The IT channel is filled with innovative entrepreneurs and technical geniuses. Based on the number of success stories and innovative tales that emerge from our industry every year, one would think every business is a virtual gold mine of ideas and financial wealth. While there is a certain level of truth in that assumption (opportunity is everywhere), the reality is that most IT providers continue to struggle at making their businesses as productive, efficient and profitable as they’d like them to be.
Many channel entrepreneurs built their organizations from the ground up, often starting with a single client they used to work for and expanding their operations accordingly to meet the needs of each new customer. It’s more of a journey than a business plan, but in most cases it works. Until it doesn’t.
“Many partners are winging it, with no real direction,” says Vince Tinnirello, 2016 Chair of the CompTIA Managed Services Community and CEO of Anchor Networks Solutions. “Whether new MSPs or more experienced, it happens to some degree at every level. In today’s IT channel ecosystem, providers face an ever increasing number of competitors and other business challenges. The cloud and managed services are driving that 'new reality.' Even the smallest of IT services firms can sell globally today, leveraging vendors, distributors and peers to support customers virtually anywhere. That’s not a concern if your company is the one in charge or, at least, getting a piece of the action. But it can be a threat to those not keeping pace with the changes, especially in the MSP arena."
The good news for providers of all shapes, sizes and vertical specializations? Members of the Managed Services Community understand the business and market challenges MSPs face today and have worked hard to develop tools and programs to address those concerns. This group consists of many successful, channel-proven professionals willing to share their time and personal best practices. Many have gone through the struggles of building a managed services practice on their own and are willing discuss the good, bad and ugly with their peers. Over the past few years, members of the Managed Services Community have worked together to develop a number of MSP business-enhancing guides, webinars and training programs based on that level of expert insight.
New Era, Greater Focus
Almost two years ago, the group decided to take its efforts to the next level. Instead of developing ad hoc materials based on individual requests, members of the Managed Services Community realized they needed to build out an optimal MSP business training and education framework. “One of our big initiatives in 2014 was to revisit the type of content we were delivering and what our members really needed,” says John Tippett, Community Executive Council member and former chair, and vice president and general manager, Aisle8.
While the Managed Services Community was reviewing all the MSP-related materials and training programs already in the CompTIA portfolio (many developed as part of previous group initiatives), members had an epiphany. “We realized there were deeper conversations taking place around maintaining value to customers and, once they became customers, maintaining the relationships,” says Tippett. “We were looking at this huge list of content and it struck us in a call that we needed a simple, graphical roadmap of how all the pieces fit together.”
Community members hashed out the key focus areas and came up with the initial components of what is now the Managed Services Lifecycle Tool. This step-by-step MSP practice-building process starts out with the construction of an ideal client profile suggests Tippett. “Are you going to go after everyone or a specific vertical, and what’s your value proposition to that target market? Once that’s developed comes marketing. How do you prospect for new clients and get your message out?” The Lifecycle Tool walks prospective and experienced MSPs though each “cog” or focus area required to build out an effective services business.
The image is just the higher level view. The tool is a graphical roadmap to help providers improve their operations. The real value comes from the content and programs behind it. “It allows you to say ‘All these things have to work together to build an effective business model,’” adds Tippett. “Our original initiative has grown from an overview into an anchor, something that can be used by a managed services provider to look inside his or her own business.”
Owners are encouraged to share the resource with their employees and managers to highlight the materials and best practices available for their specific practice areas. The Managed Service Community’s objective is to make this a “living,” interactive tool providers can use to access content from the association as well as other related-entities with a goal of continuing to add more resources through the next year or two.
Future Opportunities
The group’s efforts to refocus and expand entrepreneurial expertise in the channel are in high gear. Last fall, they used the outline of the infographic as the foundation for a completely new CompTIA Quick Start Guide to Managed Services. It’s a quick and easy way to assess your MSP business, including six steps to help build a more effective and more profitable operations.
Community leaders expect to discuss these initial efforts and plan out next steps during the upcoming CompTIA Annual Member Meeting later this month in Chicago. “Our goal is to listen to our membership to determine what their needs are, and then develop the content that will best help them succeed,” adds Tinnirello. “Our executive committee is very excited about using the lifecycle as a foundation for helping MSPs take their businesses forward.”
“It gives them a visual roadmap, something they can look at regularly to understand the flow of bringing on a managed services client. They can develop processes around it with a true understanding of what they should be doing for their clients. The experienced MSP can use this as a tool to determine which areas of their business are weak or where they have gaps and might need process improvement. “
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