The Zenprise report pulls from Q1 2012 data, which includes insights into which mobile applications are being blacklisted and whitelisted, as well as which mobile operating systems are most prevalent in the enterprise and which security policies are being implemented for mobile devices.

Some of the key trends in this report are as follows:

• Advanced capabilities are gaining traction
• IT administrators are becoming concerned more with device and data security, including securing and managing key corporate data
• In North America, the iOS platform leads in device enrollments in Zencloud with 52 percent
•  An increasing number of customers are leveraging the Zenprise Enterprise App Store (EAS) to promote and distribute applications
• More diverse and sophisticated policy types are being leveraged by customers, including certificate services, GPS, and application restrictions
• The most commonly blacklisted apps, which are apps that the administrator has labeled as malicious or non-compliant, are Angry Birds, Facebook, Google Play, Dropbox, YouTube, Skype, Evernote and Cydia
• There were three times the number of applications blacklisted and whitelisted vs. Q4 2011

Interested in the Zenprise partner program? Find out more here.

What Say You? Do you agree with Zenprise’s findings? What BYOD policies and solutions have you found helpful?

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Montreal-based SherWeb specializes in providing competitive email, collaboration, and backup solutions to businesses and partners around the world and works with MSPs who are looking for a service they can white label and rapidly get into the game without a big capital investment. Its service portfolio includes SkyOffice, SherWeb’s Microsoft Office 365 solution, Exchange 2010, Lync 2010, SharePoint 2010, Dynamics CRM, BlackBerry Enterprise Server, ActiveSync (iPhone), Web Hosting, Virtual Private Servers, SkyNox Online Backup, and more.

Plenty of small businesses are looking to the cloud for backup and disaster recovery, according to this survey last year.

Here’s where you can find more information about SherWeb’s partner program.

What Say You: Have you used SkyNox? If so, how would you rate it?

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• Build Your Cloud Tribe
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Tone Software points out that cloud-based services mean no need for up front investments in hardware or software, making it easier to pursue more customers without taking a financial risk. Plus, it makes sense as a low-cost alternative to managing small customer sites where reselling an OEM management service wouldn’t work financially.

Cloud Benefits

The ReliaTel Cloud-based Management Service provides MSPs and enterprises with the tools they need to manage VoIP QoS, network performance, and UC service levels, without an up-front cost of buying an on-premise solution. Plus, no need to worry about the ongoing support, administration and maintenance required by an on-premise solution.

Here’s how it works, according to Tone:

The ReliaTel Cloud offering includes remote management of faults, QoS, performance, and the network infrastructure, as well as trunk and CDR reporting capabilities for many popular platforms and devices, including Avaya, Nortel, Cisco, and Windows. Users access the ReliaTel alarm portal, dashboards and reporting facilities through the secure web-based management portal, with full access to alarm handling, performance dashboard analytics, VoIP QoS metrics, and report generation.

It all fits with Tone Software’s approach: network monitoring and management solutions for converged telecommunications and IT infrastructures.  By unifying multi-vendor VoIP QoS and converged network management in one solution, ReliaTel provides the ideal platform for organizations that must cost effectively manage the quality, capacity and service levels of the critical communications systems that drive their business, the company says.

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“I am excited to join [CEO] Jerry Baldwin and Condusiv Technologies in building upon a 30 year legacy in developing industry leading, high performance software”, said Tidd, in a statement.

Condusiv Technologies software optimizes and maintains application performance and efficiency and extends equipment longevity, according to the company.  You probably know the company better as Diskeeper, the defrag giant, but it changed its name just a few months ago in March to Condusiv, looking for a more modern branding in an increasingly virtualized world. The name change followed a change at the top in September 2011 when the company named Jerry Baldwin as CEO.

Looks like Baldwin is shaking things up at Condusiv, and hiring Nick Tidd is certainly a step in the right channel direction. Last time I spoke to Tidd was back when he was a strategic advisory board member over at BlueRoads, so it’s been a while, but I was very impressed by his channel smarts.

And Baldwin also has some early cloud and SaaS leadership experience at Acuity and which makes me wonder if the company may be contemplating a go-to-market strategy that includes managed service providers.

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Trust is hugely important for MSPs. If a potential client doesn’t trust you, they’ll soon be signing with someone else.  And if a current client doesn’t trust you, you’re really in trouble. A business has to trust you to deliver services to them when expected, as expected, so that they can run their business as planned. And that trust must come before they consider your services. Your offer is irrelevant if they don’t trust you to deliver – whether you’re selling software, hardware, or kitchenware.  Successful businesses produce inspiring products, but their foundation is customer trust. And here’s how they earn it.

Be Transparent

Simply delivering services is not enough. Let your clients into your world if you want to get into theirs. Let them see your office and how services are delivered. Meeting the management team is especially important. Management sets the tone for the entire business – hiring people they deem competent, determining efficient processes, etc. Management’s judgment is the heart of your business. If clients think your management team is driving your company into the ground, they don’t want to be riding shotgun. So allow them as far into your business as they need to go in order to trust you. If you’re afraid they’re going to find something they don’t like, then it’s time to make some internal changes.

