Yesterday's gathering of Australia MSPs at MSPWorld Sydney was another reminder to me of how mature and forward thinking the Australian managed services market really is. We nearly doubled the number of registrations this year compared to last and had a lot of groundbreaking discussions that, quite frankly, I don't hear many other MSPs having elsewhere in the world. Here is what I heard discussed.
1) Cloud for the Australian MSP market is important but the MSPs I talked to seemed to view it as just another component to their managed services offering. In other words, these MSPs didn't seem to be building cloud up too much.
For one thing, Australian broadband infrastructure is still expensive; the newly formed government, however, is promising a significant expansion of the network over the next few years. Furthermore, the issue of security as a concern to Cloud offerings was immediately (and sometimes vigorously) debated. The MSPs did feel that cloud was an equalizing technology that essentially brings the Australian MSP community in lock step with their other international colleagues.
2) Community involvement. To this date, I have never come across a group of MSPs that collectively and completely view one another not as competition but as professional colleagues. I have no explanation for this but it does exist here like no where else I've seen. Whatever the reason for this characteristic, Australian MSPs do have an advantage moving forward as their ability to share, collaborate, and rely on one another will be help them be competitive as a group.
3) End-User Awareness is Coming. The MSPs uniformly were vocal about wanting to broadcast the message of managed services (generically) to the end-user community and begin to do some serious outreach. Towards that end, the MSPAlliance will be there to help the Australian members expand their presence and collective brand to the greater Australian business community.
4) Permanent MSPAlliance chapter in Australia. The idea of a dedicated MSPAlliance chapter for Australia was met with overwhelming approval. The desire by these MSPs to meet and discuss their industry is undeniable. In the coming months we will be announcing more news on this initiative.
I had a great time at MSPWorld Sydney. The familiar faces, the tremendous support MSPs show one another is really uplifting to see firsthand. This is a community of advanced MSPs who understand the global stakes of their industry and want to advance the cause in their own country.
I cannot wait until the next event, and I haven't even left yet!
