Do your videoconferencing, telepresence and unified communications systems work with rival service providers down the road or across the global? No doubt, interoperability issues have sometimes slowed — or stalled — the videoconferencing, telepresence and UC markets. But service providers like BT Conferencing claim they are addressing the interoperability issues.
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Managed Videoconferencing Services: Finally Cross Platform?
Posted November 22nd, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
SMBs Need Help With Managed Unified Communications
Posted October 12th, 2011 by Dan Berthiaume
SMBs are increasingly investing in sophisticated communications technologies. But the quest for true unified communications (UC) remains elusive for most SMBs, according to a new study from IDC. Many SMBs may not even realize they are taking steps toward a UC environment. That’s where MSPs can enter the picture.
Glowpoint Advisory Board Pushes Cloud Managed Video Services
Posted August 22nd, 2011 by Nicholas Mukhar
Glowpoint, inc., a cloud-based managed video services provider, has assembled the Glowpoint Advisory Board to help the company identify additional trends and opportunities for recurring revenues, cloud services and managed video services. The board includes executives from top networking and unified communication companies.
Video Managed Services and TelePresence: Good News, Bad News
Posted March 9th, 2011 by Joe Panettieri
Whether you call it telepresence or video conferencing one thing is clear: Video continues to gain momentum in the managed services market. The latest example involves InterCall, a conferencing and collaboration services provider, partnering with Informata, a video network operations center (VNOC) provider. Together, InterCall and Informata plan to offer global VNOC services to customers. It sounds promising but I keep coming back to the same question: Can MSPs carve out a profitable telepresence niche as free and low-cost consumer video services like Skype continue to proliferate?
Tata Communications: TelePresence Meets Cloud Services
Posted February 21st, 2011 by Joe Panettieri
Greg Brophy is riding three technology waves all at once, and he’s inviting channel partners to ride along, too. As director of product management at Tata Communications, Brophy is helping to converge the worlds of TelePresence, managed services and cloud services.
Seven Managed Services Blog Entries MSPmentor Didn’t Write: Jan. 14
Posted January 14th, 2011 by Joe Panettieri
M&A activity continues strong in the managed services market. We’re still chasing details about a few managed services deals. But as usual some potential blog entries fell through the cracks. So, here are seven managed services blog entries the MSPmentor staff didn’t have time to write for the week ending January 14, 2011.
Five Steps Solutions Providers Should Take In 2011
Posted December 22nd, 2010 by Maurice Saluan
New year, new opportunities. That is what every MSP should be thinking as 2011 approaches. By now, you should have set your business priorities for the coming year, but if you’re still working them, allow me to make some suggestions.
MSP Mentor 100: Glowpoint Focuses On Video
Posted December 6th, 2010 by Dave Courbanou
The fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 survey continues through December 17. In the meantime, we continue to check in with managed services providers that landed on our third-annual MSPmentor 100 list. This time we’re taking a look at Glowpoint, which specializes in enterprise-level video solutions. I recently had the chance to speak with Anil Balani, senior VP of product, and Jonathan Brust, VP of marketing, about Glowpoint’s progress in 2010. They had two themes to share with me: growth and video. Read on for the details.
ConnectWise CEO: How MSPs Can Thrive As Vendor Clouds Target SMBs
Posted November 5th, 2010 by Joe Panettieri
At the ConnectWise IT Nation conference in Orlando, CEO Arnie Bellini outlined a vision to help MSPs, VARs and IT service providers succeed as cloud computing hype grows. Bellini’s key points focused on defending your business from major SaaS and cloud companies that plan to sell direct to SMBs. Plus, Bellini described how solutions providers can build closer SMB customer relationships that generate new revenue opportunities. Here are 15 highlights from the keynote — including key thoughts on coopetition (cooperating and competing) in the MSP software market.
Telepresence Complements MSP Offerings With High-Value Proposition
Posted October 4th, 2010 by Maurice Saluan
As the economy continues to sputter, companies of all sizes are looking for ways to cut costs, but no one wants to look cheap doing so. When it comes to travel, which can run up fairly sizeable budgets for some companies, one elegant way to curtail expenses is to embrace telepresence. Here’s why.
Tommy Hilfiger Gets Fitted for Cisco TelePresence
Posted April 29th, 2010 by Dave Courbanou
There’s something to be said when managed service technology meets clothes. BT is using ‘virtual fitting room’s for Tommy Hilfiger, and it’s being delivered by a ubiquitous Cisco Telepresence solution. It’s designed to reduce travel time and costs, while speeding up the time new products see the light of day in the market. Here’s the techno nitty gritty…
Zenith Infotech Makes TelePresence Pitch
Posted April 19th, 2010 by Joe Panettieri
Telepresence — the next-generation video conferencing technology — is on a collision course with managed services and recurring revenue. The reason: Zenith Infotech, as expected, has launched Vu Telepresence offerings that apparently undercut traditional telepresence prices. Here are the details, which also include some hardware as a service (HaaS) opportunities.
