Google: Will MSPs be wearable Tech fleet management?

Cloud-based Enterprise mobility management (EMM) company Fiberlink last week announced that the MaaS360 platform can be reached by IT administrators using glass of Google (GOOG). MSPmentor I was wondering if there was a big demand for Google monitoring Glass so we caught up with Frank Scloendorn, Director of the Android ecosystem to Fiberlink and one of the few members of the exclusive group of owners of Google Glass today. Here is his perspective.

Cloud-based Enterprise mobility management (EMM) company Fiberlink last week announced that the MaaS360 platform can be reached by IT administrators using glass of Google (GOOG). MSPmentor I was wondering if there was a big demand for Google monitoring Glass so we caught up with Frank Scloendorn, Director of the Android ecosystem based on Philadelphia Fiberlink and one of the few members of the exclusive group of owners of Google Glass today. He has provided us with some real use cases for Google Glass business and perspectives on the future of wearable technology, as well as the future plans of Fiberlink for the platform.
Scloendorn told me that Fiberlink has already gotten inquiries from customers about whether the MaaS360 will be able to monitor the Google Glass devices, so there is certainly an interest and the device is really something that is on the radar of some customers. And for those who think this technology is ' out there ' Scloendorn pointed out that the iPad that you carry around everywhere was considered a foolish consumer device a few years ago. We don't know that Google Glass or other non-wearable computing devices will see the same kind of success that iPad has over the next three to four years, he said.
So Fiberlink experimented as its business customers may want to use Google Glass. The first way is to add practicality. Writing a Google API mirror glass, Fiberlink was able to add features to its Google Glass platform monitoring, leaving work on Scloendorn back in the Office remotely without using your cell phone or laptop. Tried this while sitting in the audience at the Developer Conference, Google i/o in San Francisco recently.  (Like TSA Airport security reacted to Google Glass when Scloendorn traveled from Philadelphia to SFO?  Have not paid any attention to the device that Scloendorn put in your particular case and in the bin for x-ray machine.)
Currently, applications on Google only Glass can be hosted in the cloud, so they are limited. There is no way to download the applications on the device itself. Google plans to add that feature soon, however, Scloendorn said, using an SDK. Currently the applications that work with Google Glass include Gmail, Evernote and some applications of news from publishers, CNN and the Wall Street Journal.  Oh and the MaaS360 monitoring interface.
But this is only the beginning. Fiberlink offers the following potential business use cases:
Utility workers. When these workers are climbing telephone polls or in situations where there is high voltage, hands-free access to their applications both could increase efficiency and safety.
Hospital workers, including doctors and nurses. Google Glass could potentially be used to read QR codes on medical bracelets for health workers to assist with quick access to medical files on their Google Glass heads up display.
The next step will be when enterprises start getting more Google Glass devices and the need to manage them. Google Glass runs on Android, that most platforms EMM and MDM support already. But IT and the developers will be looking at how to protect devices like Google Glass. Apple (AAPL) reportedly is also working on wearable tech in the form of a wristwatch.
The Google Glass price may be another factor. The device debuted in its first distribution limited to $ 1,500, but when Google releases a retail version next year you'd expect for a price significantly lower than that.
And we'd be remiss if we note the mixed reaction that Google Glass may be among those who are not quite as enamored of technology and new gadgets. But perhaps these people are just jealous.  I know that being. Sort of.

Complex Hosting without the complexity: use Cloud Tech to expand services, markets

