September, 2011
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The Forecast, The Weather Report
Gossip from SMB Nation Las Vegas: What is ChannelEyes and who brought the gecko?
Ever since CompTIA Breakaway in August, the whole channel has been guessing about what Bob Godgart will do next. Bob’s a noted figure in our channel, as founder and chairman of Autotask corporation and current chairman of CompTIA, who separated himself from the day to day at Autotask a few months ago to focus on [...]
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The Forecast, The Weather Report
Live Webcast Starting In One Hour: “How to Make Money on the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Consumerization Trend”
Consumerization of technology is happening around us. New information technology like smartphones, laptops, and tablet pcs emerges first in the consumer space, then spreads into business organizations. In other words, people will learn how to use new technology on their own time, then start using their own smartphones, laptops, and tablet pcs for work purposes. [...]
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Amazon Kindle Fire: A Serious Contender?
A few weeks ago we wrote about the rumored release of Amazon’s new tablet and why we believe it may stand a chance of taking on Apple’s iPad in the tablet pc space. None of the others – Motorola, BlackBerry, HP, have been able to launch a truly competitive threat, try as they might. That’s [...]
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Check out our live webcast “How to Make Money on the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Consumerization Trend” tomorrow at 2pm EDT
Consumerization of technology is happening around us, and it’s actually pretty simple: it describes the trend for new information technology to emerge first in the consumer space, then spread into business organizations. In other words, people will learn how to use new technology on their own time, then start using their own smartphones, laptops, and [...]
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How Can Charging More Help Your Clients Feel More Satisfied?
When your client makes the decision to sign up for your services they have signaled, psychologically and financially, that they are rejecting all alternatives and committing to you. It’s more than just the contract. They haven’t been sold something, they have made a decision to buy. That may be pretty much common sense, but what’s [...]
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Tune in to This Week’s Weather Report Podcast “Taxing the Cloud Part 1: The Taxman Cometh for MSPs” with Charles Weaver, MSP Alliance
Everybody knows that services like the ones we deliver aren’t subject to sales tax. But what if you found out that all the Managed Services revenue you’ve earned since your business opened its doors was in fact subject to sales tax? Would you be able to come up with that kind of cash if the [...]
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Net Neutrality Rules Published by FCC. What Could They Mean for the Future of the Web?
On Friday the Federal Communications Commission published the first set of rules on Net Neutrality. After 10 months on the shelf (having been released last December), publishing these rules to the Federal Register is considered a milestone to protect consumers by establishing “rules of the road” for the internet. The rules are set to take [...]
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Facebook: Why are we here?
If you’re a Facebook user (and who isn’t these days?) you’ve probably noticed some changes this week. Some people like them, I’m sure, but most people I’ve talked with are less than thrilled. So what gives? This week at the developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg and the team illuminated Facebook’s vision for its future and ours. [...]
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Register Now For Our Live Webcast “Sales Presentations That Get the Deal Closed” Today at 2pm EDT
Are you struggling to help your clients understand how your solutions can really help their businesses? Do you find yourself feeling less than confident, or unclear about your client’s reactions to your sales presentations? Join Kate Hunt for our live webcast today at 2pm EDT to learn: • The objectives of a Sales Presentation • [...]
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Taxing the Cloud Part Two: Questions Without Answers
A few weeks ago I posted a blog about whether cloud services should be taxed as products or services, in which I asserted that cloud services should be considered nontaxable services. Something of a debate erupted over that blog. And when I say debate, I mean that people disagreed with me. Here’s my over-simplified summary [...]
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Having Great Clients Today Does Not Guarantee You Will Have Them Tomorrow!
Remember that your competition wants your clients, and wants them bad. You should also assume that they can do it cheaper. They are inundating the airwaves, print, and online media with marketing hype in order to take your clients away from you. “They” could be another MSP, or a big-name vendor, or even an ISP [...]
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BlackBerry PlayBook: One Tablet, So Many Problems
At the end of last week, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) announced their latest quarter’s earnings. The numbers are bad. RIM shipped 200,000 PlayBooks (compared to its own expectation of 600,000 and Apple’s reported sales of over 9 million iPads last quarter), and reported a 47% dropoff in profit. The company reported shipment of [...]
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Have You Heard About ChannelWiki?
Last week we posted this blog announcing the creation of a new resource for the entire IT channel. ChannelWiki: Of the channel, by the channel, for the channel. If you offer a solution or service to the IT channel, just fill out the profile (only 12 questions) to be included in the Wiki: Looks Cloudy [...]
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Netflix Is Rebranding DVD Delivery Business…But WHY?
Netflix angered a lot of customers in July when they announced a 60% price increase, and as a result, both their subscription forecasts and stock prices have taken significant hits. They explained the price hike thusly: the Netflix streaming service didn’t cut into the DVD business as fast as they expected it to, and they [...]
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How The Cloud Is Changing The Way People Work
Hosted and web based technologies stand to make a major impact on how businesses operate. We’ve discussed this in some depth here on Looks Cloudy. What’s also interesting to me is how “The Cloud” is changing, and will in the future change, the way that people do their jobs. For us in the IT industry, [...]
