MSPmentor

Open source applications reached a tipping point in the distribution channel today. Red Hat, Synnex and nearly a dozen open source application providers launched the Open Source Channel Alliance. Our sister site, TheVARguy.com, offers complete coverage. I’m not suggesting open source will eliminate traditional closed-source solutions. However, the open source mindset — including code sharing — continues to infiltrate the managed services market. And the Open Source Channel Alliance will accelerate that trend. Here’s why.

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Generally speaking, the vast majority of managed service providers (MSPs) grew up as Microsoft VARs. But Contegix CEO Matthew Porter proves there’s more than one way to conquer the managed services and managed hosting markets. I spoke with Porter earlier April 9 to learn why open source technologies — such as Confluence, Hyperic, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Zimbra — play central roles in his company.

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Small, nimble software companies — some of them promoting open source, many of them leveraging closed source — continue to attack big, legacy network and systems management platforms.

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GroundWork Open Source and Roaring Penguin Software Inc. are preparing a technology alliance to jointly serve VARs and managed service providers starting in January 2009, MSPmentor has learned.

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I’m hearing a familiar trend in the managed services market: MSPs seem to be embracing more and more open source tools. The latest example involves Zenoss, a commercial open source company that specializes in applications, systems and network monitoring.

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