Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn't Write, Dec. 13

After a six-city road trip over the past month, I’m home and ready to really focus on family the next few weeks. But before I unplug for the weekend, here are seven managed services provider (MSP) blogs and news stories the MSPmentor team didn’t have time to write for the week ending Dec. 13, 2013.

7. January 2014 Channel Events: What are the top MSP, VAR and CSP events for January 2014? Check out The VAR Guy’s Top 100 Channel Events for 2014.

6. Server Sales Still Falling: Server sales fell almost 4 percent in Q3, according to IDC. MSPs need to respond. The cloud will continue to pressure the server market. Can you manage and monetize virtualized workloads in public clouds? Really?

5. Google Apps and MSPs: Yes, the initiative continues. I may be able to share details really soon…

4. Cloud Build Out: Toshiba has already launched a hosted desktop service that supports VMware and Citrix Systems. Take a closer look at that Toshiba cloud — designed for MSPs — and you’ll see that it can ultimately support backup, disaster recovery and plenty more.

3. The Missing Interviews: Over the past few weeks, I’ve had conversations with Autotask CEO Mark Cattini, ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini, Continuum CEO Michael George and other leading MSP-focused executives. What information did they share? I’m thinking about publishing the answers during the week of Dec. 23. 

2. World’s Top MSPs: Who are they? And does your company rank among them? Complete our seventh-annual MSPmentor 501 survey. Deadline for submissions is Dec. 27. Results coming in February 2014.

1. Thoughts and Prayers: Saddened to read about the school shooting today in Centennial, Colo. It’s tragic and all too familiar news… Sorry to end the blog on a low note, especially one day before the anniversary of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. May our country strive to heal our children — yet again — and may our leaders engage in a constructive dialog rather than political finger pointing.