MSPmentor

At first glance, ConnectWise and OnForce have vastly different business strategies. But take a closer look and you’ll find that the two companies appear to be on a collision course — especially as managed service providers (MSPs) seek to outsource work to one another through trusted partnerships.

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At the Everything Channel conference (Aug. 17-20, Dallas), Autotask and OnForce expect to announce an integration partnership, MSPmentor has learned. The deal will allow Autotask customers to easily outsource IT projects and tasks to OnForce — the marketplace for computer repair services and IT consultants, according to several sources in the know.

The expanding OnForce relationship is the latest step in Autotask CEO Bob Godgart’s outsourcing management strategy. And the deal also reinforces a trend toward open APIs (application programming interfaces) across the MSP industry. Read More >

PartnerPedia — a new social network for managed service providers and VARs — is set to launch in July. The site is the latest online community that allow MSPs and IT service providers to network, collaborate and outsource work to one another.

However, PartnerPedia is different from vendor-driven IT communities, MSP association sites, and online marketplaces for VARs. Here’s why.

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In the 1990s, long distance phone companies wanted to offer “last mile” local phone services. Now, a similar trend is emerging in the managed services market — where regional and even national MSPs want to offer personalized, local, on-site services.

Enter OnForce, the online market place where IT service providers can hire one another to manage specific technology projects. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a growing number of MSPs are leveraging the OnForce market place to outsource contract work to solutions providers.

Just ask DirectPointe, the top-ranked company on our 2008 MSPmentor 100 list.

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We were meeting for breakfast, but Autotask CEO Bob Godgart wasn’t ready to pick up his fork. Instead, he opened his HP notebook and walked me through his vision for multi-partner customer engagements. Everyone from ConnectWise to OnForce (and soon, Partnerpedia) has communities to help VARs and managed service providers outsource work to one another. But I could tell Godgart has something different in mind. So we pushed aside breakfast, and dove into conversation.

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Sometimes, managed service providers (MSPs) struggle to scale their business while fulfilling service level agreements (SLAs) with customers. With that challenge in mind, Kaseya has launched Network Operations Center (NOC) Assist, which allows MSPs to leverage Kaseya’s talent pool without hiring more full-time employees.

From where I sit, NOC Assist is part of a bigger trend in the managed services market. From Autotask to ConnectWise, OnForce and Kaseya, many MSP platform providers and IT market places are striving to help MSPs find more talent (through partnerships or vendor relationships) without increasing full-time payroll. Read More >

OnForce Senior VP Nadjarian

OnForce, the online marketplace for VARs, has a rather interesting spin on the managed services market. During a visit to the company’s headquarters near Boston today, I heard how OnForce “turbo charges” managed services. That sounded a bit like marketing hype. But a conversation with OnForce Senior VP Paul Nadjarian helped to clarify how the OnForce marketplace helps VARs to extend their own managed services. Read More >

Autotask made an intriguing move this week with its product branding. Solutions providers and software companies should take note. As Autotask prepared to launch an entry-level MSP solution, the company must have been tempted to call it “Autotask Lite.” In my humble opinion that would have been a mistake. Here’s why. Read More >