Brian Sherman Posts

“Unless you have 100% customer satisfaction…you must improve.” -- Horst SchulzConstant improvement is a mantra among IT channel companies, especially when it comes to the services they deliver and the clients that receive them. There’s no place for complacency in an industry as competitive as this, and owners have to keep their eyes, and business practices, focused properly on process upgrades and other enhancements to ensure their long-term success. Identifying the areas where a company needs i ...

In the IT channel, a lot of focus is placed on the market potential of certain solutions and technologies, especially in areas where few solution providers would dare to invest their resources. If the opportunity for entering a new market isn’t large enough or requires too much time or money to get started, it often gets shelved until the situation changes to make it a more lucrative endeavor. But one aspect many companies overlook is the cost of what’s not on their list of portfolio options.Fiv ...

Going with the flow isn’t a strategy, and it certainly isn’t a route that business owners should take. But the path of least resistance is often thrust upon solution providers, especially when their clients and prospects are the ones making the decisions. Satisfying clients while doing what’s in their own best interests is a delicate balancing act. With cloud services, that’s a common dilemma.Without a carefully crafted, well-validated strategy, solution providers may find themselves pulled into ...

While business owners and executives are more inclined to focus on the bottom line costs of new investments, typically due to cash flow and stockholder demands, most understand that price plays a lesser role when it comes to protecting their assets. That doesn’t mean companies are open to purchasing preposterously expensive security services, but most will spend a few dollars more each month to ensure their organization is compliant with governmental and industry regulations.The inclination of b ...

Whenever new trends or business opportunities comes along, each typically has its own “shelf life” or time-period when companies can either take advantage of it, or see it fade away. We often see that happen in the tech and consumer industries, where the first to design and produce a quality product   typically leads the market. But that’s where the IT channel differs.Product sales are often infrequent, and consumers can be quite erratic with what they purchase and use every day. When better thi ...

The latest CompTIA Small Business Owners (SBO) Community is ready to help. Rather than focusing on a specific vertical market or technology, this group concentrates on business improvement methods, educational programs, and the tools to build a successful organization. As a true “peer community,” SBO members are solution providers and experienced IT industry professionals who understand the value of sharing suggestions and ideas.The group’s educational initiatives are paying off, yielding a numb ...

Despite the experiences of many solution providers, some suggest that there isn't a real IT skills shortage, but a lack of key talent in the right location. Regardless of whose opinion you believe, the IT community needs to do a better job of inspiring youth and other industries' displaced workers to pursue a career in high tech. With the continually rising demand for service and support technicians, developers and integrators, many companies can't onboard new hires fast enough—and it's only ...

Despite the experiences of many solution providers, some suggest that there isn’t a real IT skills shortage, but a lack of key talent in the right location. Regardless of whose opinion you believe, the IT community needs to do a better job of inspiring youth and other industries’ displaced workers to pursue a career in high tech. With the continually rising demand for service and support technicians, developers and integrators, many companies can’t onboard new hires fast enough—and it’s only exp ...

Leadership is defined as a function, act or role in guiding groups or individuals, but those who attended last week's CompTIA Breakaway conference know that description doesn't do it justice. The members who step up to head each of the association's 11 peer communities aren't paid for their efforts, and most spend hundreds of hours each year to accomplish all of their group's ambitious industry-enhancing goals. Much of their work happens behind the scenes, from organizing calls and planning upco ...

There’s one key reason that VoIP solutions of the past were slow to gain traction in many markets: they were often presented as a simple and cost-effective replacement systems for traditional phone service. While the traditional early adopters and some of those implementing new service were willing to make the leap, there wasn’t a real value proposition for others to make a switch. If current phone services were working well, few businesses were willing to experiment with something as critical a ...