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Custom infrastructure environments built to a customer's specifications, are among the more profitable services MSPs can offer. However, the complexity and customization make these services hard to scale. Cloud-based services are changing this game.
Complex hosting, offering custom infrastructure environments built to a customer's specifications, is among the more profitable services for many MSPs. Customers expect to pay extra for the consultative work with your architects and the custom deployment and management of your systems administrators. In addition, because of the custom work, customers usually sign minimum term contracts and changes require new quotation. However, those very characteristics are also why it is so difficult to scale your complex hosting service.
The labor intensive sales effort requires skilled staff to engage with customers in often several rounds of specification and proposal. System administrators spend time validating the design and implementation and then must provide appropriate monitoring and management. Sourcing, configuring, and implementing custom hardware and software stacks takes additional time and effort.  To offset the cost of hiring and developing people with these skills, your deals have to be sizeable, and this requires multiple quotes and pushes the decision up to the executive level at your customer. So, while the deals are profitable, they take time and effort to develop, and your market is limited. The result is that scaling your business remains difficult.
Costly infrastructure is the very problem cloud computing was developed to address, and when it debuted many proclaimed the end of MSPs. It's understandable then, that many MSPs have tended to see cloud as competitive. After all, if anyone can deploy a virtual machine at a large cloud service provider with an API call, there shouldn't be a need for MSPs, right? Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.  Building scalable, reliable services in the cloud still requires significant skill, Most businesses, though, lack knowledgeable and experienced systems administrators. The differential in skill is your sales opportunity. Thus MSPs ' core competencies in design and operation are still valuable in the cloud era.
However, there's more opportunity for MSPs, because cloud isn't just a business model. Rather, there is new technology being developed. The objective of that technology is to make data center resources consumable without access to the data center. The infrastructure itself; servers, switches, storage, and more were never developed with that in mind. Remotely using data center resources, though, isn't limited to end user organization. If properly adopted this new technology can allow MSPs to remove the complexity inherent in complex hosting, expand their services, and enter new markets.
For instance, MSPs can use cloud to accelerate the sales cycle. Our MSP partners have successfully leveraged cloud to work faster. Infrastructure can be set up, torn down, and changed so quickly in the cloud they can actually engage customers collaboratively in real time. More specifically, our own CA AppLogic cloud platform provides visual drag-and-drop infrastructure. Solution architects and system administrators often use the visualization to create and manage infrastructure with the customer. Customers can more easily understand what's being proposed because of the visual display. As a result, the typical specification and quote cycle can be reduced or even eliminated.
In fact, some MSPs are now building expert centers and providing the service via online meeting to further accelerate the process. While some customers aren't ready to accept an online session, many are because cloud infrastructure can be changed readily and therefore doesn't have the lock-in risk associated with traditional deployment. Using visual infrastructure allows building and refining infrastructure iteratively with little or no cost for changes.
How your system administrators manage customer infrastructure will change as well. Rather than work in the data center, they can work from anywhere they have internet access. Such mobility produces new opportunities for your business. Your team can manage infrastructure from the customer facility, again collaboratively. In addition, if your customers need resources overseas, your team can run those resources from your office. Thus, the overall cost of management of the infrastructure is reduced. You can capture this as margin or use it to lower the bid to the customer to capture more customers.
Accelerating the sales cycle and managing online when using cloud infrastructure reduces the overall cost of sale significantly. Reducing your cost, though, is yet another enabler. In the opening paragraph I mentioned that the cost of complex hosting limited the market. By reducing the cost, cloud computing, open up new markets for you.
The disruption happening in hosting and managed services isn't without its risks though. Cloud enables services to be portable, reducing or eliminating customer lock-in. MSPs must work more closely with clients to ensure ongoing success and satisfaction. In an earlier MSP Mentor blogs I also noted how metering data can be used to identify customers whose usage is being reduced and may need additional attention.
Cloud computing is disrupting the hosting and managed services market. However, this disruption will bring new customers and new opportunities to aggressive and innovative MSPs.
If they haven't already, MSPs should investigate adding or expanding their complex hosting services using cloud technology.
Bert Armijo is VP of product marketing for CA AppLogic. He is an industry expert and frequent speaker on cloud computing and has a 30-plus year track record of bringing new technologies to market.

Axceler Offers Migration Support for Microsoft SharePoint 2013

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Collaboration governance, administration and migration provider Axceler offering a Migration Axceleration Promotion for Microsoft (MSFT) SharePoint 2013.

