Hosting Insights https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/feed.xml Conversations with Industry Insiders Tue, 16 Apr 2019 06:08:21 GMT en-US hourly 1 Today @ MS Inspire: Next generation architecture for RDS hosting https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/today-ms-inspire-next-generation-architecture-for-rds-hosting Wed, 12 Jul 2017 04:05:29 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3305 202B, WEWCC for an informative session on how you can make your hosted RDS environments more secure, scalable and efficient; discover the powerful new architecture that enables you to create the next generation of services for your customers, while taking your business to the next level of efficiency and growth. The RDS modern infrastructure components we are showcasing today extend the current Windows Server 2016 RDS to enable partners to address new markets segments and customers while reducing the cost and complexity of hosted Windows desktop and application deployments. Our Infrastructure and clients now utilize Azure Active Directory authentication to enable enhanced security features like conditional access, multi-factor authentication, taking advantage of the massive investments being made in our Intelligent Security Graph. We seamlessly integrate with classic Windows authentication to maintain application compatibility and provide a single sign-on user experience. The RDS modern infrastructure components provide functionality that extends the current RD Web Access, RD Gateway, and RD Connection Broker services, as well as adding a new RD Diagnostics service. The RDS modern infrastructure components are implemented as .NET Web Services enabling a wide variety of deployment options. For example:
  • Both single and multi-tenant deployments, making smaller deployments (less than 100 users) much more economically viable, while providing the necessary security of tenant isolation
  • Deployments on Microsoft Azure, on-premises equipment, and hybrid configurations
  • Virtual machines or Azure App Services can be used for deployment
Azure App Services, part of Azure’s Platform-as-a-Service environment, simplifies the deployment and management of the RDS modern infrastructure because it abstracts the details of the virtual machines, networking, and storage. This simplifies administrative tasks like configuring scale out/in of a service to dynamically and automatically handle fluctuating usage patterns. The new infrastructure will also include a web client that allows users to connect from any HTML5 browser. The web client, combined with the other RDS modern infrastructure features, allows many Windows applications to be easily transformed into a Web-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application without having to rewrite a line of code. Join us today to learn more and sign up for the upcoming technical preview! Session details: Remote Desktop Services (RDS): Why do you support 24×7 infrastructure for apps that run 8AM – 5PM? Wednesday, July 12, 2017 2:30 PM-3:30 PM (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) -  202B, WEWCC For related information, please see Windows Server 2016 Remote Desktop Services documentation and the RDS Azure Quickstart Templates.]]> It’s time for Inspire! Here’s Your Managed Service Provider ‘Know Before You Go’ Guide https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/its-time-for-inspire-heres-your-managed-service-provider-know-before-you-go-guide Wed, 05 Jul 2017 22:08:34 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3285

It’s time for Microsoft Inspire 2017!

We want to officially welcome you to Microsoft Inspire 2017. To help you make the most of the week, we have culled down all the available sessions and networking opportunities to only the most critical information a Managed Service Provider needs for this year’s event. Get the MSP Know Before You Go Guide The Hosting & Managed Service Provider team will be in attendance from around the world. We are all looking forward to reuniting with those of you we’ve worked with for years, and meeting some of you for the first time. For more information, visit our website, The MSP Guide to Microsoft Inspire. Wishing you a successful visit to Microsoft Inspire, - The Microsoft MSP team]]> Your top 4 MSP networking opportunities at Microsoft Inspire https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/your-top-4-msp-networking-opportunities-at-microsoft-inspire Tue, 27 Jun 2017 17:42:20 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3255

Heading to Microsoft Inspire? Here's four ways to connect with other MSPs. 

With Microsoft Inspire just under two weeks away, now's the perfect time to explore ways to meet and connect with other MSPs during the conference. Here are four key networking opportunities to add to your plans. Visit the MSP Guide to Microsoft Inspire--our curated list of sessions and events you won't want to miss--to see the full agenda.

