Managed Services - Channel Insider
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security
Surprising Security Shortcomings After nearly a decade of threat warnings, evolving threats and billions of dollars in technology investments, you’d think that businesses have at least a baseline of IT security protections. Recent reports reveal some surprising security shortcomings in the business community.



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    Managed Services

    Managed Services: Time to Grow Up?
    Supposedly everybody's doing it, but when it comes to reaching the full potential of the managed services business model, the industry is still in its infancy.
    Watching Old Friends Become Enemies
    Cisco says its unified computing systems -- or virtualized blade servers -- are not intended to compete with existing server offerings by Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM. Not only are they a competitive offering, but an example of how vendors are pushing into adjacent markets and turning old friends into enemies.
    N-able Puts Retail Vertical in Sights
    With retailers trying to drive efficiencies throughout their organizations because of the poor economy, N-able is looking ahead to a growing business opportunity.
    Cisco Sets Limits to Cloud Strategy
    Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior says the networking giant has no interest in providing infrastructure as a service. Cisco's role in the cloud is providing the tools and enablement strategy to help others build clouds, she says.
    Technology Spending Growth to Return in Q4
    Forrester Research says that IT spending took a harder hit than expected in the first half of 2009, but IT spending growth will return in Q4 and will continue in 2010. The report aligns with another recent report from Gartner that shows a return of PC sales growth in Q4. Declines are still forecast for the full year of 2009.
    Battling Legacy Trusted Security Advisers
    Security services are a means for solution providers to delivered valued offerings to clients that reduce complexity and costs. However, as some solution providers are discovering, not everyone agrees with the benefits of security services, particularly fellow solution providers and consultants who stand the most to lose in the services world.
    Backup and Disaster Recovery as a Service
    End users want off-site storage and backup as part of their disaster recovery strategy. Licensing for backup and disaster recovery software in a services setting is often cost-prohibitive to MSPs.
    Managed Services Reality Check
    Managed services is complicated and requires a balance of different technologies and actors. Here's a quick look at the economics, role of vendors and competition in the managed services market.
    Hosted UC Market Poised for Fast Growth
    Hosted unified communications (UC) is poised on the cusp of big growth, according to a new market research report. Vendors such as Cisco, IBM and Microsoft have already launched their own hosted offerings, and solution providers, resellers and managed service providers are also getting in on the game.
    Accenture: Price Under Pressure, Outsourcing Stronger than Consulting
    Technology outsource and consulting giant Accenture saw net revenues and net income fall in fiscal Q3, reporting pressure on price by clients looking to renegotiate existing contracts. In addition, Accenture executives say the outsourcing business grew stronger, overshadowing the formerly dominant consulting business.
    Gartner Zooms in on Key Cloud Computing Attributes
    Features common to all cloud computing solutions are services-based, elastic and scalable, and shared, among others, the firm said.
    Fujitsu Inks First Deal in North American Outsourcing Push
    Ten-year contract with Alliance Data gets Fujitsu its first managed services foothold as it tries to take on IBM Global Services and EDS.
    Video MSP Provides Live Feeds for 2009 NBA Draft
    Basketball fans can thank video conferencing technology and dedicated video networks for the live feed they will see from 15 team headquarters during the 2009 NBA Draft. Video conferencing MSP Glowpoint will provide the service, replacing satellite feeds, for the fifth year in a row. Glowpoint, which also provides video conferencing services to enterprise customers, says the recession and the entry of big players such as Cisco into the video conferencing space, continue to drive the market's biggest business increase ever.
    Endpoint Security Now a Symantec's Managed Service Offering
    Symantec adds a new batch of managed security services for protecting enterprise endpoints. According to Symantec, the goal of Symantec Managed Endpoint Protection Services is to help companies dealing with staff shortages to better meet their security needs.
    Managing the Mass of Clouds
    Solution providers are getting nervous about their future in a world dominated by cloud computing services that, in many cases, won’t need a middleman. Perhaps the opportunity for solution providers isn’t in selling the cloud, but rather managing the mass of clouds on clients’ behalf.
    EMC Jumps into Professional, Managed Services
    EMC launches EMC Global Services, which offers consulting, implementatin, education and managed services. The new division will sell through and with partners on contract fulfillment.
    Asigra Launches New Cloud-Based Backup Services
    Asigra, an online storage and data backup service, launched Asigra Hybrid Cloud Backup and Recovery platform, which allows users to backup data in public or private cloud or a hybrid of both models.
    IBM, HP, Accenture Top IT Services List
    IT services revenue stayed strong for much of 2008, with IBM, HP and Accenture topping the rankings as the biggest providers of IT services. But long-term engagements took a hit as the economy began to unravel late in the year, according to a new Gartner report.
    Security Vendor SonicWall to Target MSP Integration, Licensing
    Security appliance infrastructure vendor SonicWall is upping its managed services game with a series of new educational offerings for its reseller channel partners. And later this year the security vendor will introduce new licensing options and integration with third-party vendors to better match MSP revenues with costs.
    Verizon Offers Pay-as-You-Go Hosting Service
    The carrier, the latest major player to jump on cloud-computing bandwagon, says its new offering of can provide customers with remote hosting capacity for applications such as retail websites within an hour after they put in an order.
     

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    Microsoft isn’t the first vendor to offer free antivirus software to consumers and small businesses. Several vendors have free general available versions of their malware protection suites. Their strategy: get customers interested and open opportunity to partners. Here are few worth free AV packages worth considering.
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    Top 10 Most Profitable Vendor Certifications
    Solution providers that invest in vendor technical certifications are more profitable, sell more complex systems and have better relationships with their customers, according to the new Channel Insider/Amazon Consulting certification study. But not all vendor certifications have the same ROI. The following vendors have the best certifications for return on their partners’ investment.
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