You put a lot of thought, research, and training into selecting your latest cloud service and you know that coming up with an attractive price is very important. But, don’t fall into the trap of analysis paralysis, warns Jason Etheridge, president and CEO of Logic Speak, an MSP that’s projecting 25% revenue growth this year, following last year’s 15% revenue growth over 2012. Etheridge offers the following three tips to...  Continue Reading..

I’ve written in the past about the need to be running efficiently to be most effective with the as-a-Service model. During a recent conversation at CompTia ChannelCon, I was reminded how important it is to not just use the right software in your managed services practice, but to have it properly configured.  Continue Reading..

RetailNOW 2014 officially kicked off today. Despite the retail and hospitality IT channel's most important conference just getting started, a lot has already happened.  Continue Reading..

Our third event on the topic of transitioning from break-fix to the as-a-service model was held on Tuesday July 22 in Boston. Based on feedback from the initial respondents to our post-event survey, Channel Transitions East was a success. After pouring a lot of sweat into the event, I’m relieved. It’s not that I expected failure. We planned and prepared and prepared even more to set ourselves up to succeed. But there are so many...  Continue Reading..

When it comes to selling subscription-based IT and professional services, there are multiple approaches used by service providers. Here’s a quick summary of three popular approaches, followed by some thoughts from a successful MSP that helps put these options into perspective and offers a smart way to keep managed services clients from reverting back to their former break-fix statuses.  Continue Reading..

Last week’s Autotask Community Live! was held in Miami and gave Autotask users a lot to digest. Following are my notes from the event.  Continue Reading..

Last week I attended data backup solutions provider Datto’s annual partner conference in Las Vegas. The two and a half day event was loaded with big announcements and great information. Here are my notes in case you weren’t one of the lucky ones who could make it to the sold out event.  Continue Reading..

If there’s one area where IT service providers disagree, it’s on the topic of branding. I’ve mentioned in past articles that one of the most common forms of branding many channel companies still hold fast to is “word of mouth” or referral marketing. But, even among those with more formalized marketing programs, there are conflicting schools of thought about best practices.  Continue Reading..

June is just around the corner and summer will quickly be upon us. While August - and RSPA RetailNOW - might feel far away, the reality is that it will be here before you know it. It's with that in mind that I wanted to get to you now about this great event and plant some seeds. It's self-reflection time.  Continue Reading..

Security continues to be a hot topic in the channel as the threat landscape continues to grow. In addition to opportunities to sell network security solutions and services, physical security is another big opportunity. I recently had the privilege recently of speaking with Chuck Moeling, executive vice president of Interface Security Systems Holdings. This systems integrator and MSP is integrating IP video surveillance systems with alarm...  Continue Reading..