Axceler said its migration support for SharePoint 2013 includes features to cleanup, migrate, and manage environments.
Collaboration governance, administration and migration provider Axceler offering a Migration Axceleration Promotion for Microsoft (MSFT) SharePoint 2013. How is the company providing ways to cleanup, migrate, and manage environments through its support? We'll reveal the answer.
Migrations of any kind can be long and challenging. The new offering from Axceler is aiming to ease the process by assisting businesses with migration from start to finish and by helping businesses prepare for the migration process, too.
Axceler CMO Claudine Bianchi said in her prepared remarks that businesses want to make the move to the latest version of SharePoint, but they're not finding the right tools to help them with the migration.
According to the company, Axceler's Migration Axceleration Promotion will offer the following features to support migration to Microsoft SharePoint 2013:
Real-time collection of important configuration data -- lets users view and access the most up-to-date information in their SharePoint sites;Detailed pre-migration analysis -- provides users with an analysis of their SharePoint environments before migration so they can identify issues and make smart decisions;Content migration -- implements optimized architecture for large content databases, complex enterprise configurations and consolidation of multiple platforms;Insight into the migration -- unleashes a migration engine, built for both speed and control;Migrate data in waves – gives the ability for user companies to create their own timetables, priorities and severity of issues found; andGet granular control -- provides the ability to filter, configure and refine migration sets, which allows for detailed staging and planning.
"With the support of our migration solutions, businesses can evaluate their SharePoint environments and seamlessly make the transition," Bianchi said. "The best time to enhance collaboration controls is when new software is introduced to the businesses collaboration strategy, such as SharePoint 2013."
Axceler's Migration Acceleration Promotion is available now until June 30 and can be obtained through the company's website.
Separately, Axceler recently introduced ViewPoint Enterprise, a single unified dashboard designed to provide organizations with views into their enterprise social networks, such as Yammer, Jive (JIVE), Microsoft SharePoint, Box, and Chatter.

Tiến Adds Security Features to PowerBroker for Windows 6.0

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Security solutions vendor Ti?n has announced PowerBroker for Windows 6.0, adding new session and file integrity monitoring capabilities to its security intelligence and access control offering for Microsoft Windows Infrastructures.

Ti?n Product Strategy and Operations EVP Brad Hibbert said in his prepared remarks that the product update enables administrators to make "more effective security decisions."
Security solutions vendor Ti?n has announced PowerBroker for Windows 6.0, adding session-and file-integrity monitoring capabilities, and analytics and policy deployments to drive greater context-aware security intelligence for Microsoft (MSFT) Windows infrastructure environments. This solution leverages the company's Retina CS Threat Management Console to help evaluate a system's overall risk to help administrators decide on what privileges should be assigned to a user or system. What else is included in this release PowerBroker? We'll reveal the details.
The new version builds on Ti?n PowerBroker's vision to tackle customer security challenges by providing security and compliance solutions.
With that in mind, the following features have been added to the latest release of PowerBroker:
Session monitoring--Ti?n customers can record user activity on a per application basis. This capability is essential to troubleshooting and forensic work;
File integrity monitoring-This feature adds an additional security layer, allowing or denying access to modify files in the directory. Access can be targeted to applications or users.
Retina CS policy deployment--Retina CS can now be used to store and distribute PowerBroker for Windows 6.0 policies. Group policy is no longer required (but may still be used), which provides a single pane of glass "for reporting and policy creation via the Retina CS; and
Redesigned user interface "Metro"--With a new "Metro" Windows 8 theme user interface, customers enjoy a modern look and feel, with more intuitive and easier-to-navigate dashboard. Ti?n Product Strategy and Operations EVP Brad Hibbert said in his prepared remarks that the product update enables administrators to make "more effective security decisions."
"Security teams more often make critical business decisions based on threats after the fact, regardless of the context of addressing those threats," he said.
PowerBroker for Windows 6.0 is available as a free upgrade for existing customers.
This week's announcement from Microsoft's TechEd conference follows on the company's last version. Ti?n released its PowerBroker for Windows 5.5 back in January of 2013.

