MSPmentor

Mark my words: Some industry “pretenders” — including a range of software companies and resellers masquerading as MSPs — will exit the managed services market very soon.

• We are going to read more press reports about break-fix resellers that stumbled or failed in their transition to managed services.
• We’ll hear about a few MSP-focused software companies that imploded or exited the industry, leaving customers with dead-end management tools.

But don’t panic: Many successful managed service providers will see their businesses go from “good to great” over the next 12 to 18 months. Here’s what to expect in the months ahead.

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Special from MSPmentor’ sister site, TheVARguy.com: The VAR Guy is touring Silicon Valley this week. He met Netscape veterans launching a new company. He visited Trend Micro insiders. He spoke with the CEO of Nimsoft. During more than six hours of meetings, the recession was discussed for about 15 minutes. Fact is, savvy IT businesses aren’t bombing. And they aren’t bogged down in recession talk. Here’s a recap of Day 1 in Silicon Valley.

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Evidence 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.

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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.

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Web seminars are fantastic for quick, educational tutorials about managed services and business management. Skype and other tools allow us all to connect for free over vast distances.

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Back in October, I asked readers if managed services could help VARs to better weather an economic slowdown. The overwhelming response from readers was “yes.” Now, MSP University is asking the same question again. And the blog entry, written by Erick Simpson, offers some compelling thoughts about MSPs thriving during weak economies. Take a look at MSP University’s perspective here.

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