Service level agreements (SLAs): Many MSPs offer them. But do you really have to? And if so, how can you design SLAs that give your customers peace of mind without putting undue stress on your own business. 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.
A few weeks ago I was seated in the audience when HTG Peer Groups Founder Arlin Sorensen unveiled Hands That Give — an insurance policy and emergency program to help member VARs and MSPs during times of professional or personal crisis. Everybody in the room noticed that Sorensen nearly broke down emotionally while describing the effort to attendees. His personal vow: No HTG member would get left behind in a time of personal or professional crisis. Now, members of HTG Peer Group 8 (HTG8) are taking that message to heart.
For the third time in recent weeks, HTG Peer Groups is assisting a managed services provider (MSP) facing a personal or business crisis. The latest example involves HTG’s Hands That Give organization helping an MSP that lost its entire office during a recent Missouri tornado.
The challenge: How can managed services providers (MSPs) continually show their business value and IT expertise to end-customers? One potential answer comes from Azaleos Corp., which has launched the Azaleos ViewX CIO Dashboard. The dashboard, available to end-customers, tracks the health of unified communications and other IT services that Azaleos manages.
Generally speaking, the best-run managed services providers use PSA (professional services automation) software. Within the MSP community, the best-known PSA platforms include Autotask, ConnectWise and Tigerpaw Software. But here’s an interesting twist: At the high-end of the market, NetSuite has been pitching OpenAir, a cloud-based PSA system that many large IT consulting firms have adopted. So how does the NetSuite strategy differ from more traditional PSA offerings in the channel? I gathered some thoughts from NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson during the SuiteWorld conference today in San Francisco.
HTG Peer Groups, as expected, today launched Hands That Give — an emergency fund and support network that helps member managed services providers (MSPs) during times of business or personal crisis. At first glance, Hands That Give is an emergency insurance policy for HTG’s members. But take a closer look, and you’ll discover Hands That Give involves MSPs and several IT vendors giving time and support to peers, notes Arlin Sorensen (pictured), founder of HTG. Sorensen unveiled the program during the HTG Peer Groups Spring Conference in Dallas, Texas, this morning.
How much should MSP’s charge for their services? How should you market and sell your offerings? How are you supposed to map out your SLA’s to best support their client base? For the past 18 months or so, Quest Software’s PacketTrap has been helping MSP’s answer those questions through their Business Acceleration Program. Here’s the update, including perspectives from PacketTrap Director of MSP’s Mike Byrne (pictured).
Can managed services providers (MSPs) make a decent living safeguarding smart phones and tablet computers for end-customers? Virtela sure thinks so. The MSP and cloud specialist has launched a global mobile device management service that costs $5 per device per month. The service, which includes a white label capability for VARs and MSPs, is compatible with AppleiOS (Apple iPhone and iPad), Blackberry, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.
When Amazon.com announces earnings results on April 26, the online retailer will surely need to explain its recent cloud computing outage to investors and pundits. In the meantime, recent cloud setbacks at Amazon and Sony provide ample opportunity — yes, upside — for managed services providers (MSPs). Here’s why.
At the Ingram Micro VTN conference this week, VP of Managed Services and Cloud Computing Renee Bergeron (pictured) generated plenty of dialog around managed services and cloud computing. But sometimes you need to read between the lines and listen carefully to what wasn’t said. Sometimes, silence in certain areas can tell you a lot about what’s next for a company and its channel partners. So, based on my own educated guesses, here’s what’s next for the Ingram Micro Cloud and Ingram Micro Seismic initiatives.
Here’s a final reminder: Today’s MSPmentor Live webcast starts at 2:00 p.m. eastern. Two MSPs — each with more than 10 years of recurring revenue experience — and Intel will join us. Register now and pose your questions. Here are the details…
The next MSPmentor Live Webcast is this Wednesday. Two MSPs — each with more than 10 years of recurring revenue experience — will join us. Register now and pose your questions. Here are the details…
Microsoft Office 365, a forthcoming cloud platform, remains in beta. But my phone is ringing off the hook with questions about Office 365, and the potential implications for MSPs, VARs and cloud service providers (CSPs). In response, here’s an Office 365 FAQ designed for channel partners. The FAQ will ultimately live on TalkinCloud, MSPmentor’s sister site. We’ll make updates and provide more perspectives as readers share more views with us…. and as Office 365 nears its official launch.
