Did you know that all of "Toy Story 2" was nearly wiped out? Or that Kurt Vonnegut predicted the future of storage? From punch cards to clouds, here's a look at man's quest to protect our greatest asset: data.

Filmmaking has come a long way since the VHS tapes and bulky cameras of the ‘90s. But along with new technology comes the need for increased data storage capacity — and a higher risk of data loss.

As the channel landscape grows increasingly complex, vendors must truly understand the market — and their partners' customers — to provide value. That's true for data protection and backup services alike, though changes in buying behavior have altered the definition of a strategic relationship between vendors and their managed service provider (MSP) partners. Here, Ashar Baig, research director at Gigaom Research and a channel expert, explains the data protection challenges MSPs' customers face, how vendors can help their partners help themselves and what MSPs look for in a vendor partner.

Unless you've been living underneath a rock for the past two weeks, you've no doubt heard about the panic that the Heartbleed bug has caused among Internet users. MSPs can assuage their customers' concerns by providing them the information they need. Here's the latest on Heartbleed and more data protection news from around the Web this week: