I’m not sure how much further Logitech can go with their Harmony universal remote line. With the new Logitech Harmony Ultimate out (which is a great Father’s Day gift, by the way), I’m really curious what the next generation Harmony remote would bring. I’m thinking that it will have some sort of mind reading integration or something because the new Logitech Harmony Ultimate is pretty much as full featured as it can go. The Harmony Ultimate remote is truly that…the ultimate remote. It is not only the last remote you will probably need, but also has the ultimate in configuration and control, making it head and shoulders about the competition.

Logitech Harmony Ultimate remote in dock

I seem to have a passion for collecting remote controls…not by choice, mind you. They come with every lazy person’s device that you get: TVs, DVRs, DVD players, receivers, streaming players, gaming systems, etc. And what starts to happen is that you get a pile of remotes. That wouldn’t be that bad if you didn’t have to remember which remote controlled what device. And, as more and more TVs and HiFi receivers have multiple types of connections (HDMI, component, composite, coax, etc.), it is practically impossible to remember which input you need to select to have your TV light up with the proper A/V content that you want. And, to top that off, try explaining to someone how to get everything running properly. I used to print out cheatsheets that I would leave for my family, guests or babysitters that would explain how to do it all, but it always ended up with the same thing, a frustrated phone call.

Logitech Harmony Ultimate Hub

A few years ago, I reviewed the Logitech Harmony One, which at that point, I thought would be the remote to end all remotes. This month, thanks to Logitech, I got my hands on the new Harmony Ultimate. This is a universal remote control on steroids and it extends well beyond the remote that comes with it. Let me explain. With the Ultimate, you do get a remote (obviously) but you also get what they call the Harmony Hub. The Hub is what brings the “ultimate” power to your system. The Hub is an RF (Radio Frequency) Receiver. That means that it can receive commands without having line-of-sight and can go through walls. The Hub also has 2 IR (Infra Red) “blasters” that you put in your A/V cabinet. The Remote transmits an RF signal which the Hub then translates into IR commands.

IR blaster

But wait, there’s more! If you act now, you also get Bluetooth built into the Hub (actually, that is a standard feature). Why is that important? Well, it means that you can control devices that use Bluetooth like the Nintendo Wii U. And, if you have any Philips Hue lights (which I don’t but they look incredibly cool), you can control those as well.

The Hub also connects to your local WiFi for synchronization and other connectivity. There is now a smartphone (iOS and Android) app that you can synchronize with the Hub and then use your smartphone as another remote control. Install it (free) on all of your smartphones and suddenly there is no more fighting over the remote (just over whose command gets processed first). Note, the smartphone app only can control your Hub if you are on the same WiFi network.

I will walk through each of these items (Remote, Hub and smartphone app) in this review. But first I want to go into the actual setup.

Setting up the Harmony Ultimate

If you are familiar with the Harmony remote line, you know how the set up process works. With the Harmony One and Ultimate (and others), you go through a series of wizards designed to make your configuration much easier. In my review of the Harmony One, you can see that process. Before you start configuring your Harmony Ultimate, you need to have a series of items ready. You will need:

• Manufacturer of your A/V items – Make and model number
• Inputs & connection types – Are you connecting your TV via HDMI or component inputs?
• Cable/Satellite/TV information – who is your provider?

Once you are armed with this information, you should be ready to go through the setup.

The setup is actually done via the Internet. You need to connect your Hub first to power and set up the IR blasters. After that, you head over to the Harmony site to set up a new account or log into an existing one. This is a bit different than some of the older models (like the Harmony One) which had Internet-connected software. This is purely done through a supported browser.

Here are the screens that I encountered during setup (note: I was able to import in some of my old settings from my Harmony One – which is shown).

The first step is to make sure that your computer and the Harmony Hub are on the same network. This way, they can talk to each other during the set-up process. Here, my Hub is being searched for.

Once the Hub is found, it tells all of the WiFi networks that it is picking up. You need to choose the best one.

