Mike Vizard

All posts by Mike Vizard

Mike Vizard has covered IT for more than 25 years, and has edited or contributed to a number of tech publications including InfoWorld, eWeek, CRN, Baseline, ComputerWorld, TMCNet, and Digital Review. He currently blogs for IT Business Edge and contributes to CIOinsight, The Channel Insider, Programmableweb and Slashdot. Mike blogs about emerging cloud technology for Smarter MSP.

Data center
Data center drought: MSPs scramble for capacity

Data center drought: MSPs scramble for capacity

In the months and years ahead, many IT leaders will urgently turn to managed service providers (MSPs) to help them find IT infrastructure resources to run their workloads. An analysis of the data center colocation market was published by JLL,...

/ August 28, 2025
AI tools
AI tools spark surge in security service needs

AI tools spark surge in security service needs

The rapid spread of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tools has reached a tipping point, raising serious cybersecurity concerns, and creating opportunities for managed service providers (MSPs). A survey of 200 North American security leaders conducted by OpinionRoute on behalf...

/ August 21, 2025
Survey reveals the real IT priorities for 2025: Cybersecurity and cloud take the lead

Survey reveals the real IT priorities for 2025: Cybersecurity and cloud take the lead

A survey of over 1300 IT leaders finds that, while organizations are increasing investment in artificial intelligence (AI), they remain more focused on traditional challenges such as cybersecurity and cloud computing. Conducted by Experis, a managed and professional services provider...

/ August 14, 2025
cybersecurity
Trust starts with empathy: A better way to sell cybersecurity

Trust starts with empathy: A better way to sell cybersecurity

A survey of 200 U.S. cybersecurity professionals suggests that about a third (33 percent) don’t trust third-party providers—not due to doubts about the providers’ expertise, but because of uncertainty about their own capabilities Conducted by Censuswide on behalf of CyXcel,...

/ August 7, 2025
MSPs
Cloud liberation: What Microsoft’s deal with CISPE means for MSPs

Cloud liberation: What Microsoft’s deal with CISPE means for MSPs

Managed service providers (MSPs) in Europe are closely watching how a settlement between Microsoft and the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) coalition will impact pricing and availability of cloud services.  Under the agreement, cloud service providers (CSPs) that are...

/ July 31, 2025
Survey: MSPs play a pivotal role to organizations’ cloud success

Survey: MSPs play a pivotal role to organizations’ cloud success

A survey of over 280 IT leaders from organizations in the U.S. and Europe, each generating over $200 million in annual revenue, reveals that 57 percent expect to increase their reliance on managed service providers (MSPs) for managing, governing, and...

/ July 24, 2025
The cybersecurity gap is real—And MSPs are the solution

The cybersecurity gap is real—And MSPs are the solution

Despite frequent headlines about successful cyberattacks, many small businesses remain unprepared. Small business cybersecurity is still falling short in the face of growing threats. A survey of 1,000 small businesses with annual revenues of less than $100 million finds that...

/ July 17, 2025
Cloud
Cloud success: The critical role MSPs play

Cloud success: The critical role MSPs play

After more than a decade of using cloud computing services, many organizations are still struggling to justify a return on investment (ROI). A survey of 350 senior IT leaders in the U.S finds that more than three-quarters (78 percent) admit finding it...

/ July 10, 2025
AWS MSSPs
AWS sets higher standard for MSSP partners

AWS sets higher standard for MSSP partners

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is raising the bar for managed security services providers (MSSPs) by adding a range of specialized certification requirements. An update to the AWS MSSP Competency program introduces specific categories, including infrastructure security, workload security, application security,...

/ July 3, 2025
Navigating the landscape: KPMG reveals the key insights for MSPs

Navigating the landscape: KPMG reveals the key insights for MSPs

A new KPMG report highlights key insights into the evolution of the MSP landscape. There were key seven emerging trends and five universal challenges that are reshaping the industry. Emerging priorities for modern MSPs As the IT landscape continues to...

/ June 26, 2025