Between 2013 and 2016, the overall cloud market grew from $78 billion to an estimated $150 billion. With cloud adoption continuing at a steady pace, traditional IT distributors and VARs have had to adapt to their new reality. Those who haven’t been able — or in many cases, refused — […]
MSPs: A Value-Add Challenge Requires a Sales and Marketing Solution
Today’s managed service providers (MSPs) are faced with the challenge of adding value to their services and growing revenue while maintaining the customer relationship. The solution lies in developing a strategic sales, marketing, and revenue plan that allows providers to shelter and cultivate their base, attract new customers, and gain […]
When It Comes to Backup and Disaster Recovery, Testing Is Essential
Failure can strike at any time for just about any reason. This is especially true in the world of IT, where hardware, software, and even personnel failures are commonplace. The key to overcoming adversity caused by an unexpected failure is to have a safety net in place for support. Backup […]
What MSPs Must Do to Create Greater Business Value
Jake Sorofman, research director at Gartner, recently noted that customer experience is the new competitive battlefield in today’s IT market. As a result, most managed services providers (MSPs) are placing less emphasis on product and service differentiation and more on customer retention and ongoing business growth. The hypercompetitive IT arena […]
Flipping the MSP Sales Script
If there’s one thing that managed service providers (MSPs) can be sometimes, it’s predictable. The typical seasoned MSP already has its time-tested pitch laid out: sell the customer on predictable service levels and costs. But by now, most customers are already aware of the standard cost-saving benefits. These days, companies […]
VoIP: An Attractive Solution for an Increasing Number of Businesses
An increasing number of businesses are deploying Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions across a wide range of industries. This represents a golden opportunity for managed service providers (MSPs) in the area of reselling, and it is crucial that MSPs understand the dynamics behind this mass migration to the technology. A […]
5 Steps to Data Security for MSPs Supporting SMBs
Data is one of the most important assets that a company owns, regardless of the size of the organization. Despite its importance, not all companies are equipped to secure data according to industry best practices. Managed service providers (MSPs) can play an invaluable role in supporting businesses through the process […]
Hybrid Cloud Security: Best Practices for MSPs and Their Customers
Businesses are eager to take advantage of the hybrid cloud: it offers the convenience of a hosted infrastructure while enabling IT to retain a level of control over on-premise components. But many companies — especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) — still have questions around specific security best practices to […]
Managing Complexity: Keeping It Simple When It Comes to Tech
The systems that business owners rely on can rapidly change depending on immediate needs. In an effort to stay ahead of recent trends and remain responsive to shifting customer needs, managed service providers (MSPs) tackle these challenges by managing complexity. Getting Back to Basics Mergers and acquisitions can introduce new […]
SIP Trunking Implementation: A Challenge Made Easier
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking offers a multitude of benefits to businesses that rely on private branch exchange (PBX). However, many businesses find the implementation process to be a bit intimidating, causing them to shy away from implementing SIP trunking altogether. Fortunately, managed service providers (MSPs) have plenty of tools at their disposal […]