Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn't Write, March 22

I spent much of this week at CharTec’s Service Operations Academy in Bakersfield, Calif. About 130 MSPs are here gaining sales and technology training. Meanwhile, the MSPmentor team has been busy covering a range of stories. But here are seven managed services provider (MSP) blogs and news stories that we haven’t had a chance to write for the week ending March 22, 2013.

7. ConnectWise Integrations: And ecosystem of ISVs are writing add-ons or enhancements for ConnectWise, the professional services management (PSA) and business management software for MSPs. Some of those new applications also work with other PSA and RMM platforms. Among the add-ons or standalone MSP applications that generated buzz at CharTec this week:

6.  Panda Security Upgrade: A new Panda Cloud Partner Center lets channel companies manage the entire customer lifecycle, the company claims. Panda has also been working closely with CentraStage on a cloud-based RMM relationship.

5. Different Partners, Same Location: ConnectWise IT Nation and SUSEcon will be in Orlando, Fla., the same week of November, 2013. Both events will attract channel partners — but for completely different reasons. IT Nation will be a year-end celebration for MSPs to compare notes on their 2013 performance, while also finalizing strategies for 2014. SUSEcon typically attracts VARs, ISVs and corporate IT managers that are shifting workloads to Linux — both on-premises and in public clouds. Both conferences are on The VAR Guy’s Top 100 Channel Partner Events list for 2013.

4. Dell’s Buyer: Dell’s Go Shop period, which seeks to solicit acquisition bids for the company, ends tonight. The current bid involves Silver Lake Partners and Michael Dell, plus a $2 billion loan from Microsoft. But industry pundits are watching to see if Blackstone, another private equity firm, offers a bid.

3. Cloud Myth: Some MSPs now offer disaster recovery in the cloud. That is, if a customer’s local server gets destroyed the applications and settings can all be restored and run as a virtual machine in the cloud. But here’s the thing: A lot of MSPs tell me their customers never use that piece of the recovery service. Is it still a safety requirement?

2. Continuum’s Next Move: I heard some chatter suggesting Continuum Managed Services now has two partner advisory councils. The first involves CEOs and CXOs from MSPs. The second (a newer one) involves top MSP employees who are involved in service delivery functions. It sounds like that new council will provide feedback on Continuum’s NOC (Network Operations Center). Partners who met CEO Michael George during a recent Chicago gathering apparently were impressed. George spent considerable time asking questions and listening to partner feedback.

1. Transforming to a VAR to an MSP: Don’t miss this classic video featuring CharTec’s Alex Rogers.

That’s all for now. Thanks for always joining in the dialog here on MSPmentor.