Once you have connected, the “hard” part begins. You need to compile (which you should have already) all of the devices and their information. Note the box in the lower right hand corner says that you can import in your older configurations from a Harmony One. This is the path that I chose.

Once you authenticate on the older Harmony system, your device and configuration settings will be imported in. If you went the other path, you would got through a series of steps where the wizard would ask you what components should be one, what connections they use and how they are used for different activities.

As you can see, in the next step, I have 4 activities configured and you can see the details of each activity. I actually added a couple more activities because I had some other devices to add to the mix including connecting a Nintendo Wii U (which has a unique connection type – explained a bit later).

If you need to change an activity like which devices are used in that activity, it is easy to do using the wizard and selecting the appropriate configured device.

Next you enter in what you use to watch TV and where you are located. This will help determine your favorite TV channels which you can access by simply clicking on a channel logo icon.

Here I  selected Dish Network as my TV provider.

And this is where I configured the channels that I wanted to have appear as my favorites.

The final step of the process is connecting to your remote which you will do using the included micro-USB connector. You can use this to upgrade firmware as well as synchronize your settings.

As I mentioned earlier, the Hub also has the ability to connect and control devices that use Bluetooth like the Nintendo Wii U. This is a special type of pairing but you get detailed instructions on how to do this from within the Harmony configuration screens. Once connected, I could fully control my Wii U via Bluetooth.

Once everything is configured, the fun begins. You now can (hopefully) fully control your A/V setup. And there is always the ability to fine-tune any settings that you have done via the online portal.

Using the Harmony Ultimate

The remote itself sits upright in a charging station until it is ready to be used. In your hand, it is light-weight and comfortable. There are a series of buttons on the top and on the bottom, separated by a touch-screen display. Do note, the buttons are all backlit which makes night-time viewing easy. The remote will “turn off” when it is not in use but will light up when you move it or pick it up.

The top row of buttons are: Off, Fast forward/Skip forward, Rewind/Skip back, Play/Pause, Stop and Home.

Logitech Harmony Ultimate – top

The bottom section of buttons are more numerous. There is a directional pad with an OK in the center. The surrounding buttons are: Exit, Menu, Volume Up/Down, Channel/Page Up/Down, Mute, and Back.

The bottom two rows of buttons are: DVR, Guide and Info and then there are 4 colored buttons: Red, Green, Yellow and Blue (which seems to appear on my different types of remotes these days as well as game consoles).

Logitech Harmony Ultimate – bottom

Lastly, there is the middle touch-screen section. This is where the magic truly happens. From the Home screen, you can choose the activity that you have programmed like: Watch TV, Listen to Music, Play Xbox, Watch Apple TV, etc. And you can swipe the screen to another view which shows your favorite TV channels. If you click one of those channels, you will go into the “Watch TV” activity and tune automatically to that channel.

Logitech Harmony Ultimate – on

When you click on a particular activity, the remote sets itself automatically to control that activity. The hard buttons are programmed for that. For example, if you have a HiFi receiver that controls the volume, the volume buttons will control that. But if you click the channel button, those buttons control your TV or cable/satellite box. It’s pretty magical.

Also, if for some reason, your activity is not working properly, you can click on the three parallel bar button at the bottom of the touch screen to bring up an addition set of menu items:

• Help – an onscreen wizard that walks you through your current activity to ensure that everything is set properly
• Fix it myself – choose the device and then try to fix any issues yourself
• Devices – get access to all commands of any configured device
• Settings – drill down into lots of additional settings for the remote, activities, devices or other settings
• Edit – edit the Favorites screen

Any changes or updates to your system, you can synchronize back to the Hub for storage.

Using the Mobile application

Once you have configured your Ultimate remote and Hub and synchronized it all, you then have the ability to use the same commands on your iOS or Android device.

Below you can see all of the activities I have configured previously.

You also can edit items, access device controls and change settings.

The Settings section gives you access to a tone of items.

Within the Devices section, you can control every configured device.

