Seven Managed Services Blog Entries We Didn't Have Time to Write: Oct. 30

Seven Managed Services Blog Entries We Didn’t Have Time to Write: Oct. 30

Written by Joe Panettieri 1
October 30, 2009

Life is moving pretty fast. Voicemail and email are overflowing. And we’re packing for multiple events the week of Nov. 2. Here’s a look at seven managed services blog entries we didn’t have a chance to write for the week ending Oct. 30, 2009.

7. Managed Print Heads for Home: Xerox has unveiled a managed print services effort that allows enterprises to support home and remote locations. Fingers crossed, Xerox will engage MSPs in this effort. Despite a growing market opportunity, only about 23% of MSPs offer managed print services, according to our ongoing MSPmentor 100 survey, which continues through Dec. 11, 2009.

6. MSP Marketing: Pronto Marketing, launched by a Microsoft veteran, has helped more than 50 managed service providers with their marketing and branding strategies. Seems to be a growing trend, considering all the recent reader buzz around Kutenda.

5. Magic Quadrant: A few MSP software providers are pushing Gartner to more aggressively cover managed services tools. Meanwhile, Nimsoft CEO Gary Read is going viral with recent positive feedback from The 451 Group. I wonder: If Gartner specifically had Magic Quadrant research for MSP-centric software would MSPs buy the research? Does such research already exist? From whom?

4. Can’t Please Everyone: Some readers say MSPmentor overplayed this week’s partial Hosted ConnectWise outage. Other readers say we underplayed it. I’ve developed a pretty thick skin over the years. But we do listen to the feedback. In fact, we welcome it.

3. Bad Mickey: I’m repeating myself here but for those who missed it: Disneyworld’s Space Mountain is closed for renovations until November 21. Major bummer since the MSPmentor team is in Orlando Nov. 2-6 (HTG Peer Group meeting, ConnectWise Partner Summit, Symantec Partner Engage). Hopefully, the renovations put Disneyworld’s Space Mountain (Orlando, Fla.) on par with Disneyland’s Space Mountain (Anaheim, Calif.). Now you know what I do in my alleged free time.

2. Another Big Deal: Computer Troubleshooters Global LLC, which has roughly 475 managed services franchises worldwide, is making yet another software move. The company has already announced a commitment to Autotask. Watch for a somewhat related announcement in the next few days.

1. This Isn’t A Solo Act: My business partner, Nine Lives Media Inc. CEO Amy Katz, celebrates a birthday in a few days. Without her, there’s no Nine Lives Media Inc. and no web sites (MSPmentor, The VAR Guy, WorksWithU, MSPtweet, VARtweet). Happy Birthday a little early, Amy.

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