Is AT&T's New Managed IT Services Plan A Threat To You?

The other day I received my VERY FIRST piece of direct mail from a company trying to sell me managed services. I gotta tell ya, it was a little tear-jerker of a moment. Why? Amazingly, even though I've been in business for over 5 years and spent close to $20,000 last year on various IT support services, I have never received ANY type of promotion from ANY managed services company in this area. What makes it worse is that I know there are at least 30 to 40 MSPs withing driving distance of my office.

Not a flyer, postcard, cold call...I mean NOTHING...until now.

But I was a little disappointed about WHO the letter came from. It was AT&T (my phone company) offering their "Total Tech Solution," which is their version of managed services. The plan includes:

- My own virtual US-based IT support help desk that is open 24-7-365

- Automatic security updates

- A pop-up catcher

- Anti-spam software

- An Internet security suite including anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall

All for...drumroll please...

$63.90 per month.

And if I sign up now, I'll get a $100 credit on my phone bill PLUS a $25 VISA rewards card.

So my question is this...if AT&T (or any other telecom provider for that matter) started offering managed services to small businesses in YOUR town, is that a threat to your business? If yes, what can you do to overcome it? If no, why not?

My view on it is this...

You are safe UNLESS they figure out how to get the marketing right. Naturally they also have to figure out how to deliver a great service, but keep in mind that they have a lot of money backing them, and they have a HUGE customer base to pull from...something that should not be overlooked, espeically right now when people are looking for ways to save money and cut back.

This - and many other topics regarding recession-proofing your IT business - are going to be discussed at the upcoming Marketing and Money-Making Boot Camp in Nashville, April 2nd - 4th. Don't miss it: http://www.robinsbigseminar.com

 

 

 

Posted via email from Robin Robin's Managed IT Services Sales Training