Topic: Managed Services - Page 84

Crank up the party music, people! Hard as it is to believe, ChannelPro Weekly has turned 200. Episodes, that is, and with them to celebrate with Matt and Rich is guest host Zac Cramer, of managed service provider IT Assurance. Together, the three of them discuss the new ticketing system from NinjaRMM, HP’s customer intelligence platform, and the decision at SaaS Alerts to sell a stake in the company to its MSP partners.

This week, Erick and Rich discuss SaaS Alerts selling a piece of the business to its MSP partners, how to determine the time has come to hire a full-time service dispatcher, and the potential hazards of stealing location-sensitive smart speakers.

Mounting threat activity has SMBs turning for help to MSPs, who are rolling out separately sold managed security bundles combining firewall, antivirus, email, Wi-Fi, and other services in response, according to MSP channel chief Scott Barlow (pictured).

In an unusual arrangement designed to let channel pros participate in the success their adoption and deployment make possible, the cloud security startup is offering MSPs a chance to invest up to $500,000 in the company.

Composed of 12 of the IT community’s MSP members, it’s tasked with developing a framework of guidelines managed service providers can use to protect their clients and themselves from escalating threat activity.

SASE solutions are selling like hotcakes these days, but the reason why may surprise you. Let Matt, Rich, and guest host Angela Hogaboom, director of assessment services at managed security provider RSI, explain it to you, along with the story behind Datto shipping an Azure Continuity solution, Cytracom buying OmniNet, and Barracuda making three (count ’em) announcements in one busy day.

Erick and Rich ponder the strategic significance of Cytracom buying OmniNet, the importance of not customizing your managed service bundles, and the logic behind a newly developed technique for potty-training cows.

The deal propels Cytracom past its roots in unified communications into security and connectivity solutions for hybrid workforces and positions the company to eliminate a variety of voice-related security and networking headaches.

There are tremendous opportunities for MSPs that adopt a managed security model. Be judicious, deliberate on what the value is, and chose your partners wisely.

Follow the federal government’s recommended best practices, and make proactive cybersecurity, data protection, immutable storage, and orchestrated recovery a priority.