Memo per MSPs: 5 modi per chiedere di più da partner tecnologici

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How can MSPs demand far more from their technology partners--including service desk and NOC (network operations center) providers? Here are five steps forward from Continuum Managed Services.
MSPs have spent the past decade outsourcing key pieces of their back office operations to technology partners.  From service desks to NOC (network operations center) services, MSPs can pick and choose a range of third-party service options. But this is much more than an outsourcing conversation.
Somewhere along the way, MSPs forgot to ask five critically important questions – each of which can greatly impact your bottom line. If you're evaluating your current technology partners or researching the market for new partners, be sure to raise these five questions:
1. How Can You Make My Business More Profitable? Too often get bogged down in MSPs technical conversations with potential technology partners. Instead, shift the conversation to dollars and cents. Discuss financial models that drive profitable growth to your business – and determine exactly how the potential back-office partner can help to lift your gross margins above traditional MSP levels.
2. How Are You Innovating – Now and Long Term?Make sure you understand the technology partner's current capabilities and longer-term software, services and support roadmap. Ask about the past two years of promised innovations:
Were they delivered on time in an efficient, non-disruptive manner to MSPs?How did MSPs benefit?What's on the innovation road map now?What assurances are in place to make sure new innovations continue?
3. How Do You Blend MSP-centric Software, Service and Support into a Total Solution? Some MSPs chase software tools – lots of them. Then they jump to a separate services conversation. Next, they explore support options for their customers. Before you jump through three separate hoops take a step back and look at things holistically.
What you really need is an end-to-end partner that delivers ubiquitous, unified management.
Ubiquitous: Your partner back-office needs to give MSPs the ability to remotely monitor, manage, protect and back up any server, desktop or endpoint – using a web-based portal that's accessible from any smart computing devices.Unifiedback-office: Your partner can't have multiple tools for multiple platforms. Demand one platform that supports PCs, Macs, Windows, Linux and mobile devices. More than remotely monitoring and managing those systems, make sure the partner's solution can backup and restore those systems for complete business continuity.Management: Your back-office needs partners to push beyond traditional RMM software. Make sure it's integrated with world-class NOC (network operations center) and 24/7 Service Desk.
4. What's Your Vision for Marketing and Sales Support?
Let's assume the back-office partner can meet your MSP software, service and support needs. Don't stop there. Demand additional services – in areas such as marketing support, lead generation, sales engagement and new business development.
Also, make sure the partners can fulfill their promises marketing support.
Have they hired the right talent to assists MSPs with lead generation?What systems and processes they have in place for those efforts?Is there a long-term commitment to MSP marketing and sales support?
5. How Will We Avoid Complacency – Together?
If you've exhausted every service available from your technology partners, then perhaps the partners aren't innovating quickly enough. You need to fight market complacency--while getting more and demanding more from your technology partners. Leverage every last advantage the technology partner can give you. Ask at least once per quarter, how you can take the relationship to the next level.
If you don't get the answers you want –-and if you're not seeing the innovations you and your customers need-then perhaps it's time to shop around for a new technology partner.
Ask Me More
If you have additional questions about the five tips above, please don't hesitate to contact me. More than 3.300 MSPs leverage our innovations every day, and they're holding us accountable for continued innovations over the long haul.
Steve Ricketts is VP of marketing at Continuum. We provide a leading SaaS-based managed services platform that MSPs use to efficiently backup, monitor, troubleshoot, and maintain desktops, servers and other endpoints for SMB customers.

OpenDNS Web Security umbrella adds multi-tenant Dashboard, monthly invoicing

OpenDNS is doing its cloud-based security umbrella even more MSP-friendly with a multi-tenant management, a shared license pool, monthly invoicing and pricing service volume. Here are the details.