Zenith Infotech: Moving Into Telepresence?
Posted January 13th, 2010 by The VAR Guy
Hmmm… The VAR Guy has noticed an apparent link between Zenith Infotech and a telepresence upstart called Vu Technologies. Is Zenith Infotech getting into the next-generation video conferencing market? Too soon to say. But here’s some chatter involving Zenith Infotech, Vu Technologies and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
AT&T, Verizon: Big Managed Services Moves Coming
Posted February 3rd, 2009 by Joe Panettieri
AT&T Business Solutions and Verizon Business continue to polish their respective managed services strategies. It begs the question: Are the telecom giants really a competitive threat to small MSPs? I expect to find some answers later this month. Here’s why.
TelePresence: The Next Hardware as a Service?
Posted December 30th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Watch the video above from Cisco Systems and Tata Communications, and you’ll see the “start” of the TelePresence revolution. But where is next-generation video conferencing heading next? Right into the living room, thanks to Cisco, OnForce, LifeSize Communications — and a range of managed service providers. Here’s how the market may unfold, and the roles MSPs and hardware as a service (HaaS) will play.
Top Nine Stories From The VAR Guy: 12/18/08
Posted December 18th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
MSPmentor’s sister site — The VAR Guy — reveals what’s next in the IT channel. Here’s a look at the top nine headlines on The VAR Guy’s blog this week.
- Polycom, Alteva Push TelePresence Into Small Business
- Digium: Asterisk VoIP Accelerates As Economy Crumbles
- F5 Networks Changes Channel Chiefs
- Novell Cancels Brainshare
- Novell OpenSUSE 11.1: Only Part of the Story
- Avnet Considers Hosted Microsoft Office Communications Server
- Dell: We Made $1 Million From Twitter
- Mandriva Linux Attracts 2,000 Partners
- Video Conferencing: TelePresence Boom or Bust?
- Sorry, this is a top nine list. Get to know The VAR Guy and you’ll realize he doesn’t play by the rules.
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Cisco’s Managed Services Strategy for 2009 (And Beyond)
Posted November 19th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Cisco Systems is starting to pull back the curtain on a broader, more aggressive managed services strategy — with an emphasis on empowered branch offices. The company made several MSP-oriented announcements yesterday and hosted a virtual trade show to brief customers. But that’s just the start.
CIOs Cutting 2009 IT Consulting Budgets
Posted October 2nd, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
If you’re a managed service provider, make sure you don’t brand yourself as an IT consultant. That’s one of the key areas where chief information officers plan to cut their budgets for 2009, according to a new survey from the CIO Executive Board.
Cisco: TelePresence Sales Will Grow 400% This Year
Posted September 24th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Cisco Systems expects its TelePresence sales to grow 400 percent this year, according to Richard McLeod (pictured), Cisco’s director of unified communications, worldwide channels. That growth could introduce new opportunities to managed service providers.
Glowpoint: Managed Telepresence Services Heat Up
Posted September 12th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Back in May 2008, I noted that Glowpoint Inc. had launched managed telepresence services, which are like next-generation video conferencing services. It’s still very early in the telepresence game (check out our Managed Services Hype Cycle), so I didn’t expect telepresence to generate major revenues until 2010 or so.
Should I Have Used Telepresence?
Posted July 25th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
I’ve been traveling all week with my fellow blogger, The VAR Guy. It was a great week for meetings, terrible week for travel. I was supposed to head home late Wednesday night. Fast forward to Friday morning, and I’m still continuing my long journey home due to multiple flight problems. Should I have used TelePresence, the next generation video conferencing technology, instead of going on the road?
Nortel and Deloitte: Managed Services Deal Filled With Irony
Posted July 10th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
All About Nortel, a solid blog from Mark Evans, raises an interesting question about Deloitte’s decision to leverage managed telepresence services from Nortel Networks. Here’s a look at Mark’s analysis. I’m not suggesting there’s anything shady about the Nortel-Deloitte deal. But Evans is smart to point out the irony.
Five Anticipated Trends At Kaseya User Conference
Posted May 30th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
I’m packing my bags and heading to the Kaseya User Conference in Las Vegas, which runs June 1-3. On the one hand, I expect to hear plenty of “Kaseya” centric news at the event. But I will also be digging deeper, meeting with managed service providers and corporate IT leaders, to hear about their experiences and learnings in the managed services market. Here are five trends or themes I’ll be exploring.
