Tag: MSPs

ITHQ and ADP take Rubrik to the mid-market

Flexibility, speed of delivery, breadth and depth of portfolio are important for channel success, it seems. ITHQ, supports hybrid cloud and claims to deliver “cyber resilience” to its customers.

That’s according to Nik Grove, Head of Hybrid Cloud at ITHQ. He said that as his business expanded it made sense to have an MSP option in place, especially to address customers that wouldn’t go to the likes of Rubrik directly.

“Services like Rubrik can be out of reach for many SMEs and small businesses, but thanks to this model with Assured Data Protection, it’s readily available as a managed service to businesses with smaller footprints. And all for a monthly subscription, which generates a regular income for us”, he said.

Rubrik has become a part of ITHQ’s managed service installations. Grove claims that it’s simple and straightforward to deliver,regardless of scale. This ranges from small AWS and Microsoft Office 365 deployments to much larger corporate IT and cloud infrastructures.

“Customers can be up and running almost immediately thanks to the close working relationship we enjoy with ADP. Quotes and agreements can be turned around in minutes making the service very accessible and easy to deploy”, said Grove.

Assured Data Protection is the largest MSP of Rubrik’s cloud data management platform. Its managed service offering helps customers, resellers and other MSPs expand their Rubrik operations and service offerings. In the last 12 months it added threat detection to its service offering to cater for all data management needs and align those functions with cyber security, said Grove.

“Cyber resilience is no longer a nice to have, it’s become a necessity. Premium services, such as Rubrik, that would typically cost large organisations tens of thousands of pounds to install are now available at a fraction of the cost as a managed service. This is good news for the customer and for fast growing businesses like us.”

ITHQ does not feel the need to white label the service or hide the fact it works with Assured Data Protection.

“We’re transparent with our customers. We don’t hide the fact that this is a managed service being provided. They’re happy with the ongoing support and professional services they receive. It’s an arrangement that suits all parties.”

Grove claims the managed services model is becoming a better fit for customers on a commercial and operational level. “It works better financially as businesses are finding they can consume technology as, and when, they need it, rather than having to make huge upfront investments. But this isn’t restricted to the lower end of the market. Grove is finding that this type of deployment also suits larger organisations, which is helping to drive engagements with businesses that have international footprints.”

He said:  “We are entering an exciting phase where we’re seeing lots of growth, lots of expansion. We’re taking on new projects and working with new customers. We’re active in hybrid cloud and cyber security but we’re always diversifying. Over the course of this year, we’ll be adding DevOps, data analytics and other specialisms to our portfolio. Having a partner like ADP adds credibility and supports our trajectory.”

 

 

Remote work and security is the new black, says Barracuda

A global survey of 419 managed service providers (MSPs) conducted by Barracuda Networks finds that remote work and security are emerging as a primary driver of new business in the last year.

A full 85 percent of MSPs said there was an opportunity to grow their business in 2021 because the overall market was not saturated. More than half of MSPs (59 per ent) have expanded their services portfolios in the past 12 months, with some security service being the most frequently added.

Backup and recovery (90 percent), endpoint security (82 percent), email security (80 percent) and network security (80 percent) are the top four managed services most commonly provided, with email security, endpoint protection and network security among the services in highest demand in 2021, according to survey respondents. However, since the start of the pandemic, backup and recovery (48 percent), business applications (39 percent) and email security (39 percent) are cited as seeing the most increase in demand.

In terms of new opportunities, 90 percent of the respondents cited remote work as their most lucrative opportunity, followed by security at 80 pe cent, the survey finds.

MSPs need to invest to recover

Prospects for managed service providers (MSPs) going into 2021 appear to be rising across a wide range of potential customers, according to an Infrascale survey.

A survey of 1,200 SMB and midmarket business leaders conducted by cloud data recovery specialist Infrascale suggests that the need for greater security is pushing organizations toward MSPs regardless of some recent high-profile breaches involving managed services.

Business executives in the education (44 percent), healthcare (51 percent), and manufacturing (53 percent) sectors cited the need for increased security as their top reason for selecting an MSP. Security and reduced costs (46 percent) tied as the top reason among e-commerce retailers, while finance industry executives cited reduced costs (57 per cent) as their top reason.

