The first news came last week from Level Platforms, which
took the lid off of added functionality to its Managed Workplace platform that
improves managed service providers' monitoring and support capabilities . With
this new release Level Platforms added a new remote tools function and a new
plug-in Service Module architecture to extend the Policy Module monitoring and
allow for deeper integration with third-party packages, such as Symantec Backup
Exec. Also added was a new set of IT performance reports, automated collection
of warranty information for improved alerting and reporting and enhanced SNMP
monitoring.
“Managed Workplace 2011 R2 delivers a powerful mix of
revenue generating service delivery features” said Peter Sandiford, CEO of Level
Platforms. “The warranty management features alone will create sales and
service opportunities you won’t find anywhere else. The integration with
Symantec Backup Exec establishes an entirely new class of capabilities for
Remote Monitoring and Management Software, extending the concept of Management
to include not only traditional problem remediation but also the deployment and
management of all key technologies from a single web-based Managed Workplace dashboard.”
In a similar vein, this week ConnectWise also made an update
with the release of its ConnectWise 2011.3, rolling out a new customer portal,
at-a-glance SLA status for service boards, and more flexibility and options for
invoicing and reporting. The company also improved its Email Connector to
streamline ticket creation to help providers improve their ability to meet
SLAs. ConnectWise executives say all of the improvements were made with an eye
toward better enabling a service-centric channel model.
"Our industry, and our solution, continues to evolve
towards greater emphasis on managed services, increased flexibility in meeting
customer needs, and easier collaboration between team members as well as with
client IT and management," said Arnie Bellini, ConnectWise CEO.
"ConnectWise 2011.3 delivers workflow and client service options our
partners will appreciate and implement immediately."
Meanwhile, sales quote and proposal software developer
Quosal this week also rolled out updates to its platform. The firm released
Quosal 2012, which introduced API extensions to integrate with ConnectWise and
Autotask. The software also added integration with Microsoft CRM and Dynamics,
salesforce.com and Avalara's AvaTax software. Additionally, it also added a new
Visual Quoting feature that gives partners the ability to convert any image
into a format that can be imported into Quosal so that customer quotes and
proposals can be prepared by clicking on designated areas within the image.
"This new capability of Quosal will not only make it
easier to create quotes and proposals, but will actually make the preparation
of the quote a part of the presentation to the customer," said Kent
McNall, president and CEO of Quosal.
Managed Services 
