Just in case you have not experienced this directly yourself – it’s official: demand for tech talent will keep the labour market tight through 2019, according to the newly released CompTIA IT Industry Outlook 2019.
All posts by Kristian Wright
Vertical specialist or horizontal generalist: where’s the value for MSPs?
Specialising in a vertical market can be an effective way of competing in a crowded managed services market. Yet, it’s not an automatic choice. According to a recent survey, some two-thirds of MSPS don’t ‘verticalise’.
We consider the pros and cons – and set out 10 questions you need to ask yourself if you’re thinking about taking a vertical market focus.
Ten ways to ensure you are a top performing MSP in 2019
How can you ensure that your MSP business is in the ‘Golden Quintile’, a term used in a recent survey by IT Glue to represent the 20% of MSPs in their survey who reported not just growing revenue but also enjoying high margins (in excess of 20% net margin).
The route to growth is relatively easy to map; the route to profitable growth is much more challenging – as I found out myself.
So here is my advice to ensure your growth turns out to be is profitable rather than problematical. (more…)
10 ways for MSPs to improve customer retention and reduce churn
My last blog looked at the very real impact of high customer churn rates on financial performance. This blog flips the coin to take a more positive view. Churn isn’t inevitable – and as long as your customers feel valued and are receiving the prompt, high-quality service they expect, at a reasonable price, they are much less likely to jump ship. (more…)
Is your team being overwhelmed by N-central alert noise?
Read how an N-central Audit and Remediation project from Inbay resolved more than 97% of stale and misconfigured alerts for US IT outsourcing and consulting firm Winxnet, enabling the company to leverage N-central in a more efficient manner and improve staff productivity. (more…)
What impact is customer churn having on your MSP business?
As we move through the last quarter of 2018, MSP hearts and minds are probably focussed on giving ‘one last push’ to close new business before the end of the year. All good and necessary, but in striving to bring new business on board make sure you are not neglecting your existing customer base.
There’s little value in onboarding new business if your customer attrition rate means that the overall ongoing customer number/recurring revenue remains more or less the same. (more…)
Consolidation in the MSP market: the end of the Channel as we know it?
The past year has seen high levels of M&A activity in the IT channel – and a prediction that 20 percent of MSPs will dominate 80 percent of managed services revenue in the U.S. by 2020.
What is fuelling this activity? Is it really happening at an unprecedented level? And what does it mean for your MSP business? (more…)
Why MSPs need to educate their customers about cybersecurity – NOW
Eric Rockwell, former MSP, founder of InovoIT and industry thought leader delivered a CompTIA webinar recently on the theme of ‘How to become MSP 2.0: The path to profitable managed security services’. (more…)
From MSP to MSSP: Have you got what it takes?
Managed security services are much hyped as an opportunity for MSPs to scale up their business and increase profit margins. The potential rewards are tantalising. But unfortunately, you can’t just flick a switch and morph into a managed security service provider (MSSP) overnight. (more…)
How much does it cost MSPs to partner for NOC?
Almost certainly less than the cost of building and managing a NOC in-house!
And I say this with confidence as we have been providing NOC services to MSPs for quite some years and have worked through the cost comparisons many times.
In almost all cases, partnering for NOC offers a much more cost-effective option – as well as bringing additional benefits over and above ‘dollars and cents’ savings.
There are three main reasons for this. (more…)
