Four Keys To Managed Services Success

Are you sick of hearing about managed services yet? If so, take something to settle your stomach and read on, because this is a growing market opportunity that every VAR should consider. Research firm Info-Tech says the market for managed services is expected to experience double-digit growth for the next five years, and double-digit market growth usually leads to fertile VAR opportunities. There's more. While you probably focus on a specific technology or two, managed services opportunities span all types of technologies. Last month, Business Solutions magazine editors Ken Congdon and Jay McCall wrote stories about implementing managed services in ECM (click here for the article) and mobile computing (click here for the article). POS (point of sale) VARs might be interested in knowing that distributor Ingram Micro is considering adding POS services to its Seismic-branded MSP offering (a portfolio of managed services products). Thus, managed services provides truly technology-agnostic opportunities.

If you need proof, just ask Philip Meese, president of Mercury Technologies, Inc., an MSP located in the heart of the financial district in New York. "Our managed services customers cover many different vertical markets, but the opportunity is very horizontal since managed services can be applied to just about any kind of technology," explains Meese. For those of you looking to enter the managed services market or grow your MSP businesses, Meese has four key managed services tips for you.