Latest Articles

41. The BSM Top 5 Networking And Data Storage Articles Of 2012
    12/28/2012

    5. Five Costly Mistakes IT Service Providers Make When Selling Business Continuity
    This white paper, written by BDR (backup and disaster recovery) and BC (business continuity) vendor Datto gets to the heart of the contrast between mere backup and business continuity. The punchline: having your customers' data is stored safely in the cloud, that's nice, but if they can't access it after their local server fails, they're still losing money.

42. Where Retailers Are Spending Their IT Budgets In 2013
    12/21/2012

    NRF's Big Show, the retail industries aptly named expo, is just around the corner. In anticipation of the event, I've been receiving briefings from various manufacturers and have been given hints at new products that will be announced at the show next month.

43. What A New VAR Can Teach You About Selling To Retailers
    12/20/2012

    It's common in the retail IT VAR world to meet resellers who are second or third generation veterans. VARs who started attending industry events as children. VARs who have experienced a lot of change over the years.

44. One Mistake That Makes You Hate Selling Managed Services
    12/19/2012

    This morning I spoke with Sean Vojtasko, executive VP at BlueWave Computing, LLC, one of the largest MSPs (managed services providers) in the country. I was getting his input on a tech trend article I'm working on, and he mentioned something to me -- almost as an aside -- that I thought was so valuable that I wanted to share it with you right away. 

45. Blog.BSMinfo: 2012 Hits & Misses
    12/18/2012

    As the holidays draw near, I thought I'd keep things a little light today and put together a "Best of" article. Below, you'll find commentary on some of our 2012 blog posts that come to the top of my mind, for various reasons (positive and negative).

46. Here's One Secret The Top Managed Services Providers Know That You Don't
    12/17/2012

    As the end of the year is quickly approaching, and I'm reflecting back on the nine trade shows, conferences, and events I've attended, plus the many conversations I've had with managed services providers (MSPs) and VARs, I've been thinking about the most important themes I've picked up this year, and I wanted to share one that I think will resonate with a lot of our readers. There's all kinds of research pointing to the fact that the channel is moving from the traditional break-fix business model to a subscription-based recurring revenue model. The sad reality is, however, that even those who now refer to themselves as MSPs, the majority of their customers (more than 80%, according to N-able's research), have yet to buy-in to this new business model. 

47. RMM Product Review Sneak Peak: Kaseya vs. LogMeIn
    11/30/2012

    In the January issue of Business Solutions magazine, we'll feature the results of our first ever product review editorial. The test focused on seven RMM (remote monitoring and management) solutions from the following vendors: Continuum, GFI, Kaseya, LabTech, Level Platforms, N-able, and PacketTrap. While it's true there was no silver bullet winner in every category our testers at Remote Technology Management (RTM) considered, there was a clear underperformer in a key category that led RTM CEO Eric Brown to declare, "This would be a show stopper if we were considering this product for our company." Check out my three-minute video and see for yourself.

48. An IT Editor Takes On An IP Video Camera
    11/29/2012

    VAR and integrator readers of Business Solutions magazine who are outside the video surveillance space often ask me how easy or difficult it is to install the latest IP video cameras. To answer the question, I requested a bunch of cameras from Axis Communications, who came through in a big way.

49. What Hurricane Sandy Taught This New Jersey-Based MSP
    11/28/2012

    David Dadian is CEO of powersolution.com, a solutions provider/MSP, based in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ. His practice specializes in business continuity, and he was featured in a case study in this month's issue of Business Solutions magazine. Not long after my interview with Dadian, his company's DRBC (disaster recovery and business continuity) service was put to the test following Hurricane Sandy.

50. PCI: Who Really Cares?
    11/27/2012

    A while back I wrote an article entitled "The Shocking Truth About Retailers & PCI" in which I shared the results of a retailer-focused survey. The gist was that retailers, particularly in the SMB space, apparently have a low level of knowledge concerning PCI and its related terms and concepts. This, despite mandates and requirements going back years. Shame on them, right?!