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 Channel Futures

Business Models


Six Managed Services Blogs Worth Noting

  • Written by Joe Panettieri 1
  • March 7, 2008

While MSPmentor strives to be the most timely voice of managed service providers, several managed services blogs are popping up on the radar. Some are from vendors. Others are from distributors. A few are from MSPs themselves. Here’s a quick look at six MSP-oriented blogs we’re reading.

Before I reveail my list of interesting MSP blogs, I want to preface my thoughts by saying “consider the source.”

Everybody who writes a blog — myself included — has an agenda. Traditional journalists try to remain completely neutral, but the best blogs typically have strong viewpoints and clearly defined positions. In the world of blogging, it’s okay to have an opinion — as long as you clearly define that opinion and let readers weigh in with their comments.

Also of note: Some of the best blogs on the Net are written by vendors. One of my favorite reads is Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz’s blog. He’s developed a strong voice that rarely (if ever?) gets edited by Sun’s marketing and PR teams.

Ready, Set, Go…

In stark contrast, many of the MSP-oriented blogs below are just getting started. Several of the authors are developing their blogging voices, and they also have day jobs to keep them busy. But we’ll be watching their sites to see how they evolve over the next few months. Here’s a sampling of destinations you may want to check out:

  1. Ingram Micro’s Seismic Blog (www.ingrammicroseismic.com/blog): Penned by Justin Crotty, VP of North America Services, this blog recaps key MSP coverage and adds Ingram’s perspective.
  2. Kaseya Blog (http://blog.kaseya.com): Kaseya is still experimenting with this blog, and Senior VP Dan Shapero has also added his voice to MSPmentor.net.
  3. MSP University (http://mspu.typepad.com/weblog/): Authored by Erick Simpson, a best-selling book author and educator. Erick and I trade email at least weekly, comparing notes about the industry’s direction.
  4. N-able Blog (http://blogs.n-able.com): N-able CEO Gavin Garbutt and his executive team add their two cents to the MSP market.
  5. Think IT Services (http://www.thinkitservices.blogspot.com/): Instead of cutting to the chase, author Jeff Kaplan writes more extensive entries that assist readers with Software as a Service, Managed Services and key topics of the day. You may not hear from him for a few days, but when he weighs in with a blog entry, he’s typically ready to offer you some deeper perspectives.
  6. Nimsoft Blog (http://nimsoft.com/blogs): Written by Nimsoft CEO Gary Read.

I mentioned Nimsoft’s blog last for a key reason: This site should be required reading for MSP platform providers and vendors that want to develop blogs. Gary doesn’t pull any punches. He writes with a chatty, informal voice. He brags about his company’s products without using marketing talk. He tells you what city he’s in on a given day, and why he’s there. And he goes off on tangents from time to time, describing his own technology purchases.

Notice, the Nimsoft blog is called “Gary’s Blog.” It’s not called “Executive Suite” or “The Nimsoft View.” It’s personalized and instantly puts you on a first-name basis with Nimsoft’s CEO.

At a time when so many vendors are producing vanilla information because they don’t want to offend anyone, Gary is out telling the world where he stands on key issues. He comes across as a real person building a real business. And Gary has been writing the blog since August 2006, according to the site’s archive.

The key takeaway: A lot of vendors are thinking about launching blogs because “everybody else is doing it.” In stark contrast, Gary is blogging because he has something to say. You may not like everything he says (I certainly don’t). But that’s the beauty of Web 2.0 technology. Everyone gets a voice and is allowed to weigh in with opinions.

And I value the opinions from the six bloggers above.

Still, I realize there are additional blogs out there. If you’ve got a favorite MSP-oriented blog, feel free to post a comment below and we’ll be sure to check out the site.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Business Models

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12 comments

  1. Mike Cooch March 9, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
    Reply

    Don’t forget http://www.smbitpros.com!

    🙂

    Mike

  2. Joe Panettieri March 9, 2008 @ 4:32 pm
    Reply

    Always good to be lucky #7. Yup, we’re reading SMB IT Pros (www.smbitpros.com) regularly.

    Best, -jp

  3. Mike Cooch March 11, 2008 @ 1:54 am
    Reply

    Ha – Thanks Joe!

  4. Gary March 12, 2008 @ 5:16 pm
    Reply

    Wow, you make me blush….thanks for the comments.

    And, that is exactly what it is – I simply write whatever I am doing or thinking about at that moment, some may agree, some may disagree, but it is always honest.

    It’s amazing how many customers and prospective employees read this and tell me how it gives them a good sense of my personality and the company culture.

    Personally I don’t believe in blogs that are controlled by corporate marketing (now…I’m getting myself in trouble with our marketing team again)…

  5. Alex S June 29, 2009 @ 3:33 am
    Reply

    Thanks for providing a bunch of blogs.
    One can also get Managed server information at http://www.onthenetoffice.com

  6. Joe Panettieri June 29, 2009 @ 10:25 am
    Reply

    @Alex S: Reader comments are welcome. But who are you? What do you do? Instead of simply pitching us to visit your company site, tell us where you go for valuable information across the web.

  7. Rich Forsen June 29, 2009 @ 10:29 pm
    Reply

    I enjoy both http://www.mspmentor.net and http://www.smbnation.com. But I REALLY enjoy the forums.

  8. StuFinancesTech June 30, 2009 @ 12:43 pm
    Reply

    As someone who isn’t an MSP but works with then, which one or two would you guys recommend? Besides this great blog here which I read daily :-).

    Stu

  9. gavin October 20, 2009 @ 4:11 pm
    Reply

    My Colleague Brian Spinner is writing a great blog series on the 11 benefits of using an MSP, check out:

    http://www.dandd.com/blog

    * Managed Services: benefit #6 Pro-activity

    * Managed Services: benefit #7 Advice

    * Managed Services: Benefit #8 Efficiency

    * Managed Services: Benefit #9 Responsiveness

    * Managed Services: Benefit # 10 Accountability

    * Managed Services: Benefit #11Risk Reduction

    * White Knight or White Elephant?

  10. enterprise managed services November 11, 2009 @ 12:19 pm
    Reply

    Pretty good to share on this comment about managed service above which is very nice some company i have come across with web site enterprise managed services going after the business demand the managing the it infrastructure services.

  11. Smith May 13, 2010 @ 4:09 am
    Reply

    A true IT partner is not only going to provide you sound technical service, but also looks for ways to reduce cost and drive revenue. One should use such provider. Learn more about managed IT services at Saca Technology

  12. wenwens September 7, 2011 @ 5:53 pm
    Reply

    Bookmarked your website. Thank you very a lot for sharing. Certainly worth the time away from the books.

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