The Business Solutions Network

I read an interesting story recently about how an editor at Gizmodo had his digital identity stolen. The hacker gained access to his Twitter account, his Gmail account, and his Apple account. After the security breach, the hacker deleted the victim's Gmail account, posted messages on his Twitter account, and even went so far as to remotely wipe out his MacBook, which contained more than a year and a half of family photos that weren't backed up anywhere else.

During a recent visit I had with a managed services provider in my area, I heard a story about one of the MSP’s recent customer wins that illustrated the stark contrast between the break-fix and managed services business models.

While I was at the CompTIA Breakaway show last week in Las Vegas, I was surprised how much emphasis was put on the topic of big data. I have to admit that prior to this event, this wasn't a topic that's been very high on my radar. However, after attending the MSP Partners meeting and seeing all the research CompTIA has on this topic, I'm becoming a believer in big data.

When we first featured managed services provider Systems Engineering in the May 2010 issue of Business Solutions magazine, the company was already a successful $17 million MSP with 20 years of experience and 79 employees.

I had the opportunity to visit managed services provider CMIT Solutions of Erie last week and met with CEO Beth Burnside and her team. During my visit, the MSP fielded a call from a new client, which had previously lost its IT person and needed help with its network, including updating its antivirus on 26 workstations.

After attending the CompTIA Breakaway show in Las Vegas last week, I came across several new sources that I would highly recommend -- whether you were able to attend this year's event or not. Topics range from the cloud to gaps in IT skill sets. All resources below are free of charge.

Of all the statistics I'm confronted with on a regular basis, the one that sticks with me the most is one I heard while attending a training session for MSPs (managed services providers) not too long ago. The stat was attributed to CompTIA and stated that only 40% of VARs are currently offering any kind of managed services.

Earlier this week, I attended the CompTIA Breakaway event in Las Vegas. If you're a VAR or MSP who's never been to this event, I would highly recommend it. It's a great resource to help educate you on the latest technologies, and they even offer excellent certification programs, which can help you distinguish yourself from your competitors. The really nice thing is that they are a nonprofit organization, so you have the freedom to compare multiple vendors and even network with your peers so you can get the real scoop on who's good and who's not.