FinOps consulting grows as IT cost management efforts expand

IT service providers pursue advisory, training and automation opportunities as customers adopt FinOps and apply its cost optimization principles across more IT resources.

By John Moore • Sept. 20, 2024

6 popular managed services pricing models

Popular pricing models for managed service providers include monitoring only, per device, per user, all-you-can-eat or value-based pricing, a la carte and tiered pricing.

By John Moore • Aug. 19, 2024

Partners’ generative AI training plans aim for 1M+ employees

IT service providers are upskilling a large portion of their workforces on the emerging technology. The campaign seeks to boost GenAI credibility with customers and tech vendors.

By John Moore • May 31, 2024

Gartner’s IT services forecast calls for consulting uptick

IT service providers could benefit from a less-constrained tech purchasing climate as enterprises seek to bolster in-house skills with consulting services.

By John Moore • April 23, 2024

Ukraine IT services firms target new markets as exports drop

Ukrainian IT services firms are eyeing new geographic markets and exploring digital transformation as the war and a difficult economy shrink international sales.

By John Moore • April 8, 2024

Partners: Businesses enlist AI in business model reinvention

IT services executives believe the most digitally advanced companies will embark on business model reinvention projects highlighting AI as a key technology for managing change.

By John Moore • Feb. 5, 2024

Cybersecurity market trends, from AI to post-quantum crypto

Service executives list generative AI, the growing attack surface at the edge and post-quantum crypto standards as among the key security developments in 2024.

By John Moore • Jan. 31, 2024

ServiceNow, IBM set partner programs for AI transformation

Technology providers reach out to service providers that can help them deliver business change, digital workflows and emerging technologies to enterprise customers.

By John Moore • Jan. 29, 2024

Partner ecosystem changeup prompts alliance rethink

The shifting partner ecosystem landscape could inspire IT service providers to consider new alliances or bolster existing ones amid fast-paced economy and technology trends.

By John Moore • Oct. 2, 2023

IT service execs point to 5 core zero-trust questions

A partner-customer dialog around zero trust should focus on the basics of organizational awareness, upskilling, funding, technical tooling and user experience.

By John Moore • June 6, 2023

IT services market size expands amid mixed economic signals

Market watchers forecast continued growth in the tech services sector, while U.S. payrolls expand, albeit at a slower pace.

By John Moore • April 10, 2023

FinOps, co-innovation could unlock cloud business benefits

Industry studies underscore businesses' continuing struggle to obtain cloud computing benefits. A greater focus on strategy, financial management and co-innovation could help.

By John Moore • Feb. 6, 2023

Partner ecosystem strategy: Co-innovation and other variants

Co-innovation, generative partnering and co-creation describe alliances among customers, service providers and tech vendors. But what do the terms mean and what are the benefits?

By John Moore • May 3, 2022

5 ways to improve MSP marketing and sales

Review these tips to get a better understanding of the people, process and tools you'll need to bolster what has been a traditional weakness among service providers.

By Kristen Putch • March 21, 2022

Tech giants foster green software engineering movement

The Green Software Foundation, which includes Accenture and Microsoft as members, will create an ecosystem of people, standards, tools and practices to develop green software.

By Paul Korzeniowski • July 20, 2021

Kaseya ransomware attack underlines vendor accountability

The Kaseya VSA breach may prove a major turning point for MSPs' relationships with their IT services software vendors; other IT channel news.

By John Moore • July 9, 2021

Top MSP marketing tools to generate leads

MSP marketing tools are a must-have for successful lead-gen efforts. Execs at Valiant Technology, SADA and Synoptek round up the products supporting their marketing strategies.

By Esther Shein • May 21, 2021

MSP onboarding checklist: Top tips for developing a process

Establishing and standardizing an onboarding process can help ensure your client relationships begin strong. Experts share tips on how to develop an MSP onboarding checklist.

By Esther Shein • Nov. 18, 2020

5 RMM tools MSPs can use to bolster client IT infrastructure

Learn what remote monitoring and management software features and functionality MSPs and internal IT departments should consider to support client IT infrastructure and endpoints.

By Esther Shein • July 17, 2020

What do you need to start a managed service provider today?

If you want to get your own MSP off the ground today, you need to be cloud native, have a Microsoft-based software stack and know the right market to focus on.

By Dave Sobel, Guest Contributor • June 18, 2020

Managed services model takes evolutionary twists and turns

The evolution of managed service providers began at the apex of the dot-com era and now continues with developments including cloud computing and industry consolidation.

By John Moore • Sept. 26, 2019

IBM Cloud Paks open new business for channel partners

The IBM-Red Hat merger has produced IBM Cloud Paks, a new OpenShift-based product line. Executives said Cloud Paks will benefit both IBM and Red Hat's partners; other news.

By Spencer Smith, John Moore • Aug. 2, 2019

Is the master MSP business model still relevant?

Master MSPs emerged more than a decade ago as a means for channel firms to develop managed services, but experts are split on whether the traditional model continues to hold sway.

By Esther Shein • Dec. 21, 2018