Radix Technologies is the exception to that rule. The global services provider, which is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, has built a data center in a former military bunker built into a mountain in the Swiss countryside outside Altdorf. The idea is simple: House a data center in an almost impenetrable natural fortress with unparalleled security (ever tried to open a 20-ton door?), take advantage of the mountain air and natural water flow for cooling, and you’ve got a real story to tell.

The Map Room and Beyond

The 15,000 square-foot facility (give or take) was constructed before the second World War and consists of three bunkers each with three levels. It once housed a Jeep Willy factory during World War II and later served as a command center for the Swiss Army and Navy. It even still has the map room (pictured) with floor-to-ceiling moveable maps, where one can only imagine the Swiss Army’s various plots to take over the world. (Or maybe not.) It was decommissioned sometime within the last 10 years — the exact date was not provided for security reasons — and in 2007 Datalis, the owner of the facility and a partner of Radix, purchased the bunker from the Swiss government.

Over the past two years, Radix has been building out the data center space, which will total about 8,000 square feet. So far one data room has been put into commission, which is currently about half full — about 12 racks are being used.

Radix targets large enterprises that are making a transition to the cloud, and uses CA Technologies’ (NASDAQ: CA) AppLogic cloud platform as its solution. Because the technology is vendor-agnostic and can be used for private, public or hybrid clouds, it’s a good choice for companies making the transition but don’t want to or can’t move their data center outside of their facility or don’t know how to run their IT infrastructure as a cloud, said David Corriveau, Radix CEO. “We come in and do it for them on their premises,” he said.

But back to the bunker, as it were. It’s cold, which is good for a data center. And it’s equipped with redundant power supplies — two monstrous diesel generators are at the ready should the regular public power grid go down. Plus, Datalis is making plans to bring in a second line from the public power grid — this one coming from a different direction than the first — to make its power even more redundant.

Wall Murals and More

What’s more, the location is only about 1 kilometer from one of the main European backbones, over which 75 percent of Europe’s north/south Internet traffic runs. Which means connectivity is not an issue.

The site has two aquifers fed by a natural spring, which serves as the only cooling source throughout the facility. And it works pretty well (see my “it’s cold” comment two paragraphs above). No doubt, this place has the data center trifecta: plenty of power, great connectivity and eco-friendly cooling.

And because it once served as command centers for two military branches, it also has some interesting features:

• five bar areas (go Swiss!)
• wood paneling-lined dormitories for the soldiers stationed there (the wood was installed to give the place a less dungeon-like feel, we learned on the tour)
• a full kitchen space (the floor mixer is still sitting at the ready)
• kitschy wall murals in strategic locations (again, to help eliminate the ‘I’m stuck in a bunker in the side of a mountain’ feeling); and
• the aforementioned map room.

About the only things I didn’t see that I fully expected to were a swimming pool (hey, they’ve got the water) and a gymnasium. But that’s not to say the facility doesn’t have those amenities.

On to the Data Center

With such a large space, you’d expect there to be an army of folks keeping it running. But not so — the facility has only three full-time people to maintain it. No IT folks, just caretakers. The infrastructure is actually maintained in Radix’s Budapest location.

The data center location is impressive by its sheer size and, admittedly, the history of the place. And after seeing all the nifty features in the bunker, I must admit I expected the data center to be in equally impressive surroundings. Sadly, however, the data room looked just like … a data room. A bit of a letdown, but I suppose not everything can be as glamorous as the map room.

But as data centers go, this one takes the cake as the most interesting. And Radix has the unique distinction of telling its customers it’s building clouds inside a mountain.

Read More About This Topic

• The Hills are Alive with … Data Centers?
• EarthLink IT Services Suite: Enterprise-Class Virtualization, Managed Security
• CA: Looking for Cloud Opportunities? Look to the SMB Space
• Next Week: Join MSPmentor in New York on Tuesday, Oct. 25
• MSP M&A: Logicalis Acquires Network Infrastructure Corporation

Basically, Synnex can do most of the work, including managing policy changes, reporting and support on behalf of the MSP partner company.  MSPs don’t need to invest in additional training, infrastructure or headcount.