Clicking on a particular activity (like “Watch TV”) enables your smartphone with all of the controls for your activity.

You can have button commands.

Your pre-configured Favorites are there as well.

And you have other button controls for your activity.

As I mentioned, no more fighting over the physical Harmony remote. You will, however, probably be fighting over whose commands and activities go first! And, the functionality is much the same on Android.

HighTechDad Ratings

The Logitech Harmony Remote Ultimate is that, the ultimate remote and probably the last one that you will need. With a little bit of configuration time up front, you will probably never have to use another remote again. The MSRP on this remote is $349 which isn’t cheap (you can pick it up on Amazon currently for $349) but the amazing amount of functionality that is built in, AND the fact that you can use your smartphone as a remote as well, makes the price much more palpable. I wouldn’t recommend that you give your kids this remote to configure unless they are the ones with the tech-knowledge in the household. It does also take a bit of time to configure, especially if you have a lot of devices and activities to configure.

But once this is configured, with a quick crash training course, your entire family could be using the Ultimate in a matter of minutes. Over all, while it takes time to configure, that time is earned back by not having to use any other remote, ever again.

EASY TO GEEK FACTOR – is the device easy to get up and running

FAMILY FRIENDLY – does the device fit well into family environments

RECOMMENDABILITY– would I recommend it to others (more means “yes”)

PRICE POINT – does the price reflect the product function

OVERALL – my general rating

If you have a chance to check one of these out it the store, definitely do! While this makes a great Father’s Day gift, it’s a gadget that any one who has lots of remotes would appreciate. I highly recommend it.

Logitech Harmony Ultimate

Disclosure Text : I have a material connection because I received a gift or sample of a product for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item or gift after my review period. All opinions within this article are my own. More information can be found in my About page as well as here.    

HTD says: The Logitech Harmony Ultimate remote is that – the Ultimate of remotes!

See larger image Logitech 915-000201 Harmony Ultimate Remote with Customizable Touch Screen and Closed Cabinet RF Control - Black (Electronics) List Price: $349.99 USD New From: $342.99 USD In Stock Used from: $342.99 USD Out of Stock Release date April 17, 2013.

The post The Remote to Rule All Remotes – Logitech Harmony Ultimate appeared first on HighTechDad.

If you are a heavy Instagram user, you might not know this but the more you use Instagram, the photo-sharing service and mobile application, the more space the app will consume on your iOS or Android device over time. Originally, when you install Instagram, it only uses about 24 MB (on iOS), but it can grow to use up literally gigabytes of space. This article shows you how to clear the Instagram cache so that you can easily and quickly save space on your mobile device.

Instagram become bloated over time

While Instagram is a great service, for some reason the developers crafted their app to have a cache of photos. So the more you share and use the app, the bigger that cache become. For example, I checked my daughter’s iPhone yesterday and she only had a few MBs left of storage. When I checked to see how much space she had consumed (by application), I found that her Instagram instance was at 1.4 GB!

How to tell how much space Instagram is using

It’s really easy to check to see how much space your Instagram is using on your device.

For Android do the following (and it may vary by device):

1. Go to Settings.
2. Go to Applications > Manage Applications > Instagram
3. The total storage consumed by Instagram will be listed

For iOS (iPhone & iPad), it’s just as easy:

1. Launch Settings app
2. Go to General > Usage (and let it prepopulate the sizes)
3. The storage space used by Instagram will be shown

Instagram has a help page about this as well.

How to clear the Instagram cache & free up space

Ok, this is the really “hard” part…you simply need to DELETE Instagram and then re-install it. Really. That’s it.

You won’t lose any of your photos or settings. Just be sure to remember your login information.

I checked my other kids’ iPhones do see how much space Instagram was consuming. Here’s the before shot on another daughter’s iPhone (134 MB consumed):

Instagram before deleting

And here is after deleting and reinstalling Instagram (back down to 24 MB):

Instagram after deleting & reinstalling

While not quite as dramatic as my oldest daughter’s iPhone (from 1.4 GB to 24 MB), it’s still pretty darn good.

