
5 Channel Observations: 6 Oct 2015
Tuesday’s channel partner updates involve N-able’s next MSP moves; Amazon’s new IoT platform; business-side managed services; IBM’s latest acquisition and more.

Welcome to Your Future
Greetings and welcome to ChannelE2E. So why are we here? Why are you here? And what can we achieve together? Glad you asked. Come on in and let’s discuss the IT channel market — and where we’re all heading. For starters, here’s a bit about our company (After Nines Inc.), co-founded by Amy Katz and me. We have worked together (on […]

What Is A Total Services Provider (TSP)?
Welcome to a new IT channel site, and a new term: Total Services Provider. But what exactly is a TSP — especially compared to managed services providers (MSPs), value-added resellers (VARs) and cloud services providers (CSPs)? And why is the TSP wave so darn important? Glad you asked. Generally speaking: VARs provide IT consulting and integration […]

Hosting Providers: Flip Your Business Priorities
Something strange happened on the road from on-premises software to hosted solutions. Indeed, hosting companies somehow think they’ll wind up competing with VARs and differentiating on price. Huh? Consider this factoid: 13 percent of hosting providers think VARs are their biggest market competitor — nearly equal to the competitive concern about Amazon (at 15 percent) […]

Top VAR, MSP Acquisitions of 2015
Which VARs and MSPs spent 2015 rolling up into larger businesses? Plenty of IT service provider acquisitions arrived this year. Here’s a look at the M&A (merger and acquisition) deals… and how some companies are transforming into TSPs (total service providers). 1. January 2015: Datapipe (primarily an MSP) acquired GoGrid (primarily a CSP) to push hard into […]