MSPmentor

During his keynote at the ConnectWise Partner Summit in Orlando, CEO Arnie Bellini asserted that Technology as a Service (TaaS) will emerge as a super set of Software as a Service (SaaS) and Hardware as a Service (HaaS). And he  sent a clear message to Dell, Google and Microsoft: Managed service providers will be prepared to compete against those tech giants in the cloud.

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Do you think your company ranks among the world’s top managed service providers? Now’s your chance to prove it. Participate in our new MSPmentor 100 survey (2008-2009 edition).

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Back in May 2008, I noted that Glowpoint Inc. had launched managed telepresence services, which are like next-generation video conferencing services. It’s still very early in the telepresence game (check out our Managed Services Hype Cycle), so I didn’t expect telepresence to generate major revenues until 2010 or so.

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As a $17.95 billion value-added distributor, Avnet Inc. could certainly throw its weight around in the managed services market. But instead of hyping Avnet’s OneTech managed services strategy, CEO Roy Vallee (pictured) expresses cautious optimism.

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Everon Technology Services LLC, one of our MSPmentor 100 companies, has launched MSP Coach. According to a teaser for the site, Everon has “taken everything we’ve learned and begun creating courses, content, and tools that you can use to help build your MSP business.”

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Jeff Auerbach, CEO of EMR Group, sent me an email highlighting a key challenge that’s also an opportunity for managed service providers (MSPs). Auerbach noted an AP story, indicating that 43 percent of large U.S. and European businesses have cut their overall spending on IT products and services for 2008, according to Forrester Research Inc. Here’s the bad news and good news for managed service providers (MSPs).The AP story said IT spending will grow 2.8 percent this year. A similar Forrester survey in December 2007 forecast 4.6 percent growth this year. Noted AP:

“In the survey, taken in late May and early June of nearly 950 IT managers at companies in North America and Europe, nearly half of the U.S. respondents said they have already cut their IT spending budgets, compared with 38 percent of those in Canada and 28 percent of companies in Germany. And 70 percent of respondents said they expect to negotiate lower rates with IT service suppliers.”

Time for MSPs to panic? Some customers may be wary of your sales calls. But you do have compelling messages to share:

• Every voicemail you leave a customer should indicate that you can help them cut their IT spending while boosting network and application reliability.
• You are uniquely positioned to help businesses to outsource mundane tasks (patch management comes to mind) that waste internal time, money and resources.
• You are uniquely positioned to help businesses free up their own resources for innovation, while you bulletproof their networks.

I’m not suggesting that MSPs are immune to the economic slowdown. But your messaging — predictable spending coupled with reduced costs and increased system reliability — is compelling in any economic situation.

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In case you weren’t able to attend this past weekend’s MSP Revolution managed services summit in Chicago, you can find several recaps on the Web.

• Day 1 recap from Erick Simpson, VP and CIO of MSP University
• Viva la Revolucion from Karl Palachuk
• MSP Revolution Provides New and Spectacular Content  from Karl Palachuk

Amy Luby, the event organizer, apparently fulfilled her mission to move beyond “101″ managed services conferences, and do a deeper dive to help MSPs maximize their business success, noted Palachuk.

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The US unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, its highest level in five years, according to the New York Times. Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence suggests that successful managed service providers continue to grow.

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AdventNet, which develops the ManageEngine managed services platform, has launched a new pricing program designed for MSPAlliance members. Here are some quick details.

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I just got off the phone with one of my first editors — the man who showed me the ropes in the high-tech industry. Back in 1992 at InformationWeek, he made two rather stunning statements to me that I never forgot:

1. Software Never Dies
2. Software Wants to Be Free

Remember, he made those statements long before open source and the Internet revolutionized the way we think about software and collaboration. And both statements are critically important to managed service providers. Here’s why.

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