I just finished up a coaching call with a managed services client of mine (and Producers Club Member) who shared with me the same tale of woe I'm hearing from many MSPs: their clients are calling to find out if they can reduce their managed services contracts or get out of them all together. Why? Because they are reducing staff, closing their doors or simply looking for ways to cut costs. In some cases, I've heard that MSPs are seeing a solid 30% to 70% reduction in contracts, almost overnight. Not good…
HOWEVER, this client (and a few other MSP clients of mine) have identified a NEW and lucrative opportunity that is selling right now: cloud computing
This particular client of mine said that he recently started offering cloud computing to his clients and instantly had three enthusiastically jump on the opportunity. One client, a business consulting firm, commented that they were going to tell all of their clients about it too since it was such a tremendous way to save money.
Another client of mine and Genius League Member, David Bennett, Connections for Business is finding the same thing. Not only is cloud computing selling right now, but it is helping him differentiate his company in the marketplace since so few managed services providers are offering it.
What are the hot buttons that are getting clients to buy? I'm being told it's these three:
1. Saving money
2. The ability to access their network remotely (remote workplace)
3. The business continuity and backup
Clearly now more than ever your marketing message has to portray how you are going to help your clients save money and survive this tough economy. Personally, I think cloud computing is one critical way to do this. While you can certainly make a case for how managed services will save a company money, the argument is FAR stronger (and more tangible) with cloud computing.
If you are an MSP, are you getting clients cutting back and cancelling contracts? If so, what are you doing to fill the difference, and is cloud computing one of the ways you are doing this? Please post your comments below…
Posted via email from Robin Robin's Managed IT Services Sales Training
2 comments:
I would love to hear some info on exactly what these MSPs mean by offering "cloud computing" -- a very general term that has been used to mean lots of different things.
For example, are they just building Windows XP virtual machines and letting the customer connect via remote desktop? The customer then has to still maintain workstations in their office for employees to connect to their new remote virtual machines OR buy thin clients (but a large CapEx doesn't help them save any money right now)
OR are they moving the client's IT needs to web apps? If so the challenge with most businesses is that they can't move things to web apps - specific vertical apps they need on Windows and a host of other issues.
Cloud computing is a very real push in the market... it's also a hype wagon that a lot of folks are hitching up to for the ride.
I happen to like the Wikipedia definition - "It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them."
So newer web based solutions like Salesforce.com clearly fall into this catagory. However, most applications on the market are legacy style apps that require installation on a server and a client on a workstation. In that case, the cloud computing model is embraced by deploying servers in a central colo facility (often the servers are virtualized) and user access is given via Citrix XenApp or Windows Terminal Services.
Robin mentioned in her post that I'm actively in this space now. We've got several clients in our cloud model, and they love it. For me, it's very profitable, and my relationship with my clients is much tighter... it's getting similar to the idea of a utility company... my client needs water, power and my cloud computing infrastructure.
Another play is coming, where the desktops are virtualized and deployed from the cloud. There are several manufactures in this space, all trying to figure it out. It's going to be exciting to see how all of this evolves over the next year.
Bottom line, clients will be using a lot of legacy apps, and some will move some of their line-of-business apps to web based. None of this should scare you... they are all opportunities. Opportunities for you to be a real value to your client by explaining to him/her what the value propositions are, and helping them become informed so they can make a wise decision. It's exciting!
As I write this, I realize I should go off topic a bit and elaborate something that has been in my head for a while... one of the key problems with most web based applications is the data is no longer housed at the customer premise. That means the client can't access the data for external reporting, or mining the data to do something with it.
There is an entire practice area dubbed "business intelligence" that has been in the enterprise space, and is working its way to the small business space where most of us play.
Think of the value you can bring to your clients if you can help them open up their data beyond what the application allows. Create a dashboard for them showing key metrics (use the Excel add on called Xcelcius for a simple tool almost anyone can use!). If this rules out using a web based app, so be it... deploy the alternative, well established client/server app in a cloud model. You'll still have control and access to the data, and can open it up with Business Intelligence.
Net result, you client wins, and you win. Can't beat that!
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