After each event I try and summarize what happened over three busy days with hundreds of MSP, cloud, and technology vendor executives in attendance. It's not always easy but I'd like to try and give some perspective for those who were not in attendance.
Security Security has always been a key ingredient for MSPs, but at this MSPWorld conference security was a lot more visible. It could have been Ed Ferrara's keynote address focusing on the role security is playing in our managed services and cloud world, or the vast number of cloud security companies in attendance, like AVG, TotalDefense, SilverSky, Solutionary, Fortinet, IScanOnline, Webroot, and others.
But, I would have to say the undercurrent of discussions both on the stage and in the private conversations was all about the role of security, particularly about securing the cloud. If I had to guess, this is going to be a recurring theme in future MSPWorld events. While private cloud themes like IaaS did not occupy that much space at the event, delivering more solutions, specifically security solutions delivered via the cloud, are clearly trends that will be of interest to MSPs everywhere.
Another interesting side note is that these cloud delivered security solutions transcend all market size segments. SMB, mid-market, and enterprise service providers where present at this MSPWorld, as were the corresponding technology vendors hoping to enable those MSPs in their business models.
Operations As is the case with nearly all MSPWorld conferences, we had plenty of discussion around sales, marketing, even some financing and growth oriented sessions aimed at helping MSPs grow and expand. This is always an interesting theme because it is a good gauge of how MSPs are dealing with new customer acquisitions and general commodity pressures. Most of the MSPs I heard seemed to dismiss traditional VAR sales techniques and focused their discussions on "solution selling". Can we say this issue is settled?
Legal, Risk & Compliance The big news of the conference came in the form of the newly expanded MSPAlliance Cloud & Managed Services insurance program. Cyber threats are increasingly forcing MSPs to evaluate their internal risk profiles. One session from Rob Scott mentioned the use of the new cloud insurance products, combined with carefully constructed SLAs, as a method of removing risk from the customer, thereby encouraging them to sign long term agreements with their MSPs. Who would have thought that insurance could actually help you sell managed services!
As we prepare for MSPWorld San Jose, this October 6-8, it will be interesting to see how these trends evolve over the next 6 months. As always, your feedback and insights about the conference are welcome.
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