MSPs are focusing on expanding their reach through larger portfolios of services and a greater geographic presence. This week’s managed service headlines were populated by expansion news along with partnerships, achievements and other noteworthy milestones.
CSG International and Grande Communications have deepened their partnership to reach a greater portion of the Texas communications market. The companies have announced a multi-year partner extension through which CSG will offer a larger package of managed services to Grande. CSG has already provided managed financial services to the company and will now implement the CSG Workforce Express solution, which features routing and location technologies for remote workers.
GFI MAX hit a milestone this week, reporting that 10,000 MSP customers are now using its GFI MAX RemoteManagement solution. The offering automates monitoring and maintenance tasks and helps MSPs stay on top of security issues as well. It is designed to help MSPs and other service providers grow monthly revenues through automation of routine management tasks.
Connectloud also achieved a milestone this week, receiving Frost & Sullivan’s 2014 North American New Product Innovation Leadership Award. The company, which offers a software-defined cloud management solution for multi- and vertical-tenancy and virtualized delivery of cloud computing, was honored for its innovation and growth. Connectloud’s platform offers an infrastructure-agnostic approach to deploying private and public clouds while also managing software-based routers, firewalls and switches.
In a move promoting its own growth and expansion, Continuity Software has launched its global AvailabilityGuard Channel Partner Program. Geared toward MSPs, VARs, distributors, system integrators and consultants, the program offers a variety of benefits that enable partners to easily provide the AvailabilityGuard software suite to customers. The suite is designed to help providers maintain high levels of availability and disaster recoverability.
In the broader cloud computing realm, communications service provider Windstream partnered with Oxford Economics on a survey about the impact of cloud computing on U.S. business strategy. The survey found that cloud computing technologies have a fast-growing and wide-reaching impact on companies’ business strategies, innovation and security concerns. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said their businesses will use the cloud to reach new geographic markets.
