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.

It is the best and worst of times to be an IT services provider

It is the best and worst of times to be an IT services provider

Every savvy solution provider knows that IT is, and always will be, in a perennial state of disruption. The only thing that ever really changes is the rate at which that disruption occurs.

/ April 11, 2019
MSPs need to find a way to embrace consumption model based on metering

MSPs need to find a way to embrace consumption model based on metering

The most profound impact the transition to cloud computing has arguably had is the shift away from treating IT as a capital expense. IT organizations are increasingly utilizing infrastructure thanks to a consumption model that allows them to treat IT...

/ April 9, 2019
Intel ushers in data centric era of computing

Intel ushers in data centric era of computing

This week, Intel launched a raft of new processor technologies. Due to this, the amount of data that will be coursing through IT environments at any given time is about to exponentially increase.

/ April 4, 2019
How MSPs can use investments in analytics as a customer litmus test

How MSPs can use investments in analytics as a customer litmus test

The strain that IT organizations are under as they try to support ever increasing amounts of data using antiquated IT infrastructure is starting to show. A survey of 230 IT professionals conducted by Syncsort, a provider of tools for managing...

/ April 2, 2019
MSPs need to embrace more agile approaches to managing IT

MSPs need to embrace more agile approaches to managing IT

A survey published this week by Google suggests that the rate of change in IT environments that managed service providers (MSPs) will need to absorb in the years ahead is about to significantly accelerate. The global survey of 1,100 business...

/ March 28, 2019
Cloud monitoring emerges as significant opportunity for MSPs

Cloud monitoring emerges as significant opportunity for MSPs

In an ideal world a managed service provider (MSP) would find themselves involved in the building and deploying of cloud applications every step of the way. However, the reality is many organizations are both building new cloud applications and lifting...

/ March 26, 2019
IT modernization initiatives begin to gain momentum

IT modernization initiatives begin to gain momentum

Most business and IT leaders intuitively understand that legacy IT applications and infrastructure make their organization less agile. That’s become a significant issue because most of them are also keenly aware of the need to embrace digital business transformation initiatives...

/ March 22, 2019
Percentage of channel partners offering managed services achieves critical mass

Percentage of channel partners offering managed services achieves critical mass

It’s been a very long time coming, but it looks like there may finally be more channel partners offering managed services than traditional break-fix services. A survey of subscribers published this week by ChannelPro finds the number of partners offering...

/ March 19, 2019
Navigating the great IT sales paradox

Navigating the great IT sales paradox

One of the most frustrating things IT services providers need to contend with these days is that while the sales funnel has collapsed, it’s actually taking longer than ever to close a deal.

/ March 14, 2019 / 1 Comment
Privilege access management emerges as next big cybersecurity opportunity for MSPs

Privilege access management emerges as next big cybersecurity opportunity for MSPs

Privilege access management (PAM) as of late has become a major area of cybersecurity focus because cybercriminals have become more adept at targeting attacks at specific individuals within organizations. The goal of these attacks is to compromise the credentials of...

/ March 12, 2019