The managed services ecosystem continues to mature rapidly, as platform providers and software-as-a-service (SaaS) specialists ink new partnerships that extend their respective offerings. The latest case in point: Online backup specialist CompuVault Inc. is now a certified vendor for Level Platforms’ MSP offering. Here’s how the deal fits into the larger MSP picture.

According to our recent MSPmentor 100 report, more than 70 percent of leading managed service providers now offer some form of storage management to their customers. (See our chart of top managed services offered.) MSPs, however, are striving to manage all of their services from a single user interface. Also, MSPs increasingly demand MSP platforms that have open APIs (application programming interfaces) that third-party software developers can embrace.

The CompuVault-Level Platforms relationship, for instance, allows VARs to centrally manage CompuVault’s data processes as they occur within customers’ network environments.

The melding of managed services with SaaS continues to be a hot trend, noted Level Platforms CEO Peter Sandiford in a January 2008 guest blog for MSPmentor.

Over the next few months, MSPmentor expects platform providers to move far beyond backup, storage and security applications. As SaaS goes mainstream, MSPs will be called on to monitor and optimize the performance of those systems through techniques like application acceleration.

Already, progressive SaaS application providers like Tigerpaw have optimized their applications through MSP platform relationships. Level Platforms, N-able and SilverBack (now owned by Dell) each have close relationships with Tigerpaw, which develops an online CRM application for MSPs.