Dave Bell, President of Cyber solutions, a St. Paul, Minn. MSP, said that his company has already deployed 200 seats of the OpenDNS service umbrella.
Web security Provider cloud-delivered OpenDNS is doing its umbrella of protection most MSP-friendly service with a new multi-tenant dashboard, monthly invoicing and volume prices. Other new features include a faster provisioning process, which means greater profitability. Here are the details.
First, some background on umbrella. This service goes beyond virus protection by preventing users from accessing malicious sites from both on and network devices, according to OpenDNS. That means the MSP leaves protect both mobile and desk-based-workers with a single solution.
Dave Bell, President of solutions based on St. Paul, Minn. MSP Cyber has implemented the solution for about 200 seats in its customer base. Previously he raced in 4 to 5 infections per month, said MSPmentor, but since he started using his umbrella customers have had zero problems. It takes about five minutes to implement umbrella for each client and not on the premise equipment is required.
"In recent years that it seems that we have seen an increase in the number of infections," Bell told me. "Hackers have become more creative in working around different antivirus software.  You need to have multiple layers of protection. "
On the one hand, Bell has eliminated some of the repair work of the company performed to cleanse infected machines. On the other hand, staffing levels and volumes of work have become more predictable.
OpenDNS that says every day that umbrella blocks 80 million requests for sites of malware, phishing and botnets. Meanwhile, the research team of the Umbrella Security Labs discovers every day hundreds of thousands of new malicious sites and added to the block list.
In terms of making the best solution for MSPs, OpenDNS has provided the following features through the management console:
A shared license pool umbrella that can be deployed in elastically to protect customer networks from malware and enforce proper use policiesProvision new customers with a clickDeprovision customers with one Click and catch licensesAccess a centralized view of customers and monthly licensesAssign credit card billingUpdate/self-service information for applicants billingUse ready-made scripts for deploying RMM for laptops
OpenDNS said in his announcement of improvements that the market for managed services providers is a key area of growth for the company. So far, 1,400 MSPs have chosen umbrella than traditional Secure Web Gateway solutions to protect more than 20,000 customers networks, the company added.
"Small and medium-sized enterprises, which typically lack in-house IT skills, are increasingly being targeted by attackers. For MSPs, web security as a service is a very large market opportunity, zero-friction, "said Dima Kumets, MSP product manager for OpenDNS based in San Francisco, in a prepared statement. "Invested OpenDNS and built on an infrastructure that helps MSPs quickly provisioning of Web security services for large user populations. These features dramatically reduce the time you would otherwise spend cleaning up infections, thus increasing the margins. "

LabTech, ThreatTrack Integrate Advanced Persistent Threat Protection

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ThreatTrack has integrated its Vipre Premium Business IT security antivirus protection into LabTech Software's remote monitoring and management platform, providing more monthly recurring revenue opportunities to MSPs looking to sell customers protection from advanced persistent threats.

Julian Waits, CEO of ThreatTrack Security
ThreatTrack Security, which spun out from GFI Software earlier this year, has integrated its Vipre antivirus Premium Business solution with LabTech Software's remote monitoring and management platform. The deal provides MSPs with another way to provide premium services to customers and increase their earnings potential, the companies said.  Here are the details.
The integration will put more of Vipre's features onto LabTech's main management console.  Vipre's Business Premium solution focuses on how organizations identify and stop threats the advanced global threat landscape. ThreatTrack Security provides protection from Advanced Persistent Threats, targeted attacks and other sophisticated malware that can often evade the traditional defenses that organizations use. Its solutions analyze, detect and remediate the newest malicious threats, via its ThreatAnalyzer behavioral malware analysis sandbox, VIPRE antivirus business and consumer software, and real-time ThreatIQ threat awareness service.
LabTech CEO Matthew Nachtrab had this to say in a prepared statement about the integration: "We are always looking for the best technology options for our partners. Our integration with Vipre creates new opportunities for MSPs to grow their businesses and strengthen the value and service they deliver to their customers. "
ThreatTrack Security's CEO Julian Waits, in a prepared statement, noted that the integration will make the solution easier to use for MSPs. But it also offered RMM potential.
"By fully integrating into the LabTech Vipre platform, MSPs can more easily deploy and manage the most powerful weapon in their security arsenal. With Vipre antivirus as their managed line of defense, LabTech MSPs gain a significant profit accelerator, adding a new recurring revenue stream to their services portfolio and strengthening the security of their customers ' networks. "
The companies made the announcement in conjunction with this week's Automation Nation 2013 conference in Orlando.