Channel Research

Appirio Launches Cloud Social Networking Connector Toolkit

• December 2, 2011

Cloud integrator Appirio has announced a new Social Enterprise Toolkit designed to help customers connect new applications with existing social networks. In plainer terms, Appirio has released a set of 20-plus tools to help bring its customers closer with Salesforce Chatter, Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the social web while still meeting their specific […]

My Confession: Why SMBs Need MSPs for Reliable Cloud Services

• November 16, 2011

Last week was a painful one for me. First, I took a polite hit from Brendan Cosgrove, director of social media and community at Kaseya. Then, I took a few lumps from Nick Bock, CEO of Five Nines Technology Group, an MSP in Lincoln, Neb. In public forums and in private meetings, Cosgrove, Bock and […]

Can MSPs Become Cloud Services Providers?

• November 16, 2011

It’s a new chapter in an old story. First, some resellers became VARs. Then some VARs became managed services providers (MSPs). Now, a group of consulting firms and software companies (players like ChannelCloud, Level Cloud, PointClickWork and OS33) are striving to help MSPs become cloud services providers (CSPs) and cloud integrators. The trend was front-and-center […]

Managed Print Services Market Growing 20 Percent Annually?

• November 16, 2011

The managed print services market will grow 20 percent annually from 2010 through 2015, growing the total market opportunity to about $78 billion, predicts Photizo Group, which closely tracks the MPS market. MSPmentor is always a bit wary of market research. But generally speaking, MSPmentor believes managed print services remains a growth opportunity for MSPs. […]

Model Metrics: Mobile Cloud Services Growth Is Accelerating

• November 3, 2011

Cloud service provider and integrator Model Metrics is claiming it’s seen a sixfold rise in demand for mobile cloud solutions, with “hundreds” of customer projects focusing on SaaS applications for tablets and smartphones. In terms of Model Metrics’ portfolio, the provider offers the aforementioned custom-tailored mobile app development, with a general focus around providing customers […]

Managed Services: Tech Cost Savings vs. Productivity Gains

• October 28, 2011

Dell Boomi AtomSphere Integration Cloud Update Focuses on Simplicity

• October 26, 2011

The Dell Boomi AtomSphere integration cloud, focused on helping medium-to-large customers and the channel pros that serve them integrate their SaaS applications with on-premises deployments, has gotten its fall 2011 update, bringing new features targeted at boosting simplicity. What’s new? Expanded intelligence for suggesting deployment maps/functions, integrated business views and additional dashboards. But perhaps most intriguing for […]

Google Apps: A $185 Million Cloud Business?

• October 19, 2011

Google’s revenue from Google Apps for business was about $136.6 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, according to Gartner. Annualized, that’s about $185 million in Google Apps revenues — a pretty big number compared to most cloud services providers that offer SaaS applications. Still, the Google Apps revenue estimate represents only about 0.5 percent […]

Is the City of Los Angeles Google Deal with CSC on the Rocks?

• October 19, 2011

A letter from City of Los Angeles CTO Randy Levin to Google partner CSC indicates the agreement between the City of Angels and the search giant to turn all city departments over to the Google Apps SaaS productivity suite is increasingly a rocky one. The letter, dated Aug. 17, 2011, but confidential until now, essentially […]

Cloud Service Providers Spar with Government Over Contract

• October 18, 2011

The U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) business purchase agreement (BPA) with vendors including Google and Microsoft to provide cloud-based messaging and productivity services has come under fire due to restrictive terms on where data centers can be located, The Washington Post is reporting. The bones of the matter are this: longtime TalkinCloud readers know the government […]

Synnex CloudSolv: More than Cloud Aggregation for VARs, MSPs?

• October 13, 2011

Synnex, the IT distributor, has officially launched CLOUDSolv, a cloud services automation platform that was first discussed in April 2011. Synnex CLOUDSolv surfaces amid potential distributor competition with Ingram Micro Cloud and Tech Data TDCloud. However, Synnex is trying to distance itself from rival distributors — specifically stating that CLOUDSolv is more than a cloud […]

Michael Dell’s Cloud Integration Strategy Is Dell Boomi

• October 11, 2011

When Michael Dell keynotes Dell World (Oct. 12-14, Austin, Texas), he’ll come armed with Dell Boomi — the company’s cloud integration service. Michael keeps claiming that Dell is more than a PC company. With a little luck and a lot of execution, Boomi may allow Dell to prove that claim to cloud services providers (CSPs), customers […]

Google Cloud SQL: Bringing Databases to App Engine ISVs

• October 11, 2011

Google has quietly rolled out a free limited preview of Google Cloud SQL, enabling ISVs to develop applications powered by traditional databases on the Google App Engine platform-as-a-service offering. Of course, you probably could have guessed that from the name. In the official blog entry, Google’s Scott Knaster explained the much-requested Google Cloud SQL brings database […]

Memo to MSPs: Demand Open APIs for Cloud Services

• October 7, 2011

As you pursue a cloud services strategy, customers will likely call on you to integrate multiple cloud services into a single solution. How can you begin that journey? For starters, you should demand open APIs (application programming interfaces) from each of your cloud partners.

Cloud Storage: Amazon S3 Gets Server-Side Encryption

• October 6, 2011

The Amazon S3 storage cloud is upping its security game, bringing easy server-side encryption to customer data. All it takes to leverage the so-called Amazon S3 Server Side Encryption (SSE), according to the Amazon Web Services blog entry, is adding a request header when writing data to the S3 cloud. When the data is retrieved, […]