The VAR Guy

There’s still time to register for today’s Channel Expert Hour Webcast. Our topic: How to build cloud backup partnerships that allow MSPs and VARs to control pricing, margins and service level agreements. Two top IT service providers  — Data Storage Corp. and Bumi (Backup My Info!) — and Asigra will offer their perspectives on cloud backup. We’ll cover the questions Data Storage Corp. and Bumi asked while investigating potential cloud storage partnerships.

The Super Bowl is nearly here — but The VAR Guy can’t say much about The Big Game since some of our blog team members are lifelong New England Patriots fans. And other bloggers here are far wiser New York Giants fans. (Guess which camp the always-wise VAR Guy belongs to?) While you’re weighing the answer to that question, here are the nine most read technology news and channel partner stories from our blog network — The VAR Guy, MSPmentor and Talkin’ Cloud — for the week ending Feb. 3, 2012.

The VAR Guy just got a call from HR double-checking a help-wanted ad for a freelance website manager. Yes indeed, our resident blogger’s alleged media empire needs to find additional talent to fuel more growth. But even before more help arrives, web traffic continues to grow. Here are the nine most read technology news and channel partner stories from our blog network — The VAR Guy, MSPmentor and Talkin’ Cloud — for the week ending Jan. 27, 2012.

The VAR Guy may try to squeeze his way into Candlestick Park this weekend to watch the Giants vs. 49ers. But before our resident blogger begins an alleged cross-country journey from New York to San Francisco, here’s a look at the nine most read channel partner news stories from our blog network — The VAR Guy, MSPmentor and Talkin’ Cloud — for the week ending January 20, 2012.

Join us Wednesday (Sept. 21, 2:00 p.m. eastern) for our next webcast, The topic: Deliver New Customer Value With the Managed IT Services Tools You Already Have. Two talented MSPs (Rick Vines of Axcell Technologies and Michael Nelson of TLC Tech) plus Eric Townsend of Intel will describe MSP best practices for customer retention and customer satisfaction. I will moderate the discussion and ensure our experts answer your questions. Please join us.

Yes, The VAR Guy has a new owner — Penton Media. But did The VAR Guy sell his soul when Penton acquired Nine Lives Media? Hardly. Our resident blogger visited Penton Media’s Fort Collins, Colo., offices this week. During the visit, The VAR Guy gathered lots of information about Penton Media’s web prowess. It’s too soon to say how The VAR Guy may potentially leverage those resources. But our resident blogger promises to maintain his unique voice. Here’s a look at the visit.

At first glance, today is like any other day for The VAR Guy. Our anonymous blogger is seated at Starbucks, sipping a Venti Mocha Latte, and tapping into free WiFi. But if you check the news wires you’ll notice one big difference today: Nine Lives Media Inc., the company behind The VAR Guy, has been acquired by Penton Media. So, how will the deal impact The VAR Guy’s unique voice? In short, The VAR Guy’s voice is about to grow even louder. A lot louder. Here’s why.

There’s a lot of opportunity in the MPS space, The VAR Guy is learning at the Photizo’s Managed Print Conference this week in Orlando. Yet only about 20 percent of MSPs in the MSPmentor 100 (tallied by The VAR Guy’s sister site MSPmentor) provide managed print services. But why? Read on for The VAR Guy’s perspective …

Earlier in March 2011, our sister site MSPmentor took a look at network security company Network Box and its DLP solutions. Recently, I had a chance to talk to Network Box CTO Pierluigi Stella to get a better understanding of the technology as well as the company’s channel opportunities and growth. Read on for the details.

MSPmentor, The VAR Guy’s sister site, is set to unveil the fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 list and report during a webcast on February 16 at 2:00 p.m. eastern. During the webcast we’ll review the MSPmentor 100 global list, as well as regional MSP leadership lists for North America, Europe, Africa and Australia. But that’s not all…

Attention top managed services providers: The fourth annual MSPmentor 100 survey, produced by The VAR Guy’s sister site, closes TODAY (Friday, December 17). For those who’ve missed our reminders: Here are eight reasons why small, midsize and large managed services providers should participate in the global survey…

The VAR Guy doesn’t own a crystal ball. And he thinks most of the annual technology prediction lists are a complete waste of time. Still, our resident blogger enjoys stirring the pot. So here are 26 useless channel predictions that will never come true in 2011. Or will they?

Nine Lives Media Inc., parent of The VAR Guy, today launched Talkin’ Cloud — the first video blog and forum for cloud computing in the IT channel. Once you read the official news release you’ll understand how Talkin’ Cloud complements our existing brands (The VAR Guy and MSPmentor). Here are some quick thoughts on the topic.

The VAR Guy certainly has a lot of information floating around in his little mind. But what will he talk about next? Hmmm… Nine Lives Media Inc. — the team that brought you The VAR Guy — invites you to find a clue here…

Something new? Check out this video…

The VAR Guy and his team look a little tired. Time to bring in some reinforcements. We’re currently seeking a senior contributing editor to handle Webcast content development, speaker recruitment, slide and powerpoint preparation and potential event moderation. But that’s not all… Here are the details.

Join The VAR Guy’s sister site, MSPmentor, on May 5 at 2:00 p.m. eastern for our next MSPmentor Live webcast: SaaS vs. On Premises MSP Software. The webcast will be a 40-minute fireside chat — even more interactive — exploring the key business drivers for selecting on-premises or SaaS (software as a services) MSP platforms. Here’s some more background including updated guest speaker information.

While speaking recently with one of my bosses, I was told I will receive a new business laptop in 2009. Now, for the problem: It will be running Windows Vista or Windows XP. Hooray for new gear. Boo for Luddite attitudes.

The VAR Guy’s sister site — MSPmentor — offers non-stop coverage of the managed services market, where more and more VARs are generating recurring monthly revenue from customers. Here’s a look at the top 10 stories making headlines on MSPmentor this week.

Two top managed service providers have agreed to share their expertise with you during our final MSPmentor Live: CEO Exchange Webcast of 2008, scheduled for today (December 11 at 2:00 p.m. eastern). Here are details about the event, hosted by MSPmentor — The VAR Guy’s sister site.

The VAR Guy’s sister site — MSPmentor — offers non-stop coverage of the managed services market, where more and more VARs are generating recurring monthly revenue from customers. Here’s a look at the top 10 stories making headlines on MSPmentor this week.

Attention bargain bin shoppers: Software as a Service (SaaS) stocks have declined more than 50 percent from January through Nov. 14, 2008, reports MSPmentor — The VAR Guy’s sister site. Our resident blogger doesn’t make buy, sell or hold recommendations. But isn’t SaaS supposed to be the future of software???

Dell has revamped its channel blog with more community features, including familiar Web 2.0 capabilities that allow you to see who else is logged into the site. Of course, The VAR Guy was pleased to see MSPmentor — his sister site — mentioned in a post about the managed services industry.