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.

Microsoft Office 365
Long March to Microsoft Office 365 in the Cloud Remains Ahead

Long March to Microsoft Office 365 in the Cloud Remains Ahead

One of the primary drivers of the shift to cloud computing has been Microsoft Office 365, which delivers the widely used Microsoft productivity and email applications as a cloud service. But, a survey of 1,168 IT professionals in the U.S.,...

/ November 9, 2017
OpenStack momentum
OpenStack adoption picks up momentum

OpenStack adoption picks up momentum

Usage of the open source OpenStack cloud management framework has been limited mostly to cloud services providers due to the complexity involved in standing up these IT environments. But, a new report from 451 Research published this week suggests that...

/ November 7, 2017
Internet of Things
MSPs need to take the long view on Internet of Things

MSPs need to take the long view on Internet of Things

There’s a lot of hype these days surrounding anything associated with the Internet of Things (IoT). But despite the hype a survey published this week by Dresner Advisory Services finds that only 32 percent of the respondents deemed IoT to...

/ November 2, 2017
Managed security services
MSPs fight to gain ground with managed security services opportunities

MSPs fight to gain ground with managed security services opportunities

Managed security services clearly represent a significant opportunity for managed service providers of all sizes. The most immediate issue, however, is the timing, not the eventual size of the market. In fact, more organizations than ever are looking to rely...

/ October 31, 2017
managed security services growth
Managed security services revenues to exceed $18 billion by 2025

Managed security services revenues to exceed $18 billion by 2025

A report published this week by ReportLinker forecasts that the global managed security services provider (MSSP) market will grow 17.5 percent on a compound annual basis through 2025 to be worth more than $18 billion. As impressive as that sounds,...

/ October 26, 2017
PC-as-a-Service
PC-as-a-Service alters how endpoints will be managed

PC-as-a-Service alters how endpoints will be managed

Most managed service providers are aware that PC manufacturers, including Dell, HP Inc, and Lenovo, are trying to shift customers away from buying PCs to procuring them as a service. These PC-as-a-Service (PCaaS) programs enable IT organizations to treat PCs...

/ October 24, 2017
artificial intelligence
MSPs need to construct data pipelines to drive artificial intelligence

MSPs need to construct data pipelines to drive artificial intelligence

While there’s plenty of fear about the impact artificial intelligence (AI) might have on demand for labor, there’s just as much anticipation. Consumer applications are leading the way as usual. As end users engage more with Siri from Apple or Alexa...

/ October 19, 2017
Application workloads
Application workloads moving to the cloud at a faster pace should benefit MSPs

Application workloads moving to the cloud at a faster pace should benefit MSPs

Savvy managed service providers keep one eye on where existing application workloads are deployed today and the other on where new ones are likely to be deployed tomorrow. A new report from Gartner estimates that as of 2016 approximately 17...

/ October 17, 2017
data platforms
Rapid proliferation of data platforms creates significant opportunities for MSPs

Rapid proliferation of data platforms creates significant opportunities for MSPs

Increased complexity is generally a good thing for managed service providers because it adds more stress to IT environments, which usually creates demand for additional managed services. Lately, the greatest complexity involves the number of places data gets stored. Once...

/ October 12, 2017
Service level agreement
SLAs are key to expanding available market for managed services

SLAs are key to expanding available market for managed services

Over the years the size of the available market for managed services has stubbornly remained less than 25 percent of the total IT market. The reason for this is two-fold. There are a large number of organizations that don’t view...

/ October 10, 2017