1. Attend the MSP Networking Event

Monday, 7-10pm, at the Fig & Olive Restaurant The Microsoft MSP team is hosting a networking reception and you're invited. This acclaimed Mediterranean restaurant  is the perfect environment to spend an evening networking with other service provider partners and the Microsoft Managed Service Provider team. We look forward to your attendance. Note that spaces are limited, so please RSVP right away. RSVP to Attend

2. Visit the MSP Booth

Microsoft Partner Experience in the Commons at the Convention Center open Monday – Wednesday, 11am-6pm Join us at the Microsoft Partner Experience booth for interactive conversations, connections, informative presentations and valuable customer and partner stories. This will be the place to connect with subject matter experts from both Microsoft and the partner ecosystem to learn about the Managed Service Partner opportunity and gain valuable resources.

3. Set up Connect Meetings

Quickly and easily set up meetings with attending Managed Service Provider leaders. Use the MyInspire event planning tool to set up Connect meetings with fellow partners and Microsoft employees. Visit the MSP guide to start planning your visit!

4. Attend the keynote

Empowering digital transformation with hosting and managed service providers Tuesday, 1 - 2pm, Room 201 Speaker: Aziz Benmalek In this session hear from Microsoft VP of WW Cloud & Hosting Service Providers on how Microsoft with its partners are empowering digital transformation with customers. Wishing you a successful visit to Microsoft Inspire, - The Microsoft MSP team]]> Plan your week at Microsoft Inspire with our MSP Guide https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/plan-your-week-at-microsoft-inspire-with-our-msp-guide Tue, 13 Jun 2017 02:07:12 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3235

Make the Most of Microsoft Inspire with our MSP Guide

With Microsoft Inspire just around the corner, now’s the perfect time to start planning your schedule. That’s why we created the Managed Service Provider Guide to Microsoft Inspire—a curated list of sessions, meetings, events, and networking opportunities you won’t want to miss. Visit our guide to…
  • Pinpoint sessions that will help you grow your portfolio of managed services
  • Find out where peers from around the world will congregate after show hours
  • Learn how to schedule a meeting with the Microsoft MSP team, and much more
Visit the guide >

Plan your session agenda with MySchedule, your personalized show planner

As you browse the MSP guide, add sessions and meetings you want to attend to MySchedule, your personalized show planning tool. MySchedule shows you where you need to be every hour of the day—an invaluable way to ensure you don’t miss out on events you want to attend. It’s easy to get started. Browse the MSP guide for a session you want to attend, click the link to the official event site, sign in, and then click the ‘Add Session’ button to add it to your schedule. Visit the MSP guide to start planning your visit, and be sure to sign-up to receive important updates leading up to the event.]]> Register today for June training webcasts https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/june-webcasts Wed, 07 Jun 2017 17:31:30 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3215 Ramp up your technical readiness throughout June by attending our training webcasts hosted by Microsoft solution experts. Join live to ask questions or watch on-demand shortly after the session. Sign up for each event you want to watch live or on-demand for reminders and updates as the event approaches. As always, view the entire webcast catalog at www.cloudchannelnetwork.com. Office 365: Office 365 Technical Deep Dive Broadcast live on Thursday, June 8 - now available on demand Audience: Business Readiness This is the third session in the Q4 Office 365 Sales Training Series. In this live sales training session, we will cover the most frequently asked questions we receive from partners about Office 365. Topics will include sales training readiness, technical questions relating to Azure, how to demo Office 365, and how to differentiate Office 365 from other services.

Office 365: Refresh on Office 365 Suites, Features and Security

Tuesday, June 20, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific Time Audience: Technical Readiness In this session we will take a look at the features in the core Office 365 bundles and explore some of the recent advancements in security. Taking a closer look will help you, as a CSP partner, create additional and more focused managed services and value-add offerings. You will learn about the Business SKUs (including new features such as Outlook Customer Manager) and Enterprise SKUs (including features such as StaffHub, Voice), as well as security that protects customers from the potential loss of business data and other external threats.

FY17 Q4 Quarterly Licensing Brief

Thursday, June 22, 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Pacific Time Audience: Licensing Readiness Attend our upcoming Quarterly Licensing Briefing for Service Providers and Resellers. Our focus this quarter is on Azure licensing scenarios, which is on the top of everyone’s mind. Topics will cover when to use the CSP program for Azure as a managed and/or hosting service provider, as well as various hybrid or BYOL (Bring Your Own License) licensing scenarios. We welcome your questions about any licensing topic in these very popular sessions!

