In The Media

7. Cisco Fires Back: Juniper Networks earlier this week suggested Cisco Systems will have a difficult time transitioning to Software-Defined Networks (SDN). What was Cisco’s reply? We’ve got it. Details soon on The VAR Guy.

Natan Ovadia, a partner management specialist at Quest Software's Packet Trap division, talks with Channelline CEO Robert Cohen about Packet Trap's offerings -- their flagship product, a remote monitoring tool for MSPs. And PSA product, a new service automation and ticketing tool to track orders and invoices.

Discover how - and why - you should be selling a monthly, ongoing IT monitoring and management service.

A small businesses’ worst nightmare is probably unforeseen and seemingly unpreventable website downtime caused by an internal glitch. GoDaddy.comclients, who use the domain provider to host their websites, found themselves in the dark for an entire afternoon due to “a series of internal network events that corrupted router data tables.” As an indispensable part of some SMB’s business processes, many faced downtime that caused loss in revenue and a halt in sales leads.

By Mike Byrne,
In a recent post, I discussed the importance of migrating away from a break/fix model of client service to selling ongoing IT services including network monitoring and management programs with a monthly billing model. While I offered some suggestions for managed service providers, essentially outlining the value proposition for IT management and noting the costs of downtime, in some cases it’s not the business owner that is selling IT contracts and interfacing with prospects. It’s the sales team – or single sales person. In that case, MSP business owners need to make certain that their sales resources are well-equipped and prepared to sell IT services contracts. Unfortunately, I’ve found that very few are.

By Raju Shanbhaq
All over the world, companies are adopting remote management to manage their employees and their work. The number of tools that can be remotely managed has increased over the years, mainly because of the enhanced quality of computer programming and system designs.

By Nathan Eddy
MSPs can access a single console to manage business processes including job scheduling, technician management, CRM, service requests and billing and invoicing.

By Regina Ciardiello
In keeping with the theme of the many mergers and acquisitions that have already dominated the MSP world so far this year, Quest Software said that it has acquired BlueFolder, Inc., a provider of field and professional service management solutions. As a result of the acquisition, Quest says it will be able to offer the first end-to-end MSP business management solution that will provide robust, RMM functionality paired with a PSA system. The acquisition represents an expansion of the functionality and value of PacketTrap MSP, arming MSPs with a solution that can improve business operations and profitability.

In today’s changing IT landscape, the need for service providers to differentiate offerings from their peers is now more important and competitive than ever. Further, the average SMB’s network is becoming more and more sophisticated due in large part to the rapid adoption rates of migrating to cloud and virtual environments.  We have noticed that one of the current significant trends in networking right now appears to be infrastructure virtualization and its impact on networking. Here’s why.

by Mike Burn, Director of MSP, Quest Software, Network Management Division