Regardless of your views on cloud computing there is one thing that is becoming hard to dispute: cloud computing is becoming mainstream. You expect to see cloud talked about amongst the channel press and blogs but when cloud articles are appearing in magazines like Forbes you know it is reaching the masses.
Honestly, I think this is great for our industry. This article is really about how the enterprise is already moving to the cloud and by next year will be seeing their IT spending on cloud “skyrocket.” For many years, we as a profession have been waiting for the term managed services to become mainstream. That day may never come. However, if cloud is already here, and likely to be a major force in years to come, MSPs do need to figure out a way to harness this force. In short, MSPs need to remain relevant during the cloud discussion.
In part, that is exactly what was discussed this week at MSPWorld Sydney; how to remain relevant as cloud becomes more of a dominant theme with end-user organizations. MSPs can always call themselves MSPs. It makes sense to if only because they can’t rename themselves every couple of years. That would be marketing suicide. But, MSPs can and should reinvent themselves as the tides change, if only to remain relevant and part of the relationship between end-users and technology vendors.
Let’s face the facts. End-users are more likely to read Forbes than they are to read the IT channel. If you agree with this premise, then the only next decision you have to make as a MSP is how story you have to tell when your client asks you “what should we do regarding the cloud?” You need to have an answer because like it or not, cloud is here and it probably isn’t going anywhere for a while.