SQL Server 2017 on Linux Overview and Partner Opportunity

Tuesday, June 27, 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Pacific Time Linux today has 36% of Enterprise database share and a market size approaching $15B by 2019. SQL Server, the most deployed database on Windows will soon be available on Linux. Join this session to learn more about SQL Server for Linux and how you can leverage it to acquire more customers and offer your existing customers more choice. This session will be presented by Travis Wright, Principal Program Manager on the SQL Engineering Team.]]> News Round-up: Power BI Premium, new Office 365 tools, plus digital transformation insights https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/news-round-up Tue, 06 Jun 2017 17:37:19 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3205 Every month, we round up hosting and cloud service provider news you might have missed. Sign up for our monthly Microsoft Hosting and Cloud Newsletter to get the most current news delivered to your inbox. 

Resource Spotlight

Take a deep dive into insights from our latest Cloud & Hosting Annual Survey. Our new whitepaper summarizes the findings and shares important statistics about customer demand for Digital Transformation. Download the PDF: “Digital Transformation Opportunity for Service Providers, Beyond Infrastructure.”

 

Solution Updates

Microsoft accelerates modern BI adoption with Power BI Premium

Microsoft is taking the next step in its commitment to empower people and organizations with access to critical intelligence with more flexibility and capabilities: introducing Power BI Premium. Read this blog post to see all the features, including:
  • Flexibility to license by capacity
  • Greater scale and performance
  • Power BI apps
  • Extending on-premises capabilities
  • Embedded analytics
Another important update allows providers to maintain BI assets on-premises with Power BI Report Server. This enables deployment and distribution of interactive Power BI reports completely within the boundaries of the organization’s firewall. Power BI Premium will be available in CSP on General Availability. For more details check it out at Power BI Premium webpage.

Microsoft Customer Manager now available in Office 365 Business Premium

Outlook Customer Manager, the latest app included at no extra cost in the Office 365 Business Premium plan, helps small businesses manage customer relationships more effectively. It provides a complete view of interactions with each customer, helps track tasks and deals in progress, and surfaces timely reminders. One can stay on top of customer relationships right from Outlook, with no need to install or learn separate tools. Learn more about Outlook Customer Manager

Sales & Marketing News

Office 365 Sales Tools Available

These new Office 365 tools will help direct and inside sales teams prepare for customer conversations.
  • Office Boxes: Direct Sales Account Executives will appreciate this customized web tool they can use while selling Office 365, with information updated to suit your organization’s needs. Customize the Office Boxes tool for your salesforce so they have the latest Office 365 SKU information.
  •  Talk Desk: Inside Sellers can use Talk Desk to save time and demonstrate expertise while on the phone with customers. Create digital scripts, search common objections, and use self-guided training material.
 

Partner News

New Service Provider Stories

Learn how other service providers around the globe are building and growing offerings. Our new Partner Showcase Page highlights stories from around the world, featuring Hosting & Managed Service Providers delivering innovative solutions to customers. Featured Story: Learn about Pegaso Tecnologia’s smart business solution to utilize SQL for success.

Connect to the Hosting & Managed Service Provider Community

We know it can be challenging to keep tabs on the latest industry news. That’s why we give you a choice of channels to keep up on the latest news and resources from Microsoft. Check out our simplified Hosting Community Page to engage, stay informed, and learn. ]]> News Round-up: Office 365 sales training webcasts, Azure updates https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/april2017-news-round-up Thu, 04 May 2017 16:59:03 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3185 Every month, we round up hosting and cloud service provider news you might have missed. Sign up for our monthly Microsoft Hosting and Cloud Newsletter to get the most current news delivered to your inbox. 

Join us at Microsoft Inspire

inspireConnect with partners, Microsoft employees and industry experts at Microsoft Inspire (July 9–13, 2017 in Washington, D.C.). With past attendance exceeding 16,000 people from around the globe, Microsoft Inspire provides a week full of networking, learning and collaboration. The Microsoft Managed Service Provider team will be there in full force, with 11 breakout sessions. We also will be featured in a General Session on Tuesday, July 11th. Sign up to stay in the loop on our plans.

Webcasts @ Cloud Channel Network 

Browse on-demand webcasts by topic, and quickly register for upcoming sessions. View the entire webcast catalog at www.cloudchannelnetwork.com.  Simply sign up for each individual webcast you wish to attend to receive a reminder before the event.

