Comments on: The Next MSP Trend: Outsourcing Management?

By: Amy Luby

Amy Luby — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:27:19 +0000

I say, “Yes they do!” Partners in our MSP Community here at MSPSN are doing it every day. They are using MSPSN to leverage our NOC & Help Desk and they are leveraging each other to deliver projects that they might ordinarily have to pass up if it is outside their core competencies. This allows them to compete fiercely in their marketplace. While others talk of the commoditization of Managed Services, our partners are working together to win more business and grow their companies.

We here at MSPSN are waiting with bated breath for Autotask to deliver their new partner collaboration features. We’ve built our Virtual Service Desk on top of the Autotask platform and their new features will push our Virtual Services delivery forward light-years. Our biggest frustration as we’ve built our Virtual Service Desk is that the different tool sets don’t necessarily work well together. We’ve been building our own integrations for some tools, but knowing what Autotask is preparing to deliver has allowed us focus on streamlining our service instead of focusing on software development and integration.

Autotask is doing a great thing for MSPs and for the Channel by building the platform that will allow us all to work together on a much larger scale than we can today. As our vendors and manufactures begin to understand that delivering the tools and platforms that allow the Channel to collaborate is not only good business for them, but good for the entire Channel Community we will see a whole new level of interaction and positive growth among Channel Partners.

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:28:52 +0000

Bob: Great breakfast, great conversation … but great article? As long as readers consider MSPmentor fair, balanced, comprehensive and timely, I’ll be happy.

Interested to see how readers react to outsourcing revenue opportunities — regardless of which tools they choose. Even if the tools work as advertised, I think many IT service providers will hesitate to partner up with other MSPs.

That could be foolish, though. A recent report from Cisco revealed that 31 percent of Cisco partner revenue came from other partners.

Much like those Cisco partners, MSPs need to work with one another. The trick is avoiding the MSP pretenders, and finding real partners whom you can trust.

By: Bob Godgart

Bob Godgart — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:12:50 +0000

Hi Joe – I just arrived back in NY and read your great article on Outsource Management.

I’m glad you shared the bigger “open architecture picture” as seamless interoperability between key vendors and partners is critical for the continued evolution of automation tools for MSPs. We have our webinar together on June 25 where we can dive into this live…

I wanted to add that our Outsource Management module will also be compatible with Ingram’s IMOnsite for the vendors participating within their network.

Have a safe trip to the west coast. – Bob