Sales

Your sales team knows how to sell IT solutions. But they’ve never evangelized managed services to your existing and target customers. Further complicating matters, your sales team is worried about their compensation under a managed services model.  Get Started: Register to enter our Resource Center, where you’ll be able to download numerous guides to building and running your managed services business. And check back often. We post new guides in the MSPmentor Resource Center every week.

Blackboard Reveals SaaS Financial Trends

Blackboard logo on MSPmentorEvidence is mounting that the software as a service (SaaS) industry is doing well — but not quite as well as financial analysts had expected. The latest anecdote comes from Blackboard Inc., a company that offers hosted applications to colleges and universities.

I’ve tracked Blackboard for numerous years while working at a college and also contributing to University Business magazine. Blackboard was among the first niche, vertical market software companies to truly master the SaaS business model. So, how are things at Blackboard, and what does the data mean to managed service providers (MSPs)? Here’s a look.

Read More >

Is Cisco Sending Subtle Warning to Managed Service Providers?

First, let me clarify the headline: I’m not pressing a panic button. Cisco’s overall profits and revenues, announced May 6, were impressive. But if you’re a managed service provider, there’s a note of caution: Cisco’s sales to big U.S. service providers were weak this quarter. Here’s why managed service providers should care.

Read More >

The Biggest Threat to Managed Service Providers

What’s the single biggest threat to managed service providers:

  • Commoditization?
  • Big vendors like Dell entering the market?
  • The economy?

Actually, I think it’s something else. Read More >

Wall Street: Turning Sour On NetSuite, SaaS?

Talk about role reversal. A few months ago, RightNow was plummeting and NetSuite was skyrocketing. But the two software as a service (SaaS) companies appear to have traded places. Only a day after RightNow announced financial progress, NetSuite delivered growth projections that disappointed Wall Street.

The bottom line for SaaS — and the people who follow the SaaS industry — is pretty clear.

Read More >

Managed Services and Manufacturers: The Perfect Match?

A recent LogicBay study within a managed services channel revealed some startling findings. Basically, there’s a critical link between managed services and a manufacturer’s hardware sales.

Here are four highlights from the study, along with their implications for managed service providers.

Read More >

Update: RightNow Makes SaaS Progress

RightNow, a CRM (customer relationship management) developer, gave skeptics reasons to believe companies can successfully leap from traditional software to newer software as a service (SaaS) business models.

Although RightNow wasn’t profitable in its most recent quarter, the company’s financial results easily beat Wall Street’s expectations. Here’s the scoop. Read More >

Weak Economy Begins to Impact Managed Service Providers

I’m not ready to press a panic button or sound an alarm. Generally speaking, the managed services market remains healthy and growing rapidly. But the weak US economy is starting to impact some managed service providers, according to a recent MSP roundtable attended by Axis Business Solutions.

Here are some anecdotal stats and trends culled from the event. Read More >

Are Two Executive Brains Better Than One?

Computer Network SolutionsCan a single visionary transform a solutions provider into a managed service provider? Or does it take multiple executives — each, with different talents — to build a thriving managed services business?

Before you answer, consider the situation at Computer Network Solutions LLC, a fast-growing MSP in Plainview, N.Y., that now manages more than 200,000 customer devices,

Read More >

Blog-Powered Site
By ContentRobot