MSPmentor

Evolve IP, a managed service provider in Wayne, Pa., just made my “watch” list. Evolve says it has lined up more than 100 new customers since launching its managed technology services operations  roughly 180 days ago. Read More >

A comprehensive managed services research report just hit my desktop. It’s from Techaisle. I’m not very familiar with Techaisle’s history or research methods. However, the company claims they surveyed 6,827 small businesses to pinpoint managed services spending trends across the globe.

The following blog entry is one of my longest ever, and it’s packed with data that may help MSPs develop their sales, marketing and business strategies for 2009. Take a look. Read More >

Talk about timely, on-point messaging. MasterIT, one of our MSPmentor 100 companies, is hosting a “non-technical” symposium October 30 at the FedEx Institute of Technology in Memphis, Tenn.

The timing and positioning of this event offer five key lessons to rival managed service providers. Here they are:

Read More >

Some great thoughts today on SparkplugCEO, one of my favorite small business-oriented blogs. Teresa Morrow’s current entry says:

“For business owners, marketing and promoting your business is something you will (or should do) year round and not only when times are tough.”

Morrow goes on to offer 10 tips for promoting your business. The tips certainly apply to managed service providers.

In part 1, I described how you can line up vendor money to pay for your branding efforts. Here in part 2, I explore a specific case study: In late 2007, Trailhead Technologies Inc. was a managed services provider without a clear brand — and without Web site.

Trailhead turned to local marketing agencies for help, but the agencies didn’t understand Trailhead’s business and the concept of managed services, according to company president Erik Johnson. In December 2007, Trailhead began to find some branding answers during an Ingram Micro Seismic conference in Dallas.

Here’s how the branding story played out, and some key lessons for other MSPs to consider. Read More >

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). Read More >

I’m hearing a familiar theme from multiple managed service providers: MSPs want to strengthen their branding and marketing efforts, yet local advertising firms and marketing consultants don’t understand the IT industry. As a result, local consultants who specialize in marketing aren’t very good at shaping an MSP’s brand.

So, what’s an MSP to do? Here are two options.

Read More >

If there is a Gartner Hype Cycle for “Green IT” we are probably near the top.  That is typically where the conversation turns from undeserved over optimism to widespread skepticism, before ultimately emerging as a practical everyday reality.  Now is the time to begin to move beyond the hype to focus on practical results.  And nowhere is this search for practical results more lucrative than in SMB managed services.

Today we released a Green Industry Report titled Green IT:  A Big Opportunity for Managed Services, describing the direct implications for solution providers and their customers that can result from the adoption of remote monitoring and management using Managed Workplace. Here’s a look at our findings. Read More >