Comments on: Do Small Businesses Understand Cloud Computing? http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/ Managed Services & Cloud Services Blog for VARs & MSPs Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:25:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Joe Panettieri http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/comment-page-1/#comment-42721 Joe Panettieri Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:59:44 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/#comment-42721 Jim: I'm down in Puerto Rico at the Kaspersky Partner Summit and your point -- focusing on value rather than price -- is a key theme her at the event. Any MSP that leads with price will wind up offering a commodity service... ... Jim: I’m down in Puerto Rico at the Kaspersky Partner Summit and your point — focusing on value rather than price — is a key theme her at the event. Any MSP that leads with price will wind up offering a commodity service… …

]]> By: jvan999 http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/comment-page-1/#comment-42719 jvan999 Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:47:59 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/#comment-42719 I agree that educating a customer, from a business perspective, not IT, is a fundamental role of a 'trusted advisor'. Our clients don't know what cloud computing is, not do they care, but they use it every day, thanks to us and our choice to provide them with hosted services. The pricing enables more small/micro-businesses to take advantage of what we have to offer, but the value of SaaS is that the application maintenance becomes the responsibility of the host, and is centralized, and that the user gets the 'latest and greatest' version over a highly secure link. While we've been able to offer a lower-priced/scaled-down version of our bundle, we still focus on the value of the offer, rather than the price.... Jim Van Logicomm, Inc. http://www.logicomm-inc.com I agree that educating a customer, from a business perspective, not IT, is a fundamental role of a ‘trusted advisor’. Our clients don’t know what cloud computing is, not do they care, but they use it every day, thanks to us and our choice to provide them with hosted services.

The pricing enables more small/micro-businesses to take advantage of what we have to offer, but the value of SaaS is that the application maintenance becomes the responsibility of the host, and is centralized, and that the user gets the ‘latest and greatest’ version over a highly secure link.

While we’ve been able to offer a lower-priced/scaled-down version of our bundle, we still focus on the value of the offer, rather than the price….

Jim Van
Logicomm, Inc.
http://www.logicomm-inc.com

]]> By: Joe Panettieri http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/comment-page-1/#comment-42367 Joe Panettieri Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:44:36 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/#comment-42367 Sekar, I fully agree that small business customers don't need to master IT jargon. But I do think it's time for solutions providers to educate their customers using simplified, business-driven messaging. I still receive dozens of marketing postcards per month from VARs who are pitching online storage pricing instead of the value of their SaaS/cloud services. If you can share examples of Vembu partners that have really nailed their branding and go-to-market messaging, I'd love to hear more. Sekar,

I fully agree that small business customers don’t need to master IT jargon. But I do think it’s time for solutions providers to educate their customers using simplified, business-driven messaging.

I still receive dozens of marketing postcards per month from VARs who are pitching online storage pricing instead of the value of their SaaS/cloud services.

If you can share examples of Vembu partners that have really nailed their branding and go-to-market messaging, I’d love to hear more.

]]> By: Sekar Vembu http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/comment-page-1/#comment-42366 Sekar Vembu Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:22:31 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/02/04/do-small-businesses-understand-cloud-computing/#comment-42366 Joe, I have slightly different take on this. I actually see it as evidence to our thesis that most small businesses have to be serviced by a local IT Solution provider (an MSP). I do not think small business care about how these IT services are delivered. They just want to leverage IT as much as possible to run their business and as cost effectively as possible. I do not see any reason for a small legal firm or an accounting firm etc. to even try and understand what is the latest in IT. They neither care nor they will have the time to care. That is where the local IT solution provider (MSP) comes into the picture. These people have to act as their trusted IT adviser. That is the reason the MSP has to understand the client's business and the requirements etc. and propose the best solution for them. It is the MSP who decides if using a cloud to deliver the solution is the most efficient thing to do. It is the MSP's job to stay on top of the technology and improve her competitiveness providing better value for the money for her clients. Needless to say marketing to this IT solution providers has been the strategy at our firm (www.vembu.com). I see it as somewhat futile to try and market to this two thirds majority who could not care less about what is the latest in IT. Sekar. Joe,
I have slightly different take on this. I actually see it as evidence to our thesis that most small businesses have to be serviced by a local IT Solution provider (an MSP). I do not think small business care about how these IT services are delivered. They just want to leverage IT as much as possible to run their business and as cost effectively as possible. I do not see any reason for a small legal firm or an accounting firm etc. to even try and understand what is the latest in IT. They neither care nor they will have the time to care. That is where the local IT solution provider (MSP) comes into the picture. These people have to act as their trusted IT adviser. That is the reason the MSP has to understand the client’s business and the requirements etc. and propose the best solution for them. It is the MSP who decides if using a cloud to deliver the solution is the most efficient thing to do. It is the MSP’s job to stay on top of the technology and improve her competitiveness providing better value for the money for her clients.

Needless to say marketing to this IT solution providers has been the strategy at our firm (www.vembu.com). I see it as somewhat futile to try and market to this two thirds majority who could not care less about what is the latest in IT.

Sekar.

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