Now streaming on-demand

Smart Partner Marketing using Digital Best Practices Presented on May 3, 2017 Join Jennifer Tomlinson, an expert in service provider marketing, to learn how other organizations use digital marketing successfully. Included in this webcast:
  • Develop a customer journey framework to build content to your targeted personas
  • Hear from the Marketing Trainer Microsoft uses to build content
  • Leverage principles of Customer Experience to exponentially grow your businesses

Upcoming Webcasts

Q4 Office 365 Sales Training Series: Session 1: Build with Office 365 - Security As A Service May 18, 2017 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Pacific Time This is the first session in the Q4 Office 365 Sales Training Series.  In this live sales training session, we will introduce Security As A Service. Partner sellers will learn the building blocks of Security As A Service, understand the competition and market opportunity, as well as Licensing and the monetization opportunity. Learning Outcome: Partner sellers understand the building blocks and market opportunity of Security as a Service. Session 2: Office 365: Winning with Office 365 May 23, 2017 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Pacific Time This is the second session in the Q4 Office 365 Sales Training Series. Session Abstract: In this live sales training session, Partner sellers will learn what differentiates Office 365 from other products including G Suite, Freemium, and Office 365 vs. On-prem. We will compare services and key features, and the value Office 365 provides to SMB customers. Learning Outcome: Partner sellers understand and can clearly communicate to customers the difference between Office 365 and other services available to them. Session 3: Office 365: Office 365 Technical Deep Dive June 8, 2017 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM Pacific Time This is the third session in the Q4 Office 365 Sales Training Series. Session Abstract: In this live sales training session, we will cover the most frequently asked questions we receive from Partners for Office 365. Topics will include sales training readiness, technical questions relating to Azure, how to demo Office 365, and how to differentiate Office 365 from other services.

Licensing Update

Update to Services Provider License Agreement On April 16, 2017, Microsoft released a minor update to the Services Provider License Agreement. The update will include the definition of a Reciprocal Service Provider. No other changes were made. The SPLA April 2017 update is a minor agreement refresh. Nearly all Service Providers will keep the existing SPLA business rules without disruption or any other changes in their Microsoft relationship. For further details, please contact your SPLA Reseller.

Solution News

Reminder: CSP Power Up offers available through June 30  Don't miss out on the CSP Cloud Power Up suite of incentives for Resellers (Direct & Resellers) and Indirect Providers . CSP Cloud Power Up incentives are designed to help you boost profitability, increase customer adoption of cloud services, sell more premium SKUs, and cross sell new cloud services. Learn more about the offer. Ready your team for SQL Server on Linux Bring the performance and security of SQL Server to Linux! Widely adopted on the Windows Platform, SQL Server power, security, and functionality will be extended to the Linux Operating Systems this year, with the public preview now available.  SQL on Linux, part of the upcoming SQL vNext release, is an important Microsoft investment to make SQL available on any platform. Managed Service Providers have an incredible opportunity to address new market demand by providing deployment, monitoring, management, security, scalability, and migrations for SQL workloads supporting customers’ applications running on Linux. Hybrid cloud just got easier: New Azure Migration resources and tools available Gain access to all of the Azure migration tools available for partners, including the Cloud Migration Assessment tool. Read more > Discover and act on insights with new Azure monitoring and diagnostics capabilities Azure management and security services help you to gain greater visibility into your environment with advanced data analysis and visualization, and make it easy to turn insights into action. Read more >

Marketing News

Understand the Hybrid Marketplace – Special Report: 2017 Cloud & Hosting Study

Released at the 2017 Microsoft Cloud & Hosting Summit, the study captures the most critical customer needs and market trends based on a survey of 1,700 organizations worldwide. Read this overview of the study findings by Aziz Benmalek, Vice President, Worldwide Cloud & Managed Service Providers; and download the full report to explore the myriad of insights.

Market like Microsoft: Cloud Study Graphics

Want to share the study with your network? Download the Twitter graphics to promote the findings of the 2017 Cloud & Hosting Study to your own community, reinforcing the opportunity ahead for us all.

