The Forecast
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Will Acquisitions have an effect on Channel Trade Shows?
With the N-able and Level Platforms acquisitions still fresh on the minds of IT professionals, there is no doubt that some trade show organizers and industry event representatives must be questioning the impact recent and ongoing vendor changes will have on their show sponsorships. Many of the industry events that are put on throughout [...]
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Adding Security Management to Your Managed Services Offering
Security is becoming a bigger and more prominent issue for businesses of all sizes. With BYOD, internal threats, external attacks, password management, personal information requirements, WiFi, social media, and a host of other security related concerns, MSP’s and IT companies have an opportunity to provide additional services to their managed service offering. Managed services [...]
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BDR isn’t Enough Create a Recovery Plan for your Customers
With an increase in natural disasters, BDR technology (Backup and Disaster Recovery) is playing a key role in getting businesses back to normal after such tragedies. It is being reported that natural disasters are on the rise in 2013, which is leading to an increase in preparedness for any potential threats. MSP’s and technology companies [...]
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Why Done for You Services Makes Sense
Running and growing a business for SMB IT providers can be tough. It’s hard to know when to hire more people, how to keep them working, and how to keep a steady flow of revenue coming in. More and more vendors are introducing “done for you services.” These services allow MSP’s and IT companies to [...]
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Sometimes you just have to go for it
Most successful business owners and entrepreneurs got that way by working hard and taking lots of risks. “Sometimes you just have to go for it,” is a saying I have heard over the years from a number of these success stories. It seems to be true, as you hear the stories of how so many [...]
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Do Small Businesses Still need Servers?
As more and more software manufacturers and Line of Business application vendors move to software as a service models, the need for on-premise servers would seem to become less necessary. As an IT salesman for many years, the number one sale I made was for networked servers. This single device allowed offices to share files, [...]
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Following in the Footsteps of Success…
From the time we were brought onto this earth, we have been learning, or “following in someone’s footsteps.” All of the basics and building blocks when you are small come from your parents or loved ones. For many, the key to personal or business success is continuing this path of learning by example. How [...]
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Are Certifications Still a Necessity?
At one time, having an MCSE really meant something in the industry. Technicians and technical personnel worked long and hard to reach their certification statuses in order to obtain a job, get promoted, or provide status for their companies. But are certifications like this really still necessary in today’s environment? The answer is it [...]
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Did Encryption just get a whole lot more Necessary?
A very controversial bill has passed the house that has many thinking about their fourth amendment rights. CISPA otherwise known as The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act is now on its way to the senate and has many worried about its potential implications to the public. The entire thing had me thinking about [...]
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Do IT Companies Still Need a Retail Store Front?
Retail and mom and pop computer shops have continued to decline over time leaving fewer and fewer places for the regular Joe’s to go for technology advice. This would seem to be a natural evolution given the big box store domination as well as the shift to professional managed services and technology consulting companies. [...]
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Could Employee Surveillance, Monitoring, and Tracking be the next IT Service Trend?
It is no big surprise to anyone that the traditional office setting is changing. With the onset of a mobile workforce and an ever-growing social media explosion, managers and business owners alike are concerned about employee productivity. These growing concerns may spark a new revolution in management products, aimed at getting the most out [...]
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Have your Managed Services Sales Flat Lined?
Managed Services has seen a major growth and maturing over the last five years. From a small percentage of IT companies calling themselves MSP’s, to now most owning the title, the market has grown exponentially to what it is today. With widespread acceptance, has come fierce competition, market expectation, shrinking pricing/margins, as well as [...]
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Is CSP the new MSP?
MSP or “Managed Service Provider” has been around for some time now and has become “the” term to use for IT companies, replacing the outdated term VAR or “Value Added Reseller.” Recently there has been a shift in the way IT businesses, media outlets, and industry experts describe IT companies. Names such as IT Solution [...]
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The Channel’s Next Big Thing
It seems like every couple years there is a new “big thing” in the channel. The last five years has impressed us with a long list of new, or at least big things such as Managed Services, RMM, BDR, and the cloud to just name a few. In all of those categories new vendors came [...]
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Is Dell in Real Trouble? Word on the Street is Dell may go Private
There aren’t too many hardware companies these days that aren’t in some trouble. A change in the industry and in consumers has companies like Dell, HP, and others looking for new ways to reach customers with little success thus far. Dell has been in a buying mode over the last year seeing it pick up [...]
