Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn't Write, March 16

The MSPmentor team raced through another busy week of managed services coverage. But we didn't quite publish everything we had hoped to cover. In fact, here are seven managed services blogs and MSP news items we didn't have a chance to write for the week ending Friday, March 16.

7. Sharp Guy: Howard M. Cohen, a long-time VAR and channel commentator, represented CompTIA yesterday during an HP-Axcient cloud computing conference in New York. Cohen came across as genuine as he described the cloud computing conversations MSPs and VARs should be having with their customers. Cohen noted that channel partners will never get rich by simply reselling somebody else's cloud services. Instead, you'll need a full-blown consultative approach plus cloud integration services to make your mark. Side Note: Cohen said his middle initial, M, stands for Margin.

6. Look Who's Back: Former HP CEO Leo Apotheker, ousted in 2011, has surfaced in recent weeks dining in several Silicon Valley restaurants. I don't know his dining guests names, nor do I know who picked up the tab. I always tried to keep an open mind while Apotheker was running HP. But his cloud-centric keynote during the HP Americas Partner Conference in 2011 confused the heck out of me. It was at that conference when I realized the HP-Apotheker marriage may not last.

5. Overlooked Opportunity: Most MSPs talk to me about managing devices (PCs, notebooks, servers...). I still think many of the most profitable MSPs are focusing at the database layer, monitoring and maintaining Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and MySQL for customers. 

4. Big Apple Moment: EVault President and GM Terry Cunningham will be in New York on March 19 for a special event. EVault, the cloud-based backup provider, has been expanding its channel partner lineup to include more VARs and MSPs that want to offer rapid recovery services. Sounds like news is coming...

3. What If: Storage services and managed print services somehow converged? Sound like a stretch? Stay tuned.

2. Next Managed Services Move: Best Buy might be preparing some surprises. But that's all I have to say about that. For now.

1. Microsoft's Cloud: Most people have heard that Microsoft cut some prices on Office 365 and Windows Azure this week. But how is Microsoft's overall cloud partner program effort performing? I suspect Jenni Flinders, VP of U.S. partner business development & sales at Microsoft, may offer up some updates soon.1. Big Apple Moment:

That's all for now. Thanks for reading and for jumping into the conversation on MSPmentor.