The Business Solutions Network

I just read an interesting study recently released by Verizon, titled, "2012 Data Breach Investigations Report," which Verizon's RISK Team conducted in conjunction with cooperation from multiple security organizations, including the United States Secret Services.

Most of the MSPs (managed services providers) I talk to are selling remote monitoring and management (RMM) and even backup services as part of their core offerings.

As many of you probably know by now, I've been on a kick to get to the bottom of the Microsoft SBS (Small Business Server) termination debate. Microsoft is claiming this is ultimately better for the channel and addresses what SMBs want (i.e. running their email, backup, and other services in the cloud).

One of my favorite parts of any trade show or conference I attend is to hear what the keynote speaker has to say about the most important trends they’re seeing in the channel, as well as hearing their advice to the VARs and MSPs in attendance about capitalizing on those trends.

While attending the recent GFI Conference in New Orleans, I had the opportunity to talk to several VARs and MSPs. One trend I'm hearing a lot about has to do with Microsoft discontinuing support for its SBS (Small Business Server), starting in November of this year (which they announced back in July).

If there's one thing I think we can all agree about cloud computing, it's the fact that it's become a catch-all household term that's used to describe everything from the disaster recovery component of your backup strategy to the place where your MP3s are stored. Analyst group ESG released a market report, titled "Cloud-integrated Storage: Defining and Explaining a New Approach for SMB and Enterprise Storage." The 11-page report makes the case for the importance of  this new category of cloud storage as "[having] the primary and/or most active data staying on-site (as a tier or cache) with the cloud used ... for less active data as an easily scalable archive." 

I mentioned in a previous blog that Business Solutions is planning to feature a new type of editorial beginning with our January 2013 issue: product tests. I'm happy to report that things are underway, and we're starting to plan our first test, which will focus on RMM (remote monitoring and management) products. With the help of an MSP (who we'll reveal later), we'll be comparing several RMM products.

If there's been one trend that's really come on strong over the past month, it's been big data. At last month's CompTIA Breakaway event, it was one of the four big trends talked about, and more recently at ScanSource's partner conference, which I attended this week, it was also one of the main topics talked about. As trade publications and the blogsphere continue to explode with big data coverage, be sure you don't make the mistake of confusing coverage repetition with immediate sales opportunities. Like a good sales lead, you'll need to nurture this opportunity for a while before you see any payoff. Here are some revealing facts I learned yesterday on this topic,which came from two online surveys CompTIA conducted in July of this year. Check out my three-minute video to learn about the surprising truth about your customers' big data plans.