MSPmentor

Question: If you’re a managed service provider that resells laptops and other hardware to your customer base, how do you promote your company brand over the hardware maker’s brand? The answer comes from MJ Shoer, president of Jenaly Technology Group, a managed service provider in New Hampshire.

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I was watching CNBC over the weekend. A special business report explored how Phil Knight built the Nike empire. Ever wonder where that famous “Swoosh” logo came from? The answer involves a low-cost graphic design student from Portland State University. It’s a rather intriguing story, especially for MSPs that need to work on their branding.

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A new wave of optimism is building across the managed services market. Executives from Nimsoft, N-able and other software providers are making upbeat statements about 2010. I certainly agree with the core thesis — many MSPs are going to benefit from an improving economy. But I will repeat a familiar theme around MSPmentor: The rising economic tide won’t lift all MSP boats. Here’s why.

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By now, you’ve likely read the top managed services blog entries from Q1, Q2 and Q3 of 2009. Now, let’s look at the stories and chatter that generated the most MSPmentor readership in Q4 2009…

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Today is a delicate day for Dell’s PartnerDirect channel program. The technology giant is carefully rolling out a new effort called ProManage-Managed Services. On the upside, Dell has designed the program to include VARs that want to get started in managed services. But on the downside, some critics will consider this Dell’s attempt to sell all managed services directly — on a nationwide (US) basis — to small and midsize businesses. Before you listen to the alarmists, here are the facts, and my own perspectives.

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As Microsoft launches Windows Server 2008, I’ve noticed a rather interesting market dichotomy: Traditional, mainstream server application providers (BEA Systems, IBM, Oracle, etc.) are falling all over each other to vow support for the new operating system. But managed service platform providers aren’t saying much about Microsoft’s latest server release. Here’s why.

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As we put the finishing touches on the MSPmentor 100 research report, we noticed several clear business and technology trends. One of them involves marketing and branding. The most successful managed service providers, in fact, leverage successful marketing and branding strategies to build their businesses. Here are five examples of MSP branding and marketing done right.

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Generally speaking, managed service providers are less dependent on IT vendors than traditional VARs, according to Larry Kesslin, president of 4 Profit, a consulting firm to channel companies. Kesslin shared the observation during Cisco Velocity, a marketing summit for about 200 Cisco partners this week in Miami.

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Is there a strong connection between managed services and going green? A few months ago, I would have dismissed such talk as mere vendor hype. But a few times a week, I now hear from managed service providers (MSPs) who are writing marketing plans for 2008 that strongly emphasize the connection between managed services and green thinking.

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What if you launched a new product or service and never bothered to tell anyone? VARs and solutions providers make that mistake over and over again, because they don’t know how to shape their marketing messages, nor are they sure how to get the word out about a new product or service. Some VARs, however, are savvy to free PR and marketing opportunities. One prime example: Total Tech of San Diego knows how to blitz the media (including MSPmentor) with its PR messaging. Here’s a bit about their approach.

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The folks at Cognos, one of the leading business intelligence software providers, are in a curious position. Cognos’s rivals are getting acquired by big players like Oracle and SAP AG. And the software industry as a whole is moving toward software as a service (SaaS) — think Salesforce.com and NetSuite.com. So where does that leave Cognos? The BI software provider has to get a better feel for SaaS, managed services and the channel. Fast. Cognos’s CEO is doing exactly that. Here’s how.

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MSP Alliance President Charles Weaver spent some time telling me about the organization’s new accreditation program during a conference last month. Sounds like the program is gaining some traction.

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Autotask made an intriguing move this week with its product branding. Solutions providers and software companies should take note. As Autotask prepared to launch an entry-level MSP solution, the company must have been tempted to call it “Autotask Lite.” In my humble opinion that would have been a mistake. Here’s why.

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