The Synnex offer coincides with an increase in interest in managed security services from small and mid-sized businesses that are looking to managed security as an enabler of greater productivity and business services.  It also comes as IT distributors put more resources towards cloud business. Avnet (NYSE: AVT) today announced a partnership with Savvis (a top 100 cloud services provider) and launched Avnet Cloud Solutions — a dedicated team to help solution providers succeed with off-premise cloud solutions. Other cloud initiatives by IT distributors in the last year include Arrow Fusion Cloud Services, Ingram Micro Cloud, Synnex CloudSolv, and Tech Data StreamOne and TDCloud.

Synnex noted that MSPs who sign on its managed security services also get some incentives only available to Synnex partners.  For instance, for the Check Point solution, Synnex partners are offered a one-time 50 percent demo discount on Check Point’s premium service and no hardware costs with contract. Synnex is also providing a 5 percent discount on the first order. Synnex partners also have access to 24/7 live support for Check Point.

As for WatchGuard, Synnex partners can get basic, advanced or custom-built service packages for all WatchGuard Technologies Extensible Threat Management (XTM) security products and a 5 percent discount on the first order.

Read More About This Topic

• Cloud Services Depot Claims Game-Changing Portal Update
• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Nov. 4
• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Oct. 21
• Seven Managed Services Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write: June 17
• Cloud and MSP Conversations Converge at Parallels Summit

IDC research indicates that SMB spending on IT security will exceed $5.6 billion in 2015 and is growing at a rate of roughly 10 percent a year, or almost double the rate of increase for overall SMB IT spending. According to IDC data, about 19 percent of small firms (fewer than 100 employees) cite improving security and security management as key IT spending priorities. This percentage almost doubles to 36 percent among medium-sized firms (100-999 employees).

The opportunity to reduce infrastructure and overhead costs by providing remote workers with mobile access to corporate systems, often from privately-owned devices, as well as an increasing desire to take advantage of the flexibility and long-term cost savings provided by cloud technology, is driving SMBs to upgrade their security capabilities to adequately protect against the risks mobile and cloud technologies pose to their networks.

Meeting SMB Security Needs

SMBs’ increased security needs are largely being driven by an interest in reducing the cost of developing infrastructure and hosting and maintaining in-house systems through mobile and cloud technology implementation. Thus it is only natural that SMBs would prefer the security investments they make to safely leverage mobile and cloud solutions also not impose new IT overhead costs. IDC data showing SMB SaaS spending will grow at double-digit rates in the coming years further supports this notion.

All this gives MSPs, who already specialize in remotely managed systems, a big competitive advantage compared to vendors and third-party installers who specialize in implementing in-house security solutions. Of course, merely offering a managed security service will not be enough to win SMB clients.

MSPs should try to sell managed security services as an add-on or enabler to SMB clients who want to add or expand mobile or cloud functionality, and also make sure they stress that managed security services have the added benefit of easing mobile/cloud implementations to clients who are not currently considering these technologies. And it goes without saying SMBs should leverage their existing knowledge of SMB wants and needs in terms of project pricing, scale and scope. When security becomes a value driver instead of a necessary evil for SMBs, MSPs need to get behind the wheel and steer toward a new source of revenue.

Read More About This Topic

• Why Are You Against BYOD Policies?
• Microsoft Study: Cloud Improves Security for Small Business
• The Scary State of SMB Disaster Recovery Plans
• Small Business and Big Data: The Opportunity for MSPs
• Is the Lifestyle MSP Headed for Extinction?

TechValidate, an independent research firm who conducted the survey, questioned a range of enterprises across different industries. The results also revealed that enterprises have three main back up and recovery concerns: fast data recovery, secure data protection, affordability and reliability.

In addition, the survey revealed the following:

• 62 percent of respondents are considering a new approach to backup/recovery in the next 12-18 months
• 59 percent of respondents cite increasing volumes of data to protect as a business
• 23 percent of respondents are concerned with faster recovery times for backup and recovery
• 25 percent of respondents are concerned with secure data protection for backup and recovery

Are you or your customers considering a switch from your current backup system for a cloud backup?

