Rewind a decade or two, and it was commonplace for IT administrators to join user groups — especially since we were all trying to learn the ins and outs of Windows, Mac OS and even OS/2. Fast forward to the present and MSP user groups seem to be popping up across the globe. But will MSPs keep sharing information as competition heats up?
First, I must concede that I’m using the term “MSP user group” loosely. Companies like ConnectWise have been navigating the globe striving to help IT Nation (ConnectWise’s term for IT channel members) to network and share best practices. It’s safe to expect more ConnectWise gatherings in early 2010, according to the company’s Twitter feed.
ConnectWise isn’t alone. A growing list of PSA (professional services automation) and RMM (remote monitoring and management) companies are launching user groups for their customers — which range from VARs to integrators to full-blown MSPs. User groups seem to be popping up across North America, Europe and Australia. And many of the major MSP software providers are marching forward with established partner and user conferences.
But I wonder: How will MSPs prioritize their time in 2010 and just how much information will they share within user groups?
No doubt, peer groups like HTG and those organized by Taylor Business Group inspire information sharing. And organizations — from ASCII Group to CompTIA to MSPAlliance — are hosting regional and national events to help MSPs get educated.
Now here’s the twist: I’m starting to hear from a few MSPs who want to do a little less talking at managed services events. The reason: The market is getting a bit more competitive. First-mover MSPs certainly shared a lot of best practices with market followers over the past year or two. I wonder if that spirit of information sharing will continue.
I hope it does. Industries move forward when thought leaders share best practices.
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Posted In: Australia | EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) | Marketing | North America | Sales
Tags: ASCII Group | HTG Peer Groups | Managed Services Peer Groups | Managed Services User Group | MSP Peer Groups | MSP User Group | Taylor Business Group
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Great post as always Joe.
To expand on your point about first-mover MSPs, you will see a drop-off in the amount of information shared from them. First, because they’ve grown to a point where they can be self-sufficient and second because the influx of cash from investors tends to choke off the spirit of community.
The good news is that there is a new wave of MSPs that are embracing community and I see the community effort gaining momentum rather than losing it. The challenge seems to be finding a community that suits your personality and commitment to your business. There’s a broad range of them out there now and some still that are forming in 2010.
Thank you!
Bob Penland
Hey Bob: There’s another blog (or two… or 10) waiting to be written about first mover MSPs. It’s based on a conversation I had a few weeks ago with N-able’s Rob Bissett. More on that soon. In the meantime I hope to visit a range of MSP-oriented user groups in 2010 to see what makes them tick.
Best
-jp
Great post JP! We are super proud of the ConnectWise community for their participation in our 2009 User Group initiative…and we’re very glad to be leading the resurgence of User Groups in our market place.
I can tell you that our partners absolutely understand the importance of co-opetition, I see the sharing of best practices consistently in these user group meetings. There is an understanding that we all get better, smarter and more profitable…faster by learning and sharing with one another.
From a trending perspective, in 2009, we had 28 User Group meetings across NA, UK and ANZ. That represented 1,700 ConnectWise partners connecting with one another and 125 potential partners checking out our vibrant community.
We’re continuing our commitment to the initiative in 2010 – quarterly meetings throughout the year in each of our 9 regional User Groups. What we’re seeing in 2010 is the groups really starting to drive their own agenda’s – having discussions with one another as well as constructing voting polls about what they’d like to do with their time together. And that’s just what we want – we’d like to see that kind of excitement and collaboration continue – it really is their group, we’re just there to write the check.
We’ve just opened registration for our January meetings and all indications tell us that participation in 2010 will be up over 2009. It’s an exciting time to be involved in the Solution Provider community!
best, jeannine
Joe Rocks; Jeannine Rocks; Partners have always rocked, and continue to rock.
User Group meeting are just an expression of how much our ecosystems freaking rocks!
Rock on…
Niv
Hi JP…I am hesitating about leaving a comment here. I am not sure why however I feel I most add my two cents into the conversation. I have to ask myself one question and you asked it…is there just too much community stuff happening amongst IT partners. Don’t get me wrong, it is important but is there too much? I tend to think that a number of us are taking our eye off what is important and those are the needs of our clients and our local community (where our clients come from). I got way over board with IT community stuff and lost contacts locally here in Calgary and it hurt me bad. Now, I am trying to rebuild this and taking stuff away from the IT community (sorry, cash flow comes from my local community and not from the IT community).
