The Challenges of Selling Managed IT Services

Although Managed Services Providers (MSPs) can add great value to any organization, they are still struggling to penetrate the IT industry today.
Sonian, which is one of the biggest email archiving companies offering cloud based solutions, studied* a large number of MSPs in a survey to better understand their challenges and trends. The participants include experts in sales, marketing, product management, and business development executives.
Based on the results, the following challenges and trends were observed:

Ever-Changing Needs

About 95% of the total participants agreed that their customer requirements are constantly changing. Thus, it can be hard for an average MSP to keep up with their requirements.
The survey revealed a common theme despite the diverse population. It confirmed that MSPs are very much interested in inking deals with partners who can provide great support for mutual success, and the survey also proved that the solutions provided must meet the ever-evolving needs of their customers, reduce the need for additional resources, and improve margins.
MSPs also have to upgrade their software products frequently to keep up with technology and to give their customers access to the most recent tech features, which can be quite an expensive affair if a company was to do all the upgrades on their own.

Becoming a Trustworthy Partner

For a company to partner with an MSP they must be willing to make a variety of changes. Thus, it is not hard to see why so many companies decide to keep the things the way they are, despite being aware of the drawbacks.
Although 95% of the participants agreed (68% agreed and 27% strongly agreed) that their partners are providing them with adequate resources to sell and support their products and services, making the partners comfortable initially is still a challenge.
Many firms turn to MSPs for cloud based online backup and disaster recovery, virtualization, and strong data protection features. This is why MSPs must do everything in their power to come off as a reliable partner for any business.

Creating Demand and Finding Partners

Although the popularity of cloud backup services is increasing every year, MSPs still have a long way to go. Many companies are still shying away from partnering with MSPs. This is clearly indicated by the fact that 77% of the survey participants chose “driving new business” as their main area of focus and concern.
One way to increase demand is to work on the marketing campaigns. The prospects must get a clear idea of what an MSP can bring to the table, and how they can improve ROI, because after all, that alone can nudge them in the right direction.
59% of the participants also said “finding go-to-market partners” is their main concern. A robust business is highly dependent on its partners. However, this problem can be easily tackled by maintaining full transparency with the partners and going an extra mile to let them know that their services are being appreciated.
While an MSP can be of great help to any company, small businesses can reap the benefits more that others as they have modest IT budgets. By teaming up with an MSP, small and medium businesses can use top-tier business products at affordable rates.
* Sonian Survey — https://goo.gl/Y4J2Tr