Cloudbusters

Demand for Cloud Support Services is Gaining

October 10, 2012 , 0 Frank Gurnee

Guest Post by Wayne Goldstein

CEO GMS Live Expert

Looks Cloudy

The pace of change in our industry is second to none. The term cloud is becoming synonymous with the standard for operating environments.

With available tools, and the powerful reseller channel emerging to provide value added services on top of the platform – our traditional idea of licensing and layering on support to products is now one that is incredibly price sensitive. How can you argue with $50 a user per year to cover the majority of SMBs, and in some cases Enterprise users needs?

In our help desk business alone we have seen a huge jump in demand for virtual desktop, namely Citrix, support, allowing for incredible efficiencies in providing live support within these environments.

I could go on about some of the incredible projections in the multi-billion dollars (well $70 billion+) for the demand of cloud services in the coming years, but I think this is an often-played story across the Managed Services airwaves. Instead, let’s focus on how this change in behavior can benefit, and in some cases make or break service providers like you and I.

Training:

Perhaps it is because of my background in providing training services, and support for training services – or more likely the success we have had due to our strong investment in the ongoing training of our people. It has been my experience that those who I have invested most in have in turn worked along side me the longest and hardest.

While cloud services can in some cases make life easier in terms of support, virtual desktop environments can become a nightmare to support if your technicians are not fluent with these variants of the standalone environments we cut our teeth on.

If you haven’t already – please send your top tech’s to cloud school, and follow through on the cross training that takes place as a result of this initial investment.

Planning:

As with any change in our industry, there are those that make the cut and those that don’t. The real value I see solution providers today playing well into the future is that of a risk analyst – essentially weighing the downside against the upside of major technology changes and investments.

Exceptional support and competitive pricing are barriers to entry for most – however leveraging your teams experience and foresight to navigate the waters of cloud technology from a well-researched business perspective is the most powerful card that separates the pros from the hobbyists.

Whether it is a virtual CRM, PBX or server environment – if the goals of your clients are not aligned with your solutions every step of the way, be prepared to move aside.

I cannot stress enough how important it is for this true understanding of your client’s goals. If you have been thinking about specializing in a specific vertical, suck it up – plan out your cash flow requirements and dive in. As the landscape progresses generalists will find it increasingly harder to compete by truly understanding their clients markets and the role technology plays in those markets.

It looks cloudy out there – what steps have you been taking to get ahead?

Wayne Goldstein is the CEO of GMS Live Expert, a Hosted Help Desk dedicated to the MSP Reseller Channel. His team of 100% North American Help Desk and NOC and Technicians, work to help their MSP Partners scale their businesses!