Brian Sherman Posts

With Halloween almost here, what could be scarier than building a cybersecurity practice? Those who go down that road should certainly approach it with eyes wide open. Risk will undoubtedly increase. That’s what happens when you take on such a crucial responsibility for clients; they expect nothing bad will happen to their data or their networks. Those expectations should drive higher margins ̶ but they have to be able to deliver to reap the rewards.

Savvy solution providers use their peripheral vision. In this case, the term doesn't refer to monitors, but to all the technologies outside the core infrastructure (servers, computing devices and network components). These solutions may be beneficial to a customer’s operations or allow them to meet other business objectives, and the list of potential peripheral offerings can be quite extensive. They also add revenue to your bottom line without having to on-board new clients.

Solution providers tend to dabble in the SaaS space, but few have active engagements with one or more vendors on “the other side” of the tech fence. To be fair, few of the developers in this parallel channel seem to understand (or acknowledge) the value solution providers bring to the tech delivery equation. Some feel this lack of cooperation and collaboration is detrimental to both groups. But what can we do to change it?

One of the greatest concerns of IT services firms is personnel. While the financial side of the business is crucial over the long run, a vast majority of firms won't get far without a solid comprehension of human resources. The key to IT services success is putting the right people in the right positions at the right time. That requires an effective plan for hiring, training and retaining qualified and motivated employees ̶ which always sounds simpler than it is.

In the early days of cloud computing, most channel partners were merely spectators sitting on the sidelines offering advice and whatever assistance they could to their more adventurous customers. But, over the past decade, providers have taken on a much different role and are now not only the face of cloud for their customers, but strategists, designers and process consultants for virtual environments. The latest CompTIA research points out some of the driving forces behind those changes.

Despite the negative expectations of some in the industry skeptics, a number of IT distribution companies continue to strengthen their channel value propositions and their business models. And, if the M&A activities of the last two months are any indication of what’s ahead, buckle your seat belts

Many solution providers have been somewhat reluctant to discuss the true amount of break fix and onsite services they deliver. When you get a chance to dig into the details, you may find they're delivering a lot more of that support than you'd expect. Despite experts predicting that virtually every provider would be a "pure play MSP" by now, the reality is much different.

Despite the growing number of channel firms offering basic data and network protection today, it’s simply not enough just to counter the basic threats today. Security has to move from a line item in the portfolio to a more highly advanced, proactive management service. It’s a true consulting focus that can be best summarized with six industry best practices.

January 1st is no longer a reset date. Strategic planning is a 365-day event today and it is the primary role of the top organizational leader. As Geico’s commercials have reinforced for so many years “…it’s what they do.” And September (as well as October, November and December) is perhaps the most crucial time for their management teams to rise to the occasion. This is when sales and marketing leaders double their efforts to find and close the best leads, and work with their customer services counterparts to ensure long-term client success.

With some less than stellar earnings reports by IT distributors this month, it has some questioning the long-term viability of these key channel partners. Do these financial reports indicate worse times may be ahead, or are they an indication of the efforts underway to transform services and business models to meet the needs of partners and their customers? My money's on the latter...