Managed services and cloud computing have a wonderful upside: They generate recurring monthly revenues that can flow directly into an MSP’s corporate bank account. But a timely reminder to MSPs: Watch your bank accounts closely because SaaS and cloud commission glitches — though rare — can potentially short-change your business. One recent example involves Microsoft BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite), Telstra (the big service provider) and a few resellers in Australia.
How do savvy managed services providers drive growth while improving customer satisfaction? One answer involves the tried-but-true Net Promoter score survey. Just ask CSK Technologies, which hopes to drive its Net Promoter score above 70 percent — well above the 60 percent net promoter score that most reasonably successful companies attain. Here’s some background.
Hit the “pricing” tab atop the VaultLogix web page, and you’ll be able to get a quick quote based on the applications you use, the amount of data you’re trying to store and how soon you will need to use the service. VaultLogix CEO Tim Hannibal (pictured) is willing to bet that quote will be lower than what the majority of other online storage backup companies would be able to offer.
Each Tuesday, MSPmentor’s Ask a Mentor service publishes a reader question and invites you to weigh in with recommendations. This week’s question comes from a reader in Western Massachusetts, who wants to know more about managed services contracts and service level agreements. Here’s the question and our reply…
I got a call from NCR this week. I used to cover them pretty darn closely when I was with InformationWeek… back in 1995. Still, I respect the company and I used to interview CEO Bill Nuti when he was with Symbol Technologies and Cisco Systems. But back to the story at hand: NCR is launching NCR Predictive Services — a managed service for Automated Teller Machines, self-checkout terminals, etc. NCR claims the managed service will predict failures before they happen. Sounds a little like artificial intelligence — the HAL 9000 for managed services. But do Predictive Services work? And will the technology trickle down to smaller MSPs?
For the second time in recent weeks, I’ve heard from a software provider that’s marching toward 24-hour support for VARs and managed services providers. It made me wonder: Is around-the-clock support the new norm for software partners and MSPs that offer help desk services and NOCs (network operations centers)? Here are some insights.
When VARs, MSPs and IT solution providers evolve their businesses to include a managed services practice, the goal is to deliver recurring services to ensure recurring revenue and recurring profit. While it’s not so easy as to convert to this model overnight, start by identifying an entry point to deliver managed services to a new or existing client and build your practice over time. Let’s take a cross-section of one year operating with this business model and discuss how you can build a similar practice layer by layer.
Cherwell Software, an IT service management and help desk specialist in Colorado Springs, Colo., has a rather interesting take on exit strategies. Chairman and President Vance Brown, formerly CEO of Goldmine Software, says he focuses on “yesterday’s values” of solid support, rather than modern day pursuits involving venture capital and exit strategies.
Consider the following scenario: Government leaders demand that you shut down your managed services within a specific country or region during a political crisis. Should you bow to the demands and go dark? Or do you have a moral obligation to maintain service for your customers in that region? It’s quite a dilemma — one that has come to the forefront during the current crisis in Egypt.
What an interesting time to be an MSP. Cloud computing in 2011 is like a dominant new predator wading into a well-established food chain at the top. The major Platform-as-a-Service providers have kicked off a cycle of rapid adaptation in the rest of the technology value chain. MSPs of all sizes, shapes and market segments are reconsidering their channel alignments, redesigning their business models, and fast-tracking the development of complementary software and service offerings. Some are building cloud integration practices. Some are specializing in application development for cloud deployment. Some are stacking new services of their own on others already running in the cloud.
Instead of competing with corporate IT departments, a healthy number of managed services providers (MSPs) cooperate with corporate IT managers — creating a virtual bridge between MSP and corporate IT. Tools like ConnectWise StreamlineIT and Autotask Taskfire can help the process. But the effort also takes serious commitment from MSPs. Here’s the update, including a FastChat Video conversation with ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini.
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