MSPs keep the flag flying

A SolarWinds MSP study shows that most of them have held their staffing at pre-pandemic levels

The report with the catchy title “ Covid-19: Impact and response” said that 59 percent  of managed service players have applied for government financial relief programmes, but at the same time, 80 percent  have held their staffing levels at pre-pandemic levels.

The firm surveyed MSPs across Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand to find out not only how the last few months have been, but what their plans are for the future.

The majority (66 percent ) said they had gone the extra mile for customers during COVID-19, with many offering delayed payments, temporary discounts and some going as far as to reduce the services offered to match shrinking user budgets.

MSPs struck gold during coronavirus crisis

MSPs have found that the coronavirus crisis was a chance to prove value and deepen customer relationships.

According to BitTitans’ Grady Gausman, while the coronavirus created challenging times, MSPs can play a vital role in helping companies maintain business continuity and adapt to new realities. Many companies are in need of implementing a plan for large-scale remote operations, and for that they’re turning to MSPs.

He said that the problem was that the market was crowded and what helped differentiate partners was being proactive in addressing the challenges of those working or learning from home long term.

Partners that are able to empathise with their customer base and understand the unique challenges facing them are in a better position to design technology solutions that support operations during this tough time. he said.

Datto pairs with Intel for MSPs

Cloud outfit Datto has teamed up with Intel on its Datto RMM, its remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform.

Datto and Intel customers will now have direct capability from Datto RMM to remotely and more securely control devices “out-of-band”, meaning the hardware is either powered off or the operating system is unresponsive. This introduces a level of access to support endpoints that MSPs would otherwise struggle to achieve using traditional remote control tools.

Cybercriminals targeting MSSPs and MSPs

Cybercriminals are viewing the channel as an attack point to spread ransomware, according to the BlackBerry Cylance 2020 threat report.

Managed security service providers (MSSPs) and managed service providers (MSPs) in particular are firmly in the sights of the cybercriminals.

The report said: “Advanced persistent threat groups and other adversaries released updated malware and displayed innovative attack techniques throughout 2019. Their focus on improving encryption routines and concealing malicious payloads through steganography raised the bar for security researchers and threat detection solutions.”

MSPs shut security door after horse has bolted

More than half of IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs) admit to investing in cybersecurity products only after being hacked, according to research by ESET.

The research surveyed 400 MSPs to uncover their attitudes and future plans around cybersecurity.

With the frequency of cyber-attacks growing year-on-year, the findings suggest that many MSPs still have their heads in the sand over the gravity of the threat. The study did, however, find that some MSPs are more proactive than others, with 41 percent of respondents saying that they invest in cybersecurity whenever they purchase a new device. Additionally, over a third said they have been prompted to protect themselves by reading stories about hacking in the news.

MSPs targeted by hackers

Hacker typing on a laptop

Guy Lloyd at CySure has warned that there has been a noticeable rise in cyber attacks on managed service providers.

In his report entitled “SMEs: Cybersecurity questions to ask your MSP”  Lloyd said hackers were infiltrating MSP networks enticed by the chance to victimise multiple companies with just one hack.

Datto continues channel growth

Dattocon opened, as so many of these IT conferences do, with a lot of flashing lights and noise. This conference held by Datto in Barcelona is really aimed at its MSPs, and there’s plenty of them here, along, of course with a load of vendors, hoping to help you keep your Office 365 and other IT products secure.

Datto wants to recruit more MSPs, and there’s a heap of vendors here seeking to woo the attendees here.

The firm said that it has recruited 750 MSPs in the European territory since the beginning of this year, and that’s a 40 percent increase year on year.

Quantum creates channel cloud services

Clouds in Oxford: pic Mike MageeData management firm Quantum said it has introduced a new channel programme.

The programme – aimed at managed service providers (MSPs) and value added resellers (VARs) offer a cloud back up service using Quantum’s virtual dedupe appliances and vmPro back up software.

The programme uses capacity based, all software subscriptions services which lets VARs and MSPss brand, market and sell Backup as a Service (BaaS).  The offering scales as revenue grows and so Quantum thinks that reduces up front capital hardware expenses.

The programme includes online sales and pre-sales training at no charge; customisable matering material; free access to Quantum software for trial and demonstration and technical and support training.