Seven Managed Services Blogs MSPmentor Didn't Write: Aug. 6

I’ve been a bit distracted today putting the final touches on the third-annual MSPmentor 250 report, which tracks the world’s top managed services experts, entrepreneurs, executives, coaches and community leaders. In the meantime, here are seven managed services blog entries the MSPmentor team didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Aug. 6, 2010.

7. Nearly here?: Vlad Mazek, CEO of Own Web Now, has been dropping clues about Shockey Monkey for quite some time. But what exactly is Shockey Monkey and what are the potential implications for VARs and MSPs? Perhaps some answers will surface at CompTIA Breakaway.

6. PSA A Different Way?: Within the MSP sector, Autotask, ConnectWise and Tigerpaw are three well-known PSA (professional services automation) options. But NetSuite’s OpenAir division seems to be making some broader PSA industry noise — winning an 8,000 seat deal with Lloyd’s Register Group. OpenAir has also been targeting IT consulting firms in recent months.

5. Open Your Doors: Want to explain your managed services vision to customers and prospects? Take a simple step and follow Taos’ lead. The MSP plans to host an open house on Aug. 12.

4. Big Deal?: At first glance, Zlago is just another company trying to evangelize hosted Windows desktops, cloud solutions and hosted VoIP PBX offerings. But take a closer look and you’ll discover a relationship between Zlago and Synnex, the big specialty distributor. I’ll be examining more details at CompTIA Breakaway.

3. Executive Decision: A new Executive VP and GM is set to start at NetEnrich in about a week. We’ll give the new exec at least an hour to setting into the new job before we start calling, email and texting with questions.

2. Coming Soon: A few MSPs tell me they’ve been calling on ConnectWise and Zenith Infotech to better integrate their respective PSA and RMM software. The solution will arrive soon. ConnectWise is beta testing two-way integration between the platforms. The general release should arrive with ConnectWise 2010.4 in two weeks or so, according to ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini.

1. See You There?: The MSPmentor team will spend most of next week at CompTIA Breakaway. If you’d like to meet track us down during the technology vcndor fairs. We’ll be walking the conference hall searching for news… and listening to chatter. Remember: If it ain’t “off the record,” it will wind up in this blog…

Bonus: Watch for our third-annual MSPmentor 250 report to debut soon…

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