That is a pretty easy way to quickly clear the Instagram cache and free up space on your mobile device!

HTD says: Slim down your Instagram storage by just deleting and reinstalling it!

The post Instagram Users – How to Clear the Instagram Cache & Save Space on your Smartphone appeared first on HighTechDad.

In anticipation of the Apple WWDC 2013 event, I thought that I would test out something new by trying to cover some of the event via a live stream. Note, this is completely an experiment. You probably can get faster live stream feeds from some of the other major sites or directly on the WWDC event page (provided you have Safari on a Mac, and iOS device or AppleTV).

But for those who want to get my 2 cents on what Apple has to say on today’s event, you can watch my commentary.

Excited to find out what Apple has in store…literally!

HTD say: What will Apple announce at WWDC 2013?

The post Activation lock – won’t be able to reactivate iPhone even if wiped! Nice! appeared first on HighTechDad.

Back in 2012, I wrote about some potential dangers surrounding the Instagram and Kik Messenger combination. By now, hopefully many parents know what to look for and how to combat this social danger. Recently, I started to investigate a new social danger for kids, specifically Ask.fm which actually has a few documented teen suicides attributed to the service. Interestingly, it was my teenager and my wife that introduced me to Ask.fm. My teen wanted to join and my wife said absolutely not!

Before I go into this social danger, I do want to point out that I am an avid Instagram user and do like the service. I allow my kids to use it, with some guidance, and my wife and I feel pretty comfortable with how it is being used by them. In both this case (with Ask.fm) and with Kik Messenger, the linkage (literally) is via Instagram. With Kik, many tween and teen Instagram users were putting their Kik Messenger user name in their Instagram profiles or picture messages (e.g., “Kik me at…”). The linkage with Ask.fm is similar – tweens and teens are putting their Ask.fm profile links in their Instagram profile. That’s the only connection with Instagram…it’s a springboard to these other dangerous social sites. But Ask.fm is prevalent in many other social media sites (so just to be clear, I’m not picking on just Instagram).

Ask.fm Danger

So what is Ask.fm? It is a social site where users can ask other users questions, and responses are limited to 300 characters. The questions can be from a named user, or completely anonymously asked. It is unmoderated (unless a user reports something), has no parental controls, and is an over-seas company (based in Latvia). If you look at their Terms of Service (TOS), it says “Terms of use are governed by Latvian laws and disputes are solved in Latvian courts.” Now THAT’S comforting.

The concept seems harmless enough. You register, create a profile, and ask/answer questions that are posted to you. The problem is around the anonymity of the messaging. While in the settings, you do have the ability to block anonymous questions, from what I have seen, most users do not do this. You do have the ability to blacklist users, assuming you know who they are. The TOS does say that you need to be 13 years old or older to join the site, but that is something that I’m sure is bypassed regularly.

Once you create an account, you get a profile URL (e.g., “http://ask.fm/USERNAMEHERE”) and this is the profile URL that many teens and tweens are starting to populate in their Instagram accounts (as well as other social media sites).

Again, this seems relatively harmless, right? WRONG! Ask.fm is rapidly becoming a site for bullies and seemingly sex-crazed users (even if it is simply innuendos in messaging). And I believe that parents (especially in the US) don’t know much about Ask.fm yet. It seems that since this service originally launched in Europe, it had more attraction there initially. Since then it has come overseas to the States.

What The Dangers Might Look Like

What is concerning about Ask.fm? A lot of things, in my opinion. Apart from some of the items that I mentioned above, there is the content itself. While at first glance, much of the content that a user might answer initially looks harmless, and the seeded questions are pretty darn innocent, the longer a user interacts, makes friends, publishes their responses and links to their Ask.fm profile, the more questionable the content becomes.

