Seven Managed Services Blogs MSPmentor Didn't Write: July 30

This week gave new meaning to the term “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” My flight home to New York from Denver got re-routed to Pittsburgh for a range of reasons. I wound driving home from The Steel City. Now, it’s nearly time for some family time. But first: Here are seven managed services blog entries MSPmentor’s team didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending July 30, 2010.

7. Fellow Road Warrior: During my detour in Pittsburgh, I tried to catch up with Zenith Infotech VP of Channel Management Maurice Saluan. But it sounds like Saluan is on the road evangelizing Zenith’s SmartStyle hybrid cloud offering. I need to take a closer look to see how SmartStyle compares with Intel’s forthcoming Hybrid Cloud platform.

6. Printing Money?: As you may recall, Photizo Group — the managed print services organization — received some venture funding a few weeks ago. Now, Photizo Group seems to be investing that money on talent. Tim Grahl has joined as controller and CFO; David Cameron has been promoted to COO; Edmond Yee has been added as a market analyst in the Singapore office; and Ken Stewart has joined as senior consultant.

5. Plugging in With Partners: The Utility Company, which works with VARs and MSPs to offer virtual IT service and support, is hosting its Endurance 2010 Partner Summit in Ottawa on September 9-10. I suspect Mark Scott, president and founder, is dialing up some news for the event. Call it an educated hunch…

4. Next Move?: Citrix Online acquired Paglo, a SaaS-based remote monitoring and management tool, back in February 2010. Now, several MSPmentor readers are telling me to watch the Citrix GoToManage website for some updates… I’m checking in with Citrix to see what, if anything, is cooking.

3. Getting Schooled In SEO: Ulistic, which specializes in Internet marketing services, and MSP University have inked a partnership to help MSPs and VARs with Web development, channel marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).

2. Gaining Momentum: More and more MSPs are earning certifications with Cisco Systems. The latest example: INX Inc. has achieved Cisco’s Managed Services Master Certification. Cisco adjusted its MSP partner program in September 2009, and the changes seem to have caught on with partners.

1. Courtroom Drama: A jury awarded Technology Integration Group a hefty $10.9 million amid a court battle with FusionStorm. I’m taking a closer look at the court documents before weighing in with any perspectives…

That’s all for now… though we’ll be chasing some more news in the hours ahead.

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