ZDNet, 5/2/02: Take the mystery out of MSPs
By Ovum Research
The managed service provider (MSP) is the latest type of online service provider to enter the market, but there is still a lot of confusion surrounding the term. Just where does MSP fit between traditional managed services on the one hand, and ASP on the other?
A managed service provider delivers outsourced IT operations over a network, usually an IP network. All MSPs remotely manage aspects of network infrastructure on an ongoing basis, while some extend their offerings to provide and manage application infrastructure. MSPs may offer aggregation services, which involve single sign-on capability and integrated access to multiple outsourced applications. Services offered range from network OS management, performance monitoring and reporting to storage, security, content management, and application integration.
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ZDNet, 5/2/02: Outsourcing pays off
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
The saying is that you can have two out of three cheap, good, and reliable, but you can never have all three. Some managed service provider (MSP) customers, however, are finding that you have it all--with the right MSP.
It wasn't always that way. Back in late 2000, Meta Group was predicting that subscription-based MSP services would become a $10 billion market by 2005. IDC was expecting the market to expand at a healthy 16 percent annual clip through 2004. But then came the dot-com meltdown, and MSPs such as eManage.com and Comdisco went under, taking their customers' infrastructure with them.
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ZDNet, 5/2/02: Take stock of outsourcing contracts
By Eileen Bermingham
Up to 80 percent of leading enterprises will include outsourcing in their business strategies by 2005, according to an announcement made by Gartner at its Symposium/ITxpo 2002 in San Diego. But few of these companies will make formal plans for managing relationships with their external service providers (ESPs).
Gartner suggests that enterprises take the lead in establishing such business relationships. "Understanding and choosing which relationship best fits an enterprise's business strategy, and the value it wants from the deal, lays the groundwork for all subsequent decisions on how the deal is managed," says Linda Cohen, managing vice president for Gartner.
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ZDNet, 5/2/02: Choose your MSP
These major MSP players can help manage every aspect of your network.
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eWeek, May 2, 2002: Too Many Cooks for SMS?
By Cameron Sturdevant
LAS VEGAS, NEV - Despite the mention of Unix and Linux here and there, the first Microsoft Management Summit, which I attended earlier this week in Las Vegas, was entirely about Microsoft, with NetIQ and Altiris, the summit's organizers of the previous four years, shoe-horned in. And this show was almost entirely about SMS (Systems Management Server) 2003, the newly renamed next release of SMS 2.0.
You can imagine (and perhaps even share) my astonishment when I was told that Microsoft's new focus on building secure products--even at the expense of adding new features--would not delay the ship date of SMS 2003. David Hamilton, director of product management for SMS (and the first keynote speaker at the summit); and Bill Anderson, lead product manager for the Management Business Group, both looked positively surprised that I even asked the question.
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TechRepublic, 4/30/02: Learn to exploit WinXP's disk cloning support
Erik Eckel
One of the most important features in Windows XP, from a corporate standpoint, is its support for disk cloning. If you ever need to deploy multiple desktops that are configured identically (and who doesn’t?), you’re likely to find yourself singing the praises of WinXP’s disk imaging support. Whether you’re working in a large enterprise environment, administering systems for a small business, preparing for an MCP exam, or any combination of the above, you need to be familiar with the XP disk imaging process.
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Infoworld, 5/3/02: IT woes slow global economy
By Laura Rohde
THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC decline in 2001 was mainly due to the slump in the IT industry, which will continue to retard any sort of recovery in 2002, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in its latest economic report.
WTO economists predict a moderate recovery of no more than 1 percent in 2002, specifically because of "sober prospects" for the IT industry, the WTO said in a statement Thursday.
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The Wall Street Journal, 5/3/02: Spam Costs Small Businesses More Than Just Wasted Time
By STACY FORSTER
Some small business owners are finding spam isn't just an annoyance, it's a threat to their financial health.
While there are no hard numbers to quantify the cost of unsolicited commercial e-mail, popularly known as spam, on small businesses, the damage can be seen in lost customers, diminished productivity and, for people like Sam Juliano, more than a few sleepless nights.
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The San Francisco Chronicle, 5/3/02: Caught in a web
Weak plot, passive hero keep 'Spider-Man' earthbound
Blockbuster season 2002 begins today with "Spider-Man," based on the Marvel Comics series about a melancholy superhero who can climb buildings, throw webs from his fingertips and swing through cities. He's got the superhero part down.
He just can't get it together in his personal life.
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