It can start as innocently as (and these are actual questions):

• What song best describes your day today?
• When you go to amusement parks, what do you like to do the most?
• What did you forget to do today?
• How do successful people differ from unsuccessful ones?

But that is where the innocence seems to end with some accounts and interactions therein. While I’m sure that there are many Ask.fm users and conversations that are completely harmless, it is relatively easy to find examples of where the Q&A process has become quite questionable.

There are comment threads that are quite bullying in nature (e.g., “you are fat/ugly/stupid/[insert insult here]“). The few cases where I have seen those types of comments, most users seems to shrug those off. Sometimes, other users jump to the defense of the bully-ee. A few of these types of mean comments are probably okay. But when they are piled on and repeated over and over, it becomes hateful and damaging.

Here are some random examples I found:

Random ask.fm bullying conversation

Another Random ask.fm bullying conversation

Yet another random ask.fm bullying conversation

There are also many comments (and answers) that are sexual in nature, as innocently posed as “what color is your underwear?” These get dirty quickly, moving from PG-13 to R to NC-17 and beyond. I won’t go into example of those. While I understand that these kids may be simply “talking the talk” because Ask.fm is anonymous and somewhat “safe” to say what you want, these scenarios can escalate and/or be misinterpreted. “Do you want to have sex?/Sure, name a place and time” threads can turn from a question asked jokingly with a similar response, to something much more serious, especially if the Ask.fm users actually do know each other.

And, as can be expected, Kik Messenger seems to always come into play:

Ask.fm & Kik Messenger

Another Ask.fm & Kik Messenger thread

I hope you can see how innocent questions and answers can be turned into something much more scary.

How To Search for the Danger

I’m not going to highlight any users here. I don’t think it is fair, nor do I feel that it is my job to single out anybody. What I will do, however is show you how you can find this dangerous content yourself and check to see if your children or their friends are active on Ask.fm or not.

Ask.fm on the radar

Probably the easiest way is to simply sign up for a Ask.fm account. Once you are in there, you can use the “Search” function to find people. You can also connect with Facebook or Twitter to see if any of your contacts are there. Ask.fm also has an iOS app. If you set up an account, you can easily search for people directly within the app or connect the app to Twitter or Facebook to see if any of your contacts are on there, much that same way that you can on the web.

Another way to search is with Instagram. If you know your kid’s Instagram user, check to see in their profile if they have a link to Ask.fm there. If they do, click over to it. If you are not on Instagram yourself, or want to search for people, you can use the website called Statigram to search for user names (or tags).

Using the search function in Statigram, you can search for a user name or actually the full name of the person. If you check on your kids, hopefully they will have private Instagram accounts and you won’t be able to see their pictures unless you are connected. If they have public accounts on Instagram, now might be a good chance to review what pictures they are posting (as well as check to see if they have an Ask.fm profile link).

If you want to do a generic test to see what users have Ask.fm in their profile, just do a search on Statigram for “ask.fm”. Then click through a profile and see if they have an Ask.fm link in their profile. Do note, not all Ask.fm profiles show “bad” things, but it doesn’t take too much searching to find some that I would consider to be questionable.

Another way that you can search for Ask.fm links is within Facebook’s search. Just type in “ask.fm” and go to the “Public Posts” section.

What You Can Do to Stop Access

As I wrote about previously, I’m a firm believer in talking with your children about social dangers instead of simply blocking or deleting access. These types of sites are like cockroaches, if you kill one, more come back to replace them. So it is better to teach understanding and prevention than dictate that they simply cannot be used. That is to say, spend time with your children, face to face, explaining and showing your children how evil the bullying can be on these types of sites.

I realize that social bullying or cyber bullying takes place on just about any social network. So, it is critical to work with your children to help them understand why they might not want to participate in online conversations or media sharing. If they are a victim of bullying online, they should feel comfortable asking for help or guidance, and the only way to set up this type of dialog is to ensure that it is open and friendly. You should avoid saying “you cannot use these sites” but rather ask open-ended questions like “why do you want to be on this site” or “how would you respond to this (hypothetical) conversation?”