From the Hosting Insights Blog

These are our newest blog post articles, written from expert perspectives:

Partner News

Inspirational Service Provider stories, this month featuring Microsoft Azure and Hybrid Cloud solutions Rackspace and Domino's Pizza  See how RackSpace used an Azure PaaS solution to help Domino’s Australia move from a traditional brick and mortar business to one grounded in e-commerce. [embed]https://youtu.be/mMpASc8M_2w[/embed] Hosters A/S Hosters believes in the “adapt or die” go-to-market scenario. One of the top managed service providers through CSP, Hosters shares how they spark their ISV partners’ success. [embed]https://youtu.be/G8DzcZY02hk[/embed]]]> 'The New Normal': the profound impact of digital transformation on managed services https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/the-new-normal-the-profound-impact-of-digital-transformation-on-managed-services Wed, 26 Apr 2017 14:00:34 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3155 Digital Transformation Opportunity for Service providers: Beyond Infrastructure. One of the key findings showcased in this study is how Managed Services has become the New Normal: 62% of cloud/hosting infrastructure spending comes bundled with value-added services. Furthermore, the study also uncovers how Managed Services has had a critical impact and role to play in how businesses are approaching Digital Transformation. Over 71% of respondents stated that Managed Services has enabled them to optimize their operations, with 74% finding that leveraging Managed Services had enabled their business to improve its overall product and service quality. With this in mind, what types of activities should Managed Services Providers (MSP) be thinking about? In general, a cloud MSP performs three types of functions:
  • Cloud Assessments
  • Cloud Enablement
  • Cloud Operations
The first two--Cloud Assessments and Cloud Enablement--are traditional SI type activities: taking the shape of one-off projects of a particular duration, often billed on a per-hour/per-diem basis. The third of these--Cloud Operations--represents traditional MSP type activities – including ongoing management and monitoring of cloud services, often billed on a recurrent basis. The challenge however is how to think about continuously evolving and optimizing the delivery of these operations at scale. This is where automation is king. From onboarding to implementation to ongoing support tasks, anything you can automate should be automated. Automation makes things faster for the customer and is seamlessly repeatable, which makes it possible to train many (cost effective) people to complete the task. A successful Cloud MSP needs to be strong and be able to demonstrate experience in all three types of activities to provide end-to-end solutions to their customers. This in turn establishes credibility and trust in the partner's ability to understand their customers business, all of which are seen as key attributes that respondents from the study saw as critical in selecting partners to execute on their Digital Transformation journey. The reality of today’s channel is that there are over 100,000 partners transacting in the cloud.  It has become hyper-competitive. As a result, we’ve seen pressures on the price points partners are charging for some of the more foundational activitie,s such as mailbox migration and basic managed services. The best partners have a healthy sense of paranoia, realising that what is a competitive advantage today likely won’t be in 12-18 months. If you remain focused on your competition you'll often sit still waiting for your competitors next move. However, being customer obsessed allows you to continuously innovate and empower your customers to be focused on their core business and ultimately deliver customer lifetime value. sam-restifo-avatarSam Restifo is Senior Business Development Manager, Hosting & Managed Service Providers, at Microsoft Australia. As a Cloud & Services Industry Leader, Sam's passion and focus is on development of a long-term technology vision of customer-centric cloud and data centre services to drive business development, capability, innovation, strategic planning and delivery for a wide range of mission-critical products and services. ]]> Are you a problem solver or opportunity finder? https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/why-msps-key-to-digital-transform Tue, 18 Apr 2017 17:28:02 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3135 “Results are gained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.” - Peter Drucker Identifying problems is necessary, but understanding why it’s a problem and identifying the opportunity is where the real work lies. Microsoft recently released its annual Hosting and Cloud Study–Digital Transformation Opportunity for Service providers: Beyond Infrastructure. While the title of the study has the word “opportunity” in it, I think the real opportunity is for service providers to identify where to focus and what is needed to get there. As I read through the data and key findings, a common problem surfaced among customers as they go through their digital transformation projects. Whether it’s a large customer in the UK, or a small start-up in Singapore, all businesses are struggling with the skills, expertise, implementation, and management required to go through the transformation.
“52% of organizations are on-board with the digital revolution as market disruptors, market makers, or business re-inventors.” “Half of all organizations consider service providers as vital for future digital transformation projects.”
