It was another busy week for MSP Today, full of hosting benchmarks, channel news, RMM enhancements, marketing advice and more.
Let’s get started with what is claimed to be the fastest hosting company. Cloud Spectator recently benchmarked three hosting companies and HOSTING came out on top, outshining Amazon AWS and Rackspace.
The report, “Cloud Analysis: Performance Benchmarks of Linux & Windows Environments,” came out this month. In it, Cloud Spectator found that “HOSTING performs 67 percent greater than Rackspace, and 167 percent greater than Amazon in overall system performance (using Windows).”
Linux was another area to shine, and here HOSTING has 70 percent better performance than the two giants.
HOSTING came out on top for overall performance, as well as for CPU, Storage and Network functions.
LabTech Revamps RMM
RMM maker LabTech this week rolled out LabTech 2013, a new release the company says was driven by the wishes of its MSPs. The MSP community, in part through LabTech’s Partner Innovation Network, helped drive the design.
One partner, while appreciating the new features, really likes the spit and polish. “We've been using LabTech since 2011 and have migrated through major and minor releases with varying degrees of success. The attention to detail that LabTech has exercised with the release of 2013 is obvious,” said Elias Leslie, director of IT at Network People. “The patch management and scripting process is smooth and very intuitive. We've seen notable performance enhancements across the board, especially with the patch management interface. As always, LabTech understands what we need to support our clients and has allowed us to focus on doing just that.”
A GFI FYI
GFI Software has been awfully active. It recently bought IASO, a backup software maker that is the basis of GFI backup service for MSPs. In fact, this MSP Today reporter this week hosted a webinar talking about GFI’s cloud backup software and explained why Tape is Dead.
Also this week, GFI announced a new cloud partner program. GFI has a cloud combo, both brand new cloud products and it has transitioned its packaged software to the cloud. GFI also knows marketing and MSP Today reached out to Chris Martin to get his best MSP marketing tips and tricks.
The very same week, this week, GFI announced a new Cloud Partner program in total keeping with its own technological transition. GFI, in recent years, has turned its on-premises software into cloud services, mostly taking the form of GFI Cloud.
GFI Cloud includes antivirus software, patch management, remote control, workstation and server monitoring, and asset tracking, all in one cloud service managed by one console. GFI is putting muscle behind the new Cloud Partner Program in an effort to give more partners GFI Cloud religion.
This particular push is largely about the U.S. market, even though GFI has an impressive international footprint.
“Cloud solutions are an important opportunity for the channel that generates both healthy up-front revenues and recurring business. The success our existing partners are having with GFI Cloud is a clear indicator that the channel community is key to the success of cloud solutions for the wider industry and that cloud doesn’t mean direct sales only,” said Scott Hagenus, director of channel for GFI Software. “Our new cloud partner program will deliver a three-figure increase in cloud resellers and will provide both current and new reseller partners with tools, incentives and support to help them drive cloud sales and integrate GFI’s cloud solutions alongside their existing physical product lines.”
LogMeIn Rises to Cloud Occasion
LogMeIn, most known for its consumer tools, has a new cloud partner program aimed at MSPs, VARs and outsourced IT providers.
“LogMeIn Elevate will give channel partners new ways for managing users across devices that blur work and personal lines, as well as across cloud-based apps and related data that span this myriad of devices,” the company said. “The channel program will also open the doors to resell LogMeIn's popular cloud collaboration apps, like join.me and Cubby, giving MSPs, VARs and IT service providers new ways to establish and grow client relationships.”
There are two parts to the program. The first part, rolling out now, is aimed at helping service provider partners provide support and management services for devices both bought by the employer and BYOD.
The other phase, coming later on this year, is a program to resell the company’s productivity and collaboration apps. Also included will be the ability to manage third party cloud apps using LogMeIn’s AppGuru.
Ipanema Shrinks MSP Management to Smartphone Size
Ipanema Technologies is equipping its worldwide base of MSPs with a new management tool that fits in the palm of its hand.
Ipanema’s main MSP management tool is AppsWorks, a service that now boasts a broader range of mobile capabilities.
One feature of the new version, aimed directly at the channel, is the “ability to change the business criticality of their customer's applications, directly through the service portal. Previously, service administrators and enterprise customers were required to wait until the next business day for validation,” Ipanema said.
