But I do wonder what the deal means for larger MSPs focused on the U.S. public sector.

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A major executive change is under way at Nimsoft, the managed services software company owned by CA Technologies. Nimsoft CEO Gary Read is stepping down, to be succeeded by CA GM Chris O’Malley. The planned transition comes roughly one year after CA acquired Nimsoft as part of a cloud computing and managed services software push. Plus, it sounds like some executive promotions and key hires are set to be announced soon at Nimsoft. Check MSPmentor again in about 30 minutes for the complete report. Here’s the complete report.

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Our next MSPmentor Live webcast is Wednesday, April 13. The topic: Maximizing Partnerships to Build a Better Business. We’ll explore how MSPs are working with one another, peer groups and associations to unlock new revenue opportunities. We’ll answer attendee questions throughout the webcast. Here’s a look at our guest speakers and some more background on the event…

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Managed services veteran Sean O’Connell likes working with start-up software companies. And this time, O’Connell — a Kaseya veteran who also had a brief Nimsoft stint — has an opportunity to work with a software start-up in his home country of Britain. In a Skype chat earlier today, O’Connell described why he invested in CentraStage and why he ultimately joined the cloud software company. Here are highlights from the conversation.

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How do you know your current remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform has hit a wall and isn’t cutting it anymore? In discussions with managed services providers (MSPs), the nuances are often very different, but several core issues prevail. Here are some leading indicators…

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At Cisco Partner Summit, several influential VARs said they are working closely with VCE — the joint venture organized by VMware, Cisco and EMC — on Vblock, the integrated virtualization, storage and infrastructure solution. Meanwhile, there are signs that Vblock could catch on with managed services providers in Europe. The story involves Magrius, a European solutions provider and distributor that promotes vBundle, a configuration of Vblock that targets the the “low-end small to mid-sized market.”

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Gritty CEOs who take the transformational journey from VAR to MSP must creatively destroy the tried and true, the old and reliable, to rebuild around the unsure (sometimes overhyped) new thing. Done right, every aspect of the business undergoes some level of re-engineering. The entire back office operation is put in play – new legal agreements, SLAs and billing mechanisms need to be acquired or built from scratch. At the front of the house, products must be developed, service catalog and SOPs created, monitoring and ticketing tools bought, compensation plans rejiggered.

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