Read More About This Topic

• Asigra, NetApp Team for Backup Recovery as a Service
• CommVault Launches Cloud Connector for Backups
• EVault, EverGreen Data Team on Backup and Disaster Recovery
• SherWeb Extends SkyNox Cloud Backup to Servers
• Mimecast Now Supports Windows Phone and Android

Over 5,000 GroupLink customers will be able to manage and control an array of wireless device platforms, such as Apple iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile 6.5, Windows Phone 7, HP/Palm webOS and Symbian Series 60 Nokia through this new solution. In addition, GroupLinkMDM will be able to assist in maintaining visibility, controlling of users and data, and increasing IT infrastructure efficiencies. This MDM solution accompanies GroupLink’s CRM, Sales Force Automation and Help Desk software.

Notify is an official Apple iPhone Enterprise Development Partner, Android Development Partner, BlackBerry Development Partner and Windows Mobile/Phone Development Partner. More information about GroupLink’s partner program is available here.

Read More About This Topic

• MobileIron Raises $40 Million for Mobile Device Management
• Zenprise Launches Mobile Data Loss Prevention
• Fixmo Partners for Defense-Grade Mobile Device Management
• Sophos: Security Company Considers Storage Acquisitions
• Why Are You Against BYOD Policies?

MDL Technology claims its has maintained a 98 percent customer retention rate over the past five years. That’s pretty amazing considering all the economic turbulence since 2007. Even if your customer base includes a bunch of healthy businesses, chances are you’re tempted to fire a few of the more difficult customers from time to time.

Yet there’s MDL Technology pointing to the 98 percent retention rate. While MDL provides remote support services, the company also focuses on “optimal response time” to any customer location in the Kansas City. So far, the company claims, it’s supporting more than 100 customer locations across Kansas City.

As the old saying goes: The easiest customer to sell to is an existing customer. I don’t have a feel for MDL Technologies’ profit margins or overall growth rates. But the customer retention stat certainly caught my attention.

Read More About This Topic

• Related posts are coming soon

About two years ago at a Kaspersky Lab partner summit in the Dominican Republic, I met a few attendees from Brazil who told me how they were pushing into cloud services and managed services. Earlier this week, those same folks told me they’ve reached a tipping point with their offerings.

Also, quite a few MSP-oriented software companies have offices in Brazil. In particular, I’ve heard from MSPs running Kaseya in that region. And I heard from Zenith Infotech earlier this year about some interest in Brazil. But the IT discussion in Brazil is getting louder and going mainstream. Two examples:

• Lenovo earlier this week told The Wall Street Journal that the company would likely partner or buy its way toward prominence in Brazil. Indeed, Lenovo believes Brazil is the next big PC and mobile sales opportunity.
• Meanwhile, SysAid Technologies has opened a new office in Brazil to promote IT Service Management (ITSM) and help desk solutions in the region, the company announced this week.

Why are IT vendors and MSP-centric companies turning their attention to Brazil? As Forbes put it:

“Few people would know that Brazil ranks seventh in the world’s IT market to India’s 9th place ranking, according to IDC in Framingham, Mass.  After China, it is the second largest emerging market for IT spending.”

Plus, IT spending in Brazil is expected to grow about 9 percent in 2012, IDC predicted.

Still, not all MSP-centric software companies are flocking toward Brazil. Some North America firms are instead focusing near-term on extending beyond the UK into Germany, one executive told me earlier this week. Expansion in Europe, he told me, will keep his company busy for at least the next 12 months.

Read More About This Topic

• ConnectWise Companies Pursue $100 Million In Combined Revenue
• Continuum: Strategic Managed Services Hire, Acquisitions Coming?
• Update: Zenith Infotech vs. Bondholder Court Case
• Managed Services: 7 Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, Feb. 17
• SysAid IT 8.5: More Mobility, Functionality for IT Admins

Standalone MDM specialists like MobileIron continue to raise venture capital and expand. But MSPmentor believes the standalone MDM market will eventually cease to exist. Particularly within the managed services market, users want a single dashboard for managing all IT devices and infrastructure — from iPhones and Android tablets to switches, routers, servers, desktops and even printers.

