Peer Engagement: A Key To MSP Success
By Jenn Walcott, D&H Distributing
Managed services providers are always looking for ways to expand their opportunities and grow their business, especially in a market that remains in flux. One way to do this is to seek guidance and best practices from both experts and peers in the field. But it’s not always easy to find the time and opportunity to engage your fellow technology solutions providers or to identify and interact with subject matter experts in complicated verticals like education or healthcare. We’re all so immersed in our work and in tending to business that such circumstances don’t always present themselves, outside of paid associations or expensive conferences. And even when we want to attend events, in-person meetings have become more tentative since pandemic restrictions have continued to ebb and flow.
The needs of the marketplace are definitely evolving more rapidly than ever. So how can MSPs get a quick and accurate read on what end users need, right now? The key is networking—the person-to-person, peer-to-peer kind; not the IT kind. The ability to join a versatile community of peer solutions providers, vendor representatives, and real-world authorities in the field is one of the most effective ways to pinpoint the up-to-the-minute requirements of end user organizations. This can come in the form of a partner engagement community. Ideally, your Partner Community will bring together these different groups of industry authorities, providing opportunities to convene, share best practices, and develop thought leadership concepts that will help drive the market forward and shape how technology is both deployed and consumed.
The goal is to have access to a network of organizations from different corners of the channel and the business community whose goals are aligned. They will all be looking to successfully implement technology and use it to solve problems in a swiftly changing landscape. This challenge is compounded by the fact that, for a long stretch, every time we began to feel it was safe to invite people back to brick-and-mortar spaces, along came the latest variant spike.
More and more, organizations ranging from government offices to school districts to mid-market businesses are learning that the need for flexible technology infrastructures is not going away. Workspaces need to maintain hybrid collaborative environments on an ongoing basis. Organizations must create virtual and on-site meeting spaces, conference rooms, and flexible huddle spaces that can accommodate employees on-premises, in-transit, and at home.
These remote solutions also increase the need for easy-to-use but robust security solutions to protect the end user’s most critical assets: their people and their data. Whether in the classroom or the boardroom, this hybrid environment is in fact our long-awaited New Normal—and it needs to function seamlessly if we all expect to prosper in the future.
Where can solutions providers find partner engagement opportunities where they can compare notes on these challenges? Many live events are heavily focused on sales as opposed to education or community. Some industry organizations offer online forums as outlets for peer networking, which also involves membership fees.
This is an area where a distribution partner can be a great asset. Few organizations have the same broad access to both a roster of vendors and other MSPs and VARs. A distributor is always looking to develop business for its channel partners. They don’t succeed unless you do. In addition to a wide base of reseller partners, distributors can leverage relationships with a roster of vendor partners who are eager to provide intelligence about their products.
Ideally, a distribution partner that offers a channel partner engagement community should be able to deliver exclusive discounts, training materials, and additional resources as a perk of partner community membership, to increase members’ buying power and extend their capabilities. In addition, such communities should provide access to professionals from verticals like K-12, or from specialized associations that cater to emerging areas like ProAV or esports. D&H Distributing’s new Partnerfi Community, for example, offers these different amenities.
IT isn’t an easy industry, and it’s that much harder when companies work in a vacuum. The ability for channel partners to commune and develop best practices can only happen when those MSPs are provided with a structure to evaluate their experiences and confer with subject matter experts. Without peer development, the concept of “Best Practices” becomes far more theoretical than practical.
About The Author
Jennifer Walcott, vice president of marketing at D&H Distributing, oversees the company’s marketing organization. She drives strategy and channel initiatives including the Partnerfi Community. Visit dandh.com or email Partnerfi@dandh.com