Invest Time

Take an interest in what your clients do. Learn their values. Explain your values. The importance of company values is expressed in the Inc. article “Business Essential You Might Be Missing.” Understanding a client’s values takes time, and the more time you invest into a business relationship, the more trustworthy you are. Think of courting a client as a first date. Appear disinterested, and it’ll also be your last date. Likewise, if you’re disinterested in what your clients do, you’ll be looking for new ones. Your interest has to be genuine. Remember: they run a business too and can spot insincerity as easily as you can.

Explain Your Value

After you learn about your clients, explain your value to them. Don’t be ambiguous, as ambiguity makes people feel like you’re hiding something. Be very clear and specific. “We will make your business more efficient by automating these processes.” Or, “We’re going to improve your client satisfaction numbers by simplifying your billing procedures. This is exactly how much time we’re going to help you save.” At this point you’ve already passed the initial screening. Now is your big chance to actually sell your services.

Add Integrity to Your Service Offering

Honesty leads to trust. It’s that simple. You can make as many unrealistic promises as you want in order to ink a deal, but you’ll have some explaining to do when your service falls short of the unreasonable expectations you previously set. Be honest about any problems with your service, in addition to your strengths. Explain why something went wrong before they come to you. Just keep in mind that “I’m sorry” is not enough. Have a plan of action to remedy the problem. Give accurate timetables for service upgrades. Honesty and integrity are as vital to the business relationship as the services you deliver.

Openness, time investment, clarity, and integrity. Sound familiar? The keys to developing trust in business are the same ones that lead to trust in our personal lives. So take the same set of values you try to live by every day, and apply them to your professional life. Your next business deal depends on it.

Axcient offers a cloud-based continuity service for MSPs. For more business advice and MSP-related topics, visit the Axcient blog site at http://blogs.axcient.com. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of MSPmentor’s annual platinum sponsorship. Read all Axcient guest blogs here.

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Updata Partners led the round of financing and was joined by Windspeed Ventures. Bradford Networks has been funded by both companies in the past at various round levels (in 2008 for Series A funding and 2010 for Series B). The  network access control (NAC) market is expanding and is expected to reach $312 million by 2016.

Back in January Bradford Networks adjusted its SMB channel strategy: Rather than building out a separate marketing and support organization for that effort, the SMB channel push would be handled by Bradford’s existing sales, marketing and business development teams. Bradford Networks saw year-over-year revenue growth of 70 percent for the first half of 2012.

More information about Bradford’s Partner Program is available here.

What Say You? What do you expect to see from Bradford Networks? What kind of relationship, if any, have you had with the company?

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• Symantec Buys Nukona for Mobile Application Management
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• Numara Links Mobile Device Management to IT Service Management
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Structured is a large information technology consultancy and systems integrator based in Portland, Ore. that specializes in application delivery, business continuity, enterprise networking, information security, governance, storage, computing and unified communications solutions. On the other hand, MobileIron develops software to secure and manage mobile apps, data, and devices for global companies.

Through the partnership, Structured can now provide enterprise customers with a secure mobile device solution that protects their network and data, while enabling employees to use their personal smartphones for work. MobileIron products enable IT organizations to establish security policies to protect corporate data using a centralized management solution, as well as enable employees to connect smartphones securely to enterprise resources.

Structured partners with a number of the big technology vendors, including Symantec, VMware, and Microsoft. A full list is available here.

What Say You?  How will this partnership affect your business? What is your opinion of MobileIron?

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No doubt, IT-focused social media platforms are starting to pop up for specialized audiences. Somewhat like ITPulse, a social media platform called ChannelEyes supports IT service providers, VARs and MSPs that want to network and find channel partner program information. And Novell has been striving to promote Vibe, a corporate team collaboration platform.

ManageEngine sees ITPulse fulfilling four needs for corporate IT managers. The company says ITPulse offers:

1. A single wall for all IT team members, which means that everybody “follows” everybody
2. Exclusivity to IT, confining IT-related matters to IT team members
3. A secure, critical line of communication during emergencies
4. A venue for IT to have fun and blow off steam

ManageEngine says ITPulse available as both a standalone SaaS service as well as a module that will integrate with its portfolio of IT management tools, including OpManager (IT alarms) and ServiceDesk Plus. Those integrations, ManageEngine claims, can streamline IT collaboration and accelerate problem resolutions.

ITPulse, in beta now, will be free for up to two users, and $5 per user per month for each additional user. ITPulse is expected to officially launch in Q3 2012, ManageEngine indicated.

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All it takes is one bad Google+ update to negatively impact your businesses’s image, so how do you protect yourself? Follow these simple tips below:

• Create accounts - One of the best ways to protect your brand’s image online is to be sure you are in control of any accounts related to your brand. Without creating accounts on various social media platforms, you, unfortunately, leave yourself exposed to impostors.
• Develop guidelines - Who will manage your accounts? Don’t leave your social media management to your intern. Your social media accounts should be managed by more than one person, so that each action can be checked and balanced. Also, guidelines should be developed to provide your employees with a road map of your brand.
• Put together a strategy - Updates shouldn’t be off the cuff. Anything posted on your platforms should be planned out ahead of time, so that you, as well as others, can analyze what is being said.

What Say You?: How do you protect your company’s image on social media platforms?

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