MSPs Agree on a Need for Adaptability to Meet New Expectations

The CompTIA ANZ Channel Community met in Sydney this spring and talked about how managed services providers (MSPs) can thrive in 2018 and beyond, even as the industry continues to evolve and customer expectations expand. More than 100 attendees participated in the meeting.

The meeting featured presentations on best practices for MSPs, the state of the IT industry and how to create sustainable change in the digital age. We also held a panel discussion on big bets for the channel in 2018.

Moheb Moses, ANZ community director, CompTIA, and director, Channel Dynamics, provided an overview of CompTIA as well as an update on local initiatives including Dream IT, the localisation of legal resources and mentoring opportunities.

Michael Demery, managing director, Seccom Global, shared his best practices for MSPs and how he has built a successful MSP business. This included the importance of understanding your services offering and place in the market, as well as the regulations and frameworks to comply with. He talked about the need to have strong and clear key performance indicators and service-level agreements in place to protect a business. Demery also stressed the importance of automation, specialisation, strong partnerships and talent management.

The afternoon continued with a panel discussion, moderated by CRN Australia group editor Steven Kiernan, covering the four big bets for MSPs in 2018. Jamie Warner of Invarasoft spoke about his experience with productising intellectual property, while Peter Low from The Cavalry talked about mergers and acquisitions. Nick Stranks from Ethan Group gave his views around incentivising sales teams and Ronnie Altit of Insentra discussed the importance of building a people-first culture.

Vanessa McCamley, a leading change management expert from Link Success, further elaborated on this topic. In her session, she spoke about the neuroscience of engagement and motivation and how to create sustainable change in the digital age. McCamley shared insights on how to undertake behavioural change to increase performance, productivity and revenue.

It was great to have another successful gathering of the ANZ Channel Community. The next will be held on 25 July, also, in Sydney. Register here and click here to find out more about the CompTIA ANZ Channel Community.