Government MSP Featured Editorial

1. MSP Owners: If You Were Hit By A Bus, Would Your Business Survive? 5/31/2018

   The difference between being the owner of a business or being self employed is at the end of the day when you consider exiting or selling your business, how does the business transition without you? As you grow your IT business, the way you make operational decisions to increase the equity of your business is very important. It will determine if you have established your MSP as a lifestyle business or a scalable enterprise.

2. Is Apple Ready For The Channel? 2/15/2018

   Seven historically valid reasons for VARs and MSPs to ignore Apple, and seven counterpoints on why that might be a mistake today.

3. MSPs Helping Prepare For NIST 800-171 Compliance Now 11/14/2017

   The deadline for meeting NIST 800-171 compliance is December 31, 2017. Perhaps you are already on your journey, perhaps you are just starting; regardless, compliance must be met by the end of the year. What does this mean for you? The biggest takeaway is this: you have a limited amount of time to make significant progress to ensure your customer’s compliance. This will likely take a focused team of individuals, and possibly a partner with NIST 800-171 experience. Showing appreciable progress by customers towards compliance will help to assuage the regulators.

4. How Expertise And Trust Help Drive Sales For VARs And MSPs 8/15/2017

   Selling professional services is tricky business. There is nothing tangible in the conversation. No product to pick up, turn over, and closely examine for quality and functionality. What clients are buying is you and your expertise. 

5. VARs And MSPs – Are You Penny Wise And Pound Foolish With This Revenue Stream? 7/12/2017

   One of the notable highlights of Admiral Nelson’s win at Trafalgar is that he believed his better trained forces would be superior in a battle against overwhelming opposing odds, and he was correct. The more educated the workforce, the greater the productivity: we all know this, or we should.

6. How Offering Compliance-as-a-Service Can Help MSPs Shine 7/12/2017

   Businesses turning to MSPs have no shortage of options in the marketplace, making the solution provider’s ability to distinguish itself crucial to its long-term viability. In my opinion, perhaps the surest path to differentiating a managed service is providing expertise that goes beyond simply delivering technology, and gets to really helping clients navigate the real-world complexities that govern how technology must be applied.

7. Resellers Of ERP Solutions Need This Fencing Skill – Think Two Moves Ahead Or Lose 7/6/2017

   ARRRGH! No, this is not me living my fantasy as a swashbuckler, though as a fencing instructor (a healthy and fun diversion of mine), it would not be too far from reality.  Rather, it is an expression of angst when I hear Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems reduced to being called “accounting” or “financial” systems. I let the rather defamatory term slide when it comes from the chief financial officer or vice president of finance at a client of mine: hey, I am pretty picky about most things but even I have my limitations. But I cringe when I hear it from the reseller, because I know that this is a reseller with a myopic focus.

8. Cloud Storage – A Lucrative Opportunity for Government Sector IT Solutions And Service Providers 6/23/2017

   On May 11, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) intended to fortify the cybersecurity of federal networks by instituting a massive shift in how the United States government manages its data. The aim was/is to create a single federal IT enterprise. This endeavor will be supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of Management & Budget (OMB). Tim Bossert, DHS advised that there will be a preference in federal procurement for shared IT services (cloud services) among the 190 federal agencies, and the goal of this move to the cloud is to avoid defending antiquated and fractional systems. (This should be music to the ears of any federal channel reseller/MSP.)

9. Women In The Channel: Running A Woman-Owned Company In A Man's World 2/21/2017

   This is the third of a four-part series; click here for part one and click here for part two. By Dede Haas, CA-AM, Channel Sales Strategist, DLH Services, LLC