I think what I am trying to say is balance. It is not a 50-50 thing it is more like 85% local where you clients come from and 15% where you industry is unless you are reselling your services to the IT community.
JP, I just reflect back to my biggest growth in the business. I just started with HTG and only other I had was TechSelect (vendors) and I was very much involved with my local Chamber of Commerce, networking groups and others. There was a time when everyone knew me in Calgary and those days are distant memories.
Don’t make the same mistake I have…don’t dive in too deep in all this IT community stuff and lose focus on what is really important, your local community, your Chambers of Commerce and trade organizations where your clients are. This is where you will learn what they really want, not from other IT folks.
Cheers
Stuart Crawford
Bulletproof InfoTech
Calgary, AB, Canada
http://www.bulletproofIT.ca
Great blog Joe and one of my favorite topics. There are few things I’ve done in this channel over the past 9 years that I have enjoyed as much working with communities of user groups. It is incredibly rewarding to see eyes light up and defenses go down as peers gather to share ideas, concerns and practices. The realization that they are not alone in their struggles to run a business or build a better mouse trap is comforting to them. To discover peers that will share solutions with them in the spirit of community is invigorating and often rekindles their entrepreneurial spirit easily previously dimmed by the daily grind or economic challenges.
As many of you know I recently took a position with Autotask to direct two specific initiatives, one of which is community development. For the last two years we have been actively fostering community through our Online CommunITy groups (now with 25,000+ active members) and continue to facilitate the formation of local and regional Autotask Community User Groups that are *of* the users, *for* the users and *by* the users.
For those who would like to get involved in an IT Pro user group there are about 70 local SMB IT Pro groups in the US and another handful in the UK and AU that are completely autonomous from any vendor and run by peers (I run the one in Charlotte – http://charlotte.smbitpros.org). These groups are primarily centered on practices servicing Microsoft Small Business Server customers but have expanded to all facets of running an IT practice in the SMB space. Need help finding one? Send an email to me (mcrall @ Autotask.com) and I will gladly connect you with one of the local user group leaders (no PSA required).
Bottom line is… Community rocks and user groups are anything but on the downswing. See you at one soon!
Mark
Sorry for this blanket reply but deadlines call.
Jeannine@3: I look forward to following up regarding event date(s), etc.
Niv@4: I don’t rock; I just pretend to rock by blogging for a living. And that’s sort of cool.
Stuart@5: Chambers of Commerce = priceless
Mark@6: Please keep me posted as dates/locations pop up for user group meetings.
Thanks for the dialog folks.
-jp
The sharing that goes on in the Connectwise User Groups is, in a word, unbelievable! It’s amazing to see 100 or so competitors sitting in a room sharing information on business practices. But to extend this more, the carry over to the entire Connectwise user base is even more incredible. The ideas and best practices that were shared at the recent Connectwise Summit continue to be expanded upon in the Connectwise forums and via group emails, phone calls, and onsite visits! Partners have taken ideas, improved upon them, and eagerly shared them with the entire user base. Partners are traveling to other partners locations to observe day to day practices, and to help each other improve upon them. All this being done at their own expense, I might add, because partners know that User Groups, Summits, and healthy business friendships all contribute to the bottom line. Not to mention increasing a small company’s footprint exponentially. I don’t see any slowdown in the information sharing going on in the Connectwise community. On the contrary, I see the sharing increaing in 2010 and beyond. If we isolate ourselves, we are doomed.
Tim B.
Networthy Systems
Everybody has brought up some very valid points above, however I believe there are really two types of groups: user groups and peer groups, both of which can be extremely helpful and both of which have their own strengths. I don’t see either losing ground… in fact I see both picking up substantially.
A user group has traditionally been started by a particular vendor as a means to foster community central around that particular product or service. ConnectWise has done an oustanding job of fostering this theory of the “IT Nation” through its local user groups and partner summit. By and large, partners have been very willing to share best practices and business concepts, and we have all learned how to leverage this valuable product more effectively within our business. Countless B2B ventures have also been spawned as a direct result of these groups. While the entrepreneurial spirit is within us all, we all should have some responsibility to give back to the community which fosters our growth. This does not necessarily mean giving away your competitive edge, but if you gain knowledge from these groups you should contribute to them as well.