A key example: Most of the major RMM (remote monitoring and management) software platforms for MSPs are gaining MDM capabilities. And this week, Quest Software upgraded its Quest Management Xtensions (QMX) platform. The upshot: QMX extends Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to more than 120 non-Microsoft platforms — including Google Android and Apple platforms. Quest Software claims:

• The Quest QMX extension for Android allows organizations to manage Android smartphones and tablet devices — including inventory, remote commands (wipe, lock, password reset) and configuration.
• The Quest QMX extension for Apple includes separate iOS and Mac offerings.
• For virtual desktop environments, Quest offers the vWorkspace Connector for Android, Connector for iPad 1.2 and Connector for Mac OS X.

Meanwhile, Microsoft itself is connecting the dots between PC management and MDM. For instance, the cloud-based Windows Intune service is gaining support for Apple iOS and Google Android MDM.

While I think Windows Intune, now a year old, is off to a slow start (just an educated hunch), it’s clear that demand for Microsoft System Center remains strong. Assuming Microsoft and partners like Quest Software continue to focus on MDM integration, it’s a safe bet demand for System Center will continue to grow.

Side note: Reports continue to swirl that Dell and other bidders — potentially even Microsoft — are taking a close look at buying Quest Software. In an email to MSPmentor last week, Quest Software declined to comment about the speculation.

Read More About This Topic

• Related posts are coming soon

In addition to SolarWinds, companies like Infoblox and Bluecat Networks (among others) also sell IPv6 migration solutions. The big questions:

• Can MSPs actually profit from IPv6 customer deployments?
• Does IPv6 offer additional upside benefits to MSPs?
• Or is the World IPv6 Launch Day more of a marketing hype event?

SolarWinds, for one, seems to see IPv6 revenue opportunities for MSPs. The company’s IPAM 3.0 release claims to give “IT professionals detailed visibility and management of their IP infrastructures, helping them better manage their networks and minimize downtime.”

The upgrade also allows MSPs to centrally manage Microsoft DHCP servers, while monitoring Microsoft DNS and Cisco DHCP services. SolarWinds points to ever-increasing endpoints — mobile devices, virtualized services, IP telephony and more — that will need to be managed in an IPv6 world.

Still, only about 3 percent of domain names and 12 percent of network on the Internet offered IPv6 protocol support as of October 2011, according to Mike Leber, an IPv6 expert. But the U.S. Federal Government is starting to require IPv6 support on IT equipment, plus cell phone carriers have been promoting IPv6 support mandates for smart phones since around 2009.

How far along are top MSPs with IPv6? I’ve got a confession: I don’t know. And I also don’t know if major manged services software providers and RMM (remote monitoring and management) software providers offer IPv6 migration/support tools for their MSPs. But I’m all ears.

Read More About This Topic

• Seven Managed Services Blogs MSPmentor Didn’t Write, April 27
• Opsview Updates Opsview Enterprise, Launches Pro Version
• Virtualization Management: Emerging Opportunity or Old News?
• 60% of Fortune 500 Companies Running ManageEngine
• IT Departments Not Prepared to Manage BYOD Trend

Overall, MSPs were quite optimistic about economic conditions and their businesses in the years ahead.  A full 97 percent were expecting growth of 10 percent or more year over year for the next two years.  More than 75 percent of the businesses surveyed said they target “medium” businesses or those in the 100 to 500 employee range.

About 20 percent reported they had difficulty hiring staff with skills in sales, solution design and security operations engineering. And that’s a critical category for these MSPs because 75 percent of them provided cloud solutions to customers but said that customers were still concerned with data security in the cloud.

A second study conducted by IBM in the UK with small and midsized enterprises found that

Sixty-seven percent of senior managers surveyed had either already implemented cloud services or anticipated they would in the future, with 30 percent looking to do so within the next two years.

Senior managers cited the increased ability for employees to work with greater mobility and flexibility as the most popular reason to implement cloud services (39 percent), and cost efficiencies were cited as the second most popular reason (33 percent).

Of those who had not yet moved towards the cloud, the main reason given for the delay was not security but lack of time (38 percent), something that puts MSPs in a pretty favorable position for providing services.

Read More About This Topic

• IBM’s New Channel Chief: What are His Top Priorities?
• Help Wanted: Senior Network Engineer, Storage Administrator
• eXo 3.5 Multi-Tenancy Targets Cloud, Managed Service Providers
• Discover IBM’s Cloud Solutions for MSPs – Join Live on 5/31
• MSP of the Week: Who is Fandotech?