Managed Services Articles

81. 4 Technological Advances I'm Excited About (And 4 I'm Not) 7/26/2019

    My general rule with new tech is unless a customer needs — that is cannot run their business without it — a new piece of tech, I wait a year so other people's clients can do the beta testing as nothing seems to be released as a final product anymore. With this, I keep an eye on new products and this is a list of POS tech I am excited to bring to my clients in 2019-20, and some I'm telling them to avoid.

82. The End-User Help Desk In IT Services 7/24/2019

    VARs and MSPs are often asked to support end-users as part of their service portfolio, but delivering this function is sometimes a challenge for organizations without existing or scalable end-user support capabilities. Some providers embrace this function, while others shy away. What should you be considering when adding this capability to your portfolio?

83. Disruptive Innovation: 3 Keys To Prepare Your Organization 7/22/2019

    To lay the groundwork for disruptive innovation within your organization, following are three foundational imperatives.

84. 5 Steps To Encourage Existing Customers To Buy New Products 7/18/2019

    Building strong business relationships with customers is key to selling additional product offerings. Think of a relationship mindset as the foundation and these five steps as the walls and roof that transform it into something built to last.

85. Closing The IT Skills Gap: A Bridge (Not) Too Far 7/11/2019

    Bridging the gap between legacy and modern-day skillsets is more attainable than you might think. But first, your organization must be willing to embrace a culture of change.

86. Double Duty: Aqueduct Brings Power Protection In-House 6/20/2019

    Amid the company’s rapid growth, Aqueduct decided to relocate its Waltham, MA headquarters. With the move came a unique opportunity to modernize and redesign its data center from the ground up. As the company transitioned to mostly digital operations in workflow across departments — from accounting to sales — ensuring business uptime became a primary objective.

87. Reading The IT Leaves, Listening To Channel Needs 6/18/2019

    Partnerships are what will drive this new wave of innovation – people and services as well as products, but with intent on much more than resolving the “pain points” of the past; this is about the customer experience going forward. And it’s also about the experience of everyone in the ecosystem.

88. Artificial Intelligence: It's No Longer Out Of Your Reach 6/3/2019

    To understand its implications, we first have to look at the current state of artificial intelligence, how it can be applied in various use cases in business, and then determine whether it is truly a feasible solution to your needs.

89. Partnering With HR To Overcome IT Staffing Challenges 5/27/2019

    Any staffing strategy requires collaboration and the support of your HR team. While it’s common to include HR in staffing discussions, especially around hiring and adjustments, the focus tends to be on tactical requirements rather than mid- to long-term strategy. In some cases, the relationship between IT (and other departments for that matter) and HR can be dysfunctional.

90. Getting Strategic About IT Talent 5/22/2019

    As IT teams face accelerating change and competition for talent, a staffing strategy can propel the organization to new success.