Peer groups are a bit different (i.e. Taylor Business Group) in that they are much smaller (10-15 companies on the average) and are more detail-centric on business practices, specific marketing, financials, and maybe even some trade secrets. Peer groups exchange non-compete/non-disclosure agreements and are much more apt to share very specific company information. The ultimate goal is to bring companies in non-competing areas together to develop the “utopia” of technology companies (15 brains are better than one). It is not uncommon for companies within such groups to form joint ventures, partnerships, or enter M&A agreements.
I could not put a price on the knowledge gained from being a member of these two types of groups and how it has allowed our business to develop and advance. It has fostered more creative thinking, allowing us to properly run our business and focus on those items that set us apart. Sharing has not made us less competitive, but rather more.
Now, if every vendor started a peer group, I can certainly see Stuart’s point that you really need to balance your time. In this industry, we can all find an event, conference, training, or group to attend somewhere in the country in any given week, so the trick is to pick a few that truly have value to you and your business.
My info for the post above if anybody wants to further discuss our user and peer group experiences:
Brett Jaffe
IT4, Inc.
http://www.it4yourbusiness.com
Joe, awesome topic, thanks for the thought provoking topic. You and MSPMentor have a real knack for zeroing in on very timely topics to this community.
As Brett stated above, there have been some truly excellent comments made in this thread. Stuart hits a very important nail on the head. As someone who has been very involved in the overall IT community, I can tell you from first hand experience that Stuart presents a hard learned lesson. The danger with all the activities in the overall IT community is that you can lose focus and it can hurt your business. I have been extremely fortunate that I have not had this experience myself, but I could easily envision the scenario. As one of my very valued confidants has said to me on many occassions, “Where’s the profit in it?” Let’s face it, this is how each and every one of us should be evaluating everything, especially in an economy like this, even though there does appear to be light at the end of the tunnel.
That last statement alone is why I value the user group I participate in, The Northeast ConnectWise User Group, so highly. I see direct and immediate ROI for the sharing that takes place in this forum. By way of full disclosure, I was one of the individuals involved in the formation of this group, so yes, I am biased, but the point I want to get across is that a well run user group will foster information sharing that will have a large impact on your success. The concerns about competitive issues are valid, but if your user group is well run and has leadership that is truly interested in the health of the collective whole, this will not be a real issue. There is plenty of business out there for us all and if we all focus on raising our collective standards, professionalism and excellence, it will only help the entire solution provider/managed services provider/IT outsourcing marketplaces.
Brett also rightly points out the value of peer groups, like Taylor Business Group and the others, who focus on very specific aspects and measures of your business and those should not be overlooked. I personally believe a complimentary mix of a focused user group, peer group and engagement with national organizations like The ASCII Group for smaller companies and CompTIA, especially with the acquisition of MSPPartners, for companies small and large, offer a compelling mix of education, professional standards and wide reaching resources that will help any business grow and prosper.
To our collective success!
MJ
Interesting topic everyone, and definitely one I have some experience with. I am going to basically echo MJ above. I am an active member in my local SBS User Group, HTG, and I facilitate the NW Connectwise User Group. The key word in that last sentence is “active”. Each of these groups have a unique flow, but they all share an incredible amount of highly valuable information. As my company has grown we have felt like there is a bit more competition in the local area, but that hasn’t kept us from sharing in the groups that have a lot of local presence. We may not dig deeply into financials like we do in our HTG group, but a surprising amount of other substantive information does get shared. Technical best practices, operational best practices, event marketing around vertical segments are topics that come up in local user groups. I was astounded several years ago when I discovered the “community” and how open it was. I think our industry is somewhat unique in this way, and it has made our industry much better locally. Even if a few competitors (I prefer to call the good ones peers) learn a bunch from me, it just makes our industry stronger. If our industry as IT providers is greatly enhanced, my company will benefit from that as much as those I am sharing with. We aren’t fighting each other here. We are fighting the giant national shops who cannot possible be “trusted advisors”. We are fighting the best friends’ nephew who is 16 and does “IT” for $15/hr. We are fighting costly internal IT departments. Let’s work together to fight that battle first, then discuss competition with each other. We have a lot to gain in the meantime.