A two-way dialog is the best way to hopefully limit your child’s access and exposure to these sites. But sometimes you might not be able to have a constructive conversation and you may need to take preventative measures.

There is no way to 100% block access to all these types of sites. But there may be some services like Ask.fm that you may want to consider blocking. Doing this on your child’s mobile phone is practically impossible unfortunately unless you delete the app or manage their installs. Remember, Ask.fm is also web-based and hard to block at the browser-level. If, however, your kids only access social media at home, there are a few things you can do.

Set up Parental Controls. There are plenty of software suites (free and commercial) that you can use. On the Mac, you can set up Parental Controls and simply block website access to the sites that you want (like Ask.fm). If you are on Windows, you could use Microsoft Family Safety to do the same thing (as well as review the logs of your child’s activities).

If you manage your home network (e.g., via a WiFi router), I would suggest using OpenDNS. I won’t go into all of the great capabilities of OpenDNS nor how to set it up, I do want mention that they have a variety of Parental Control services available. You essentially configure your router with the OpenDNS DNS server info, configure your network and parental controls on OpenDNS, and then breath a little easier knowing that you can block sites as well as get access to activity logs in your home network.

Have the Conversation with your Children

I have found that many parents are simply unaware of what their kids do on social media, either because they simply don’t know about it or their kids don’t talk to them about it. Personally, I think if used appropriately, social media can actually be ok for kids, but only if used safely and properly and with the guidance of adults. Whenever a person of authority says to a teen or tween that they can’t do something, the immediate, natural reaction of the child is to find out more about it. Children are curious, they want to experiment. They want to test their boundaries. They want to explore. They want to be social with their peers. They want to be the first kid on the block to try something new and be “cool” in the process.

As parents, we don’t want to stifle this curiosity or creativity. This is how they learn and grow. But, we do need to be protective and provide help along their journey. Though conversations with my kids, we have together decided that Instagram, for example, is ok, but only if used in certain ways. Kik Messenger and Ask.fm, however, we have decided together, is not ok. But we only came to this decision jointly, by showing examples of what is bad and talking about the examples that we saw.

If you made it all the way to the end of this article, it shows me that either as a parent or as a child, you are curious to learn more and to understand the good and bad sides of social media. Parents, I do ask that before you block access or deny a child from accessing certain apps or sites, that you have the conversation with your children PRIOR to doing this and explain to them why you feel you need to so this. Be sure to understand and listen to why your kids might want to do it. They may have very legitimate reasons and if they still insist in participating in a site like Ask.fm, ask them if you can monitor what they do or say and coach them (not that you might be an expert). You do, however, have life experience and understand (hopefully) what some decisions can make on a child’s life and future.

Have you spoken with your kids about social media? The next time that you have one-on-one time with them, do try to approach the subject. You might be amazed at what they have to say.

If you have any experiences you want to share, be sure to leave a comment.

HTD says: Working to have an open dialog with your kids is crucial in this day and age of social media. Do it!

The post Parents Be Warned! Ask.fm is a Dangerous & Deadly Social Site for Teens & Tweens appeared first on HighTechDad.

I’m a big Star Trek fan. I have watched reruns of the original Star Trek series many times over. I liked Star Trek Voyager and Deep Space Nine, and, most obviously, Star Trek The Next Generation. (Oh, and I do recommend the latest Star Trek movie.) Where am I going with this? Ideas evolve. Technology improves. New strategic teams are created. New dynamics are explored. Much the same way that Star Trek has modernized (yet still sticks to the original themes), the Managed Service Provider (MSP) has evolved, deepening its roots. With advances in cloud computing, the Next Generation MSP must be different and better able to adapt to the ways of the present as well as the future.

