Managed Services Executive Commentary

1. Prepare Now For The Hybrid Cloud Upsurge Trend
   5/9/2013

   There are a couple of reasons this uptick in hybrid cloud adoption is so important. First, it speaks to your customers’ security fears when considering public-cloud-only options combined with the fact that private-only cloud options can sometimes be cost prohibitive. And second, deploying a hybrid cloud strategy is more complicated than a public-only or private-only strategy. Where there is more complexity, the channel becomes more relevant.

2. Nervous About Cloud Security? Take A Road Trip
   5/9/2013

   I spoke with three MSPs recently for an article I’m writing on the topic of PSA (professional service automation) software. In addition to learning some interesting things about various PSA solutions, I learned something else that was valuable, which was the fact that two out of three of the MSPs had serious reservations about the cloud.

3. Growing Your IT Support Business By Becoming A Managed Service Provider
   4/9/2013

   If you are reading this, chances are you’re the owner of a small to medium sized business (SMB) quickly reaching the limits of what you can do with your current break/fix model and you are keen to know where you can go from here. That or you’re more than happy with your break/fix business and are curious to know what exactly we think is wrong with it. Either way you’ve come to the right place.

4. Use BDR To Evolve From IT Provider To Trusted Advisor
   4/3/2013

   One common misconception of IT providers is that backup and disaster recovery (BDR) is an ancillary part of their job. It’s actually the most important. The right BDR solution not only prevents IT downtime and data loss, but can also help IT providers build strong customer relationships that will pave the way to massive profit growth.  Here’s how IT providers can offer deeper value and become trusted advisors.

5. 4 Tips For Disaster-Proofing Your Customers’ Businesses
   3/25/2013

   Are you confident that your customers’ backup and recovery solution will protect business-critical operations in a disaster? Are they confident?

6. Why Are Channel Partners Closing Multiple Deals Within The Cloud?
   3/19/2013

   The channel industry is evolving – it’s no longer focused on pushing boxes, but selling solutions. Channel partners need to ensure they can provide the end customer with solutions currently in customer demand.

7. The 6 Stages Of Effective Incident Management
   3/18/2013

   The incident management life cycle begins long before an incident. Effective incident management begins with pre-incident planning, which includes mitigation and preparation.

8. Enterprise Mobility: Reducing Or Eliminating IT’s Mobile To Do List
   3/15/2013

   From the very beginning of the smartphone revolution, IT has been concerned about security and support — even before employees started bringing their own devices into the workplace and wanting to use them to access the enterprise.

9. Unified Communications, Improving School Safety
   3/11/2013

   In the wake of recent, national school safety and weather events, school districts across the nation are conducting needs assessments and re-evaluating their policies, procedures, and resources related to security or natural disaster situations.  These needs assessments are bringing together teams of stakeholders focused on the same goals.

10. MSPWorld 2013: Where Cloud And MSPs Collide
    3/6/2013

    It may seem logical that many cloud providers are right now tackling issues related to infrastructure, sales and marketing, risk, and in general, how to make money as a provider of cloud computing services. Read blogs, tweets, and other digital communications, and these issues are very much a hot topic right now.