There is so much chatter within the managed services industry these days and much of it is of little to no use to companies entering the managed services profession. In a recent talk to MSPs and VARs I used the term "snake oil" to describe many of the trinkets and programs that are being offered to companies who have expressed interest in joining this elite industry.
I suppose it was to be expected but it still warrants some attention as so many companies are coming to the MSP Alliance asking about these products and wondering if they will be of any use to them. Here are some helpful guidelines to separate fact from fiction as it pertains to tools for MSPs.
The concept for 7 minute abs does not work for managed services. I am always inherently suspicious of anyone who tries to sell me something that is billed as "fast acting" or guaranteed to work "overnight". Instant grits aside, most things in life that are worthwhile do not come easily or without having to put some effort into it. The same is true in managed services. If anyone tries to tell you that you can get into managed services with little or no effort, chances are they are trying to sell you something.
Partnering is a legitimate, if not necessary, component of maturing as an MSP. The trick is identifying MSPs who have legitimate offerings as opposed to those who simply want you to resell their services. For example, many MSP Alliance members who have existing managed services offerings but who do not have a 24/7 help desk typically partner with more mature MSPs in order to access a deeper level of service offering without having to incur the sometimes large expenses.
The real trick is being able to identify those who simply want you to resell their services as opposed to those who present themselves as a viable partnership opportunity. In the end, client control and ownership is what it all boils down to. Most reseller opportunities involve some amount of giving client access to the more mature MSP partner. In many cases this may never lead to any negative outcome. However, there are cases where resellers have had their clients lured away from them by the very same MSPs whose services they were reselling. In these situations the reseller is usually nothing more than a sales agent for the MSP and has not taken precautions to ensure that their clients are not open to dialog or communication from other providers.
Partnerships, on the other hand, typically involve two MSPs where one is leveraging the other
