In a recent webinar, "The MSP's Guide to Thriving in this Economy", a panel of MSP executives were sharing their views today's curious economic times. Not that I was surprised by their perspectives but they all seemed universally positive about 2009. Just to make sure I wasn't imagining things, during one of the polling questions 69% of the IT solution providers attending were positive about their managed services practices in 2009.
Increase in Marketing The MSP's on yesterday's webinar, while optimistic, were not foolishly optimistic. A clear majority were planning on increasing their marketing efforts in order to improve their sales pipelines, indicating that existing business is out there but must be cultivated.
What is the real threat to today's MSP? When asked about what, if any, threats are confronting them today the panelists all said that larger vendors and telecommunications companies represented the largest threat to their managed services businesses. The panelists also appeared unified in their statements that smaller IT solution providers and break/fix companies represented little to no threat.
I will never get sick of saying this but it is important to report and emphasize good news during difficult times. So, here is my contribution to spreading the good news!
