MSPmentor

IT service providers that have been selling cloud-based business continuity solutions surely have noticed data backup and recovery is one of the most popular cloud-based offerings with end users. In fact, according to a recent study by CompTIA, storage and backup solutions are the most popular cloud applications, with 71 percent of small and midsize businesses (SMB) currently using the technology. The data points don’t end there.

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All the talk about the cloud over the past couple of years has obscured managed services to some extent. However, the managed services market remains in high-growth mode, and MSPs looking to increase revenues should be working hard to recruit new customers. But you’re going to need to do some education along the way.

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MSPs by and large fared well after the 2008 banking crisis that sent the economy into a dive. Many customers saw managed services as way to control IT costs at a time they needed to tighten budgets. As the economy potentially heads for another slide, you have to wonder what the effect will be on providers of managed services and cloud services. Presumably, since clients have become dependent on remote monitoring and management to keep their daily operations running smoothly, you wouldn’t expect MSPs to suffer terribly from the second half of a double-dip recession.

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Do your customers know what the cloud is? Chances are they have some vague ideas about cloud computing, but if you pressed them on how the cloud fits into their IT needs, most would stumble.

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We haven’t quite left the hype stage of cloud computing yet, which means fear and confusion still weigh disproportionately on decisions of whether to jump on the cloud. For IT service providers, the fear and confusion present opportunities to educate end customers as providers take on the role of cloud services aggregators. In fact, I would argue that education is a key element in any business plan to build a cloud aggregation business. For one thing, providers need to educate themselves on available options and strategies. Only then can they truly guide their customers through the morass of cloud-related options, pitfalls and opportunities. But first, what is a “cloud aggregator?”

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Which endorsement of a product or service would carry the most weight with you: a paid advertisement, or a positive review from a friend or respected peer? That’s kind of a no-brainer isn’t it? Yet business owners and managers expend large sums of money and countless hours on elaborate marketing plans. This is the case, despite the fact that the best-devised advertising campaigns can be upstaged (or destroyed) in the mind of a prospective customer by little more than a casual observation from someone he or she knows. Why not put this potent force to work for your business? It’s easy to do, and relatively cost-free. In most cases, if you have a satisfied customer, it’s likely that all you’ll have to do is ask.

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No matter how good your intentions for preparing for a crisis, no one is really ever quite prepared for the worst. This probably has something to do with human nature and an innate inability to contemplate a truly worst-case scenario. Yet, prepare we must because the consequences can be dire. I’m sure most, if not all, of you are familiar with the statistics on companies that suffer major data losses: Most of them go out of business. I bet many of you have used such statistics to make a case for business continuity strategies.

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With all the buzz around cloud computing, it’s easy sometimes to lose perspective on this whole phenomenon. The fact is the cloud has tremendous transformative power, and we are about to see an acceleration of the adoption of cloud services as CIOs take action on ways to get the most bang for their IT bucks.

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Any IT services provider still skeptical of the cloud opportunity needs to consider this: You’ll be hard-pressed to find another model in IT that promotes customer retention the way cloud services do. Once you hook the customer through a cloud services contract that covers most, if not all, of their IT needs, the customer is unlikely to ever want to procure IT services from anyone else. That is, so long as you uphold your end of the bargain by providing reliable, scalable services.

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New year, new opportunities. That is what every MSP should be thinking as 2011 approaches. By now, you should have set your business priorities for the coming year, but if you’re still working them, allow me to make some suggestions.

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Business decision makers considering a cloud migration are often confronted with a dilemma: While they welcome the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of cloud computing, they are uncomfortable with keeping their data outside of their networks. Here’s a closer look at the challenges and the solutions.

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As the economy continues to sputter, companies of all sizes are looking for ways to cut costs, but no one wants to look cheap doing so. When it comes to travel, which can run up fairly sizeable budgets for some companies, one elegant way to curtail expenses is to embrace telepresence. Here’s why.

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If you’ve been around the IT industry as long as I have, surely you’ve heard the terms “differentiation” and “value-add” more times than you can count. If I could give each of those terms a monetary value for each time I have heard them, I could have retired in comfort by now.

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The IT forecast for coming years calls for a thick cloud cover, and that’s a good thing as long as we’re not talking about the economy. IT solution providers understand that cloud computing must lower the total cost of ownership of technology while allowing clients to forego big, upfront investments on hardware and software if it is to grab hold. Do you see the cloud as a threat or an opportunity? Is the cloud value proposition getting through to clients? You would hate to have the answer be, “yes they get it” as they leave your client base and move to a competitor. Will that competitor be Microsoft or Google or will it be the mid-market players that see a huge market potential in front of them? Here’s where I see IT solutions providers heading next.

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While you may not say it out loud, your perception of success most likely involves working extra long hours. It is a prevailing notion in our culture that working at least 60 hours a week, staying plugged in through mobile devices 24/7, and constant multitasking are true measures of success.

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Some of the most successful MSPS have an all-or-nothing approach, effectively telling the customer: You either entirely outsource all your IT needs to us or find another services provider. This doesn’t work for all MSPs, but the approach defines what you offer and sets clear customer expectations.

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If you believe the official reports, the recession is over. But with unemployment still hovering at 9.7%, down from 10.4 % last month and some corporate buyers still reluctant to spend, it will take more than statistics to make it feel like the recession is truly over.

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Everyone working in the IT channel these days knows that leading with product when engaging the client is a thing of the past. The solution provider relationship with the client now revolves around the delivery of services. But how does a solution provider determine precisely what services to deliver? What is most important to a client? Here are some clues.

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Before I start, the answer is NO. You can’t afford to ignore that elephant in the room. You’re risking everything that you have established up until now. A fundamental shift is taking place and it can’t be ignored. It’s not a matter as to IF it’s happening, only when it will fully take hold. Tim Shea, CEO of Alpha Netsolutions Inc. recently wrote: “Pretty soon, clients won’t care where a server sits or what brand it is. They will just care that they have the computer services they need—and how much it will cost to have them.” Here are the implications for MSPs.

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While it may seem counter-intuitive to launch a business during a down economy, for IT professionals the worst of times may in fact prove to be the best of times. If you are an IT professional out of work, your chances of finding full-time employment with a vendor or IT services firm are quite narrow. That’s no reflection on your abilities necessarily, but rather an acknowledgment of the realities of the market. What should you do?

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As people who live along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard know, hurricane season is in full swing. For residents there, checking flashlight batteries and having sheets of plywood ready to cover windows are annual rites. But when a major storm system does loom on the horizon, there’s still an inevitable swirl of commotion as people near the sea head for safer habitats. Perhaps forgotten in concern for personal safety are thoughts of company financial records and business data. While skies and minds are clear, it may be a good time to start a conversation with your customers about their business continuity plans.

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Today as technology providers grapple with a weak economy, anything less than an all-out effort to increase sales — either by attracting new customers or earning additional business from existing clients — is short-sighted. IT Solution Providers need to refocus on becoming sales-driven organizations. You can start by resetting your in-house priorities. Delegate non-demand generating activities to external support specialists by using a virtual help desk. If you don’t offer this service, this is a good time to do so as long as any added cost is tied to added revenue.

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Successful managed service providers understand the basic truisms of technology: Clients just want it to work, so don’t bother them with how it works. Second, technology is the means to an end, which is to support business operations and goals. MSPs who understand these realities also understand the importance of addressing clients’ common IT pain points. Here’s how to get started.

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