The Next Generation MSP

Let’s first understand what an MSP actually is and does. Let’s say that you company is looking to implement some new complex business process or a Big Data rollout or a CRM solution. If you have the internal resources, you can approach these complex topics with your internal teams. You form a core team, define the requirements and timeline, and do the implementation. Sounds easy, right? More often than not, it is much more complicated, lengthy and expensive than you would think. If your company decides to undertake it on their own, a “month-long project” could expand into a half a year or longer and the expenses could get out of control.

The other approach to a complex IT project implementation is to outsource it. And this is where an MSP can bring increased value and shortened timelines to the mix. While the project may cost more to implement using an MSP, often the hidden costs of a Do-It-Yourself implementation are more than outsourcing it. Also, an MSP brings added value of expertise, a potentially shorter timeline, documentation and actually having the project done properly the first time.

This sounds a lot like a consultant, doesn’t it. One primary difference between a consultancy and an MSP is that the Managed Service Provider also handles the on-going maintenance of the IT solution that they implemented. Think of the MSP as sort of both a general contractor (when building a house) but then also the maintenance crew who keeps the property looking nice and working well. Frequently an MSP will bring other vendors to the mix during the implementation phase of a project or rollout, but only those vendor that they know and have relationships with. By consolidating experts, they bring efficiency.

The Next Generation MSP

But what is a “next generation” MSP? It’s not something out of Star Trek, but if you do compare the original Star Trek with the Next Generation, you will see the evolution of thinking. Giving the times of the series creation, the “political correct” movement definitely is obviously. Original series said “where no man has gone before” and now the phrase is “where no one has gone before.” There is also more emphasis on the Prime Directive, of not interfering with the development other cultures.

In my mind, the next generation MSP is more agile, understands more about IT and cloud trends and services, knows where the market is heading and how to best maximize new vendors and expertise in the space. They understand business processes and are not wholly focused on the technological side of the solution – they understand not only the How but also the WHY. And they get the driving toward the bottom line.

If you are a first generation MSP, you might want to think about version 2.0 of your business practice. If you haven’t adopted cloud services into your business solution mix, you are quite behind and should look to retool your offerings and your knowledge base.

Timothy Tsao (IBM Global MSP Marketing Leader) presents his recommendations to MSPs who are trying to modernize to this new generation. In a nutshell:

1. Differentiate yourself from other MSPs
2. Move your current service lines to the cloud
3. Ensure that your sales team can sell cloud solutions
4. Use cloud to deploy client solutions in a fraction of the time
5. Partner with ISVs

Similarly, Chuck Calio (Technical Lead, STG ISV Enablement Team at IBM) outlines what he believes a “next generation” MSP looks like. His vision is that MSPs need to have a solid delivery of cloud service but go beyond that by incorporating social aspects and services as well as a mobile focus. He does state that cloud is a commodity (which I somewhat agree with, however, I believe that there are plenty of cloud service providers that have not been commoditized yet and those next generation cloud providers are providing use case or vertical-based solutions that MSPs should be watching closely and using). Calio also offers advice on Sales and Marketing tactics to help differentiate MSPs.

IBM’s Edge2013 conference is right around the corner (June 10-14). At Edge2013, there is the MSP Summit which is focused on the fast growing ecosystem of MSPs (VARs, ISVs, System Integrators, etc.) and teaching strategies on what solutions work, how to anticipate customer needs and how to use cloud computing best.

What’s my recommendation? If you are an MSP and you are turning away business, you are probably doing ok. Think about specializing and becoming the expert in that niche that you are finding particularly successful. If you are looking to grow your business, ensure that you have a good focus and that you are using next-generation products, services, skills and partners. If your current practice doesn’t involve cloud, it should. Talk to your peers and attend shows to find out how to differentiate yourself with unique cloud service offerings or management.

To become “next generation” at anything, you need to analyze, iterate and evolve. Look towards the stars to guide you. They have been aiding voyagers in the past for centuries and finding the right guidance in this day and age of extreme technologies can propel your business light years ahead of your competition.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

HTD says: Dare to go where no MSP has gone before!

The post To Boldly Go Where No MSP Has Gone Before appeared first on HighTechDad.