Winner of the MSP Ally of the Year award at our MSP Innovation Awards in New York, we put our five crucial questions to SherWeb's account executive Nicholas Ford
Winner of the MSP Ally of the Year category at CPI's MSP Innovation Awards in New York, we put our five crucial questions to SherWeb account executive Nicholas Ford.
1) What will a successful MSP look like in three to five years' time?
Future success with MSPs will mean complete solutions being provided to customers and partners. Partners need to consider providing an inclusive service that can serve SMBs while providing IT support staff for larger organizations.
2) What has been the most important development in the MSP space over the last 12 months?
The growth of security as-a-service. Having companies focusing on securing customers on behalf of them, and providing partners the ability to actively monitor their clients with the proper tools. This allow them to focus on the business growth needs of their customers with respect to their IT while also providing them with enterprise grade security systems.
3) If an MSP had to invest in just one new technology, which one should they pick and why?
Infrastructure as-a-service. So much is going full cloud now, and with the upcoming end-of-life opportunities at play; Windows 2008 R2, SQL 2008 as examples, now is the time to jump into IaaS.
4) Do you think MSPs should be outsourcing core functions such as their helpdesk and security services?
If it isn't a focus, yes. There are so many providers out there who have the infrastructure in place to focus on core support modules, that if you are not willing or able to invest yourself, then you shouldn't. Partners more likely than not, will not be able to offer their customers with the top-tier solutions that they deserve, especially when we consider cost.
5) What's the biggest threat to an MSP's business today?
Unwillingness to keep up with, accept and adapt to the constant changes in technology. This is very much the case when it comes to new cloud technology