Domino’s in Australia is a great story that illustrates these findings perfectly. It’s a story about a customer going through a challenge of transforming to an e-commerce business. Rackspace assessed Domino’s needs, but more importantly focused on what they were trying to achieve. They combined their skills, expertise, and service with Microsoft Azure to help Domino’s achieve their digital transformation project. Watch the full story below, and be sure to download the full research report and roll up your sleeves to find your opportunities! [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMpASc8M_2w[/embed] monishsoodAs Senior Marketing Manager at Microsoft, Monish Sood is focused on building a complete integrated marketing strategy to drive awareness and adoption of Microsoft Azure and partner solutions including private and public cloud.]]> Partner POV | The path of digital transformation starts with MSPs and Azure https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/hosting/partner-pov-msps-and-azure Wed, 12 Apr 2017 17:53:51 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hosting/?p=3105 If you followed the stream of Twitter updates during the 2017 Microsoft Cloud and Hosting Summit, you likely spotted daily updates  from William Toll, VP of Product Management at Navisite.  We invited William to share his takeaway on the summit and are thrilled to share his insights with the partner community.  Microsoft has always been a partner-led company. From the early days of Windows desktop deployments to the rapid rise of Windows Server, Microsoft depends on partners to develop the expertise to help organizations of all sizes leverage technology to advance their goals. At the 2017 Microsoft Cloud and Hosting Summit, the Azure cloud party got bigger. When the cloud “crossed the chasm” in 2015 (a reference to the innovators curve), the conversation around Azure as the deployment model for IT turned from “if” to “when” for many organizations. But “when” could be this quarter, next year or the next decade. Due to the skills and experience shortage, and the increasingly complexity of IT deployments and the push for automation, security and high availability, many organizations are turning to Microsoft partners to help them build their cloud strategy. I was not surprised to learn that 41% of the attendees of the Hosting and Cloud Summit were MSPs (Managed Service Providers). For over two decades, MSPs have driven the effort to make technology an enabler of productivity and digitization of all kinds of organizations. But now the cloud promises not just technology driven productivity improvements but a faster time to market, lower risk, increases in revenue and better product and service quality. The 451 Research study released at the Summit--Digital Transformation Opportunity for Service Providers: New Paths to “Beyond Infrastructure”-- highlights the numerous managed services that will be used in the coming years – from Disaster Recovery to infrastructure/application monitoring and alerting to backup and recovery management. While these use cases seem ordinary, the outsourcing of these services to managed services are freeing up businesses to speed up their digital transformation. The “new normal” for businesses that have a competitive edge is to compete aggressively and increase market share while optimizing marketing, profit and customer service models – all at the same time. This can only be achieved when organizations make the leap to the cloud and leverage the assistance of managed service providers to operate their technology stacks. This frees up IT to provide more value to the organization, with, say, big data and analytics implementations or the personalization of customer service or the improvement of the production processes. Now, with increasing pressure that the future brings from from IoT and sensor-based technology, machine learning and artificial intelligence, the mundane tasks of operating, monitoring, managing, securing and optimizing IT will almost always be outsourced to competent managed services providers. I applaud the efforts of Microsoft and the Azure teams as they drive towards the vision of a better world, where the cloud unlocks the best possible outcomes for organizations and for the future of humanity. About the Author williamtollWilliam Toll has held product management and marketing positions in the Web hosting and Internet infrastructure industry since the late 1990s. He now leads the Product Management team at Navisite, the leading international provider of managed cloud services for the enterprise including managed infrastructure as a service, managed applications and managed desktops as a service. Most recently William was driving the product, marketing and communications strategies for ProfitBricks, a global cloud infrastructure services provider based in Berlin, Germany. Prior to ProfitBricks, William led the marketing efforts at Yottaa, a Boston-based startup in the CDN space. Prior to Yottaa he managed the small business products and marketing strategies for Navisite. In past positions at companies such as Affinity Internet, Inc., Intermedia.NET, and NTT/VERIO, William was the driving force in launching services including: Hosting services, Microsoft Exchange and hosting add-on services like online marketing and Web design. William received a BA in Marketing from New England College in Arundel, UK. Follow William on Twitter @utollwi and LinkedIn.]]>