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Colocation Space Cools?
In a bit of a surprising reversal, Verizon announced
in January that it has begun the process of selling its
entire data center portfolio. TeleGeography’s senior ana-
lyst Jonathan Hjembo, among others, quickly wondered
if this signaled a U-turn in the wider trend of data cen-
ter acquisitions by carriers during the last four years.
Back in 2011, as TeleGeography reported, Verizon,
along with CenturyLink and Time Warner Cable, pur-
chased major carrier-neutral colocation assets – mov-
ing increasingly into the colocation and cloud business
units. Other carriers followed suit as well, including
Zayo and NTT, snapping up individual assets and adding
them to their portfolios.
Hjembo underlines that not only is Verizon now
selling the 13 Terremark facilities that it previously
acquired, but apparently all 47 of the group’s data
centers are up for grabs. Furthermore, Verizon is
not the only telco looking to divest. In fact, if this is
indeed a trend, it began a couple of weeks earlier
with Tierpoint purchasing the data center assets of
U.S. fixed network operator Windstream Communi-
cations. CenturyLink and AT&T are now also consid-
ering similar moves.
Today, there are tens of thousands of IT and man-
aged services providers (MSP) across the globe – pro-
ducing a crowded field of confusion, competition and
chaos. Many MSPs pride themselves on their ability
to deliver the best remote management, patch man-
agement, service desk and device management solu-
tions that take full advantage of technology to make
their customer’s lives easier.
The MSP space can be a crowded field. And while
many MSPs pride themselves on technology and deliv-
ery, marketing the organization itself is often an after-
thought. With so many providers to choose from, MSPs
need to build a brand for themselves. So how can an
MSP stand out and differentiate itself among the crowd,
so companies view them as “the” choice for their IT and
managed services? Here are four suggested strategies
to help MSPs stand out:
Find the Right Vendor:
The same challenges
that clients face in choosing a managed service pro-
vider, MSPs face when choosing a technology vendor.
Most importantly, a technology vendor must be an
extension of your business – their technology, their
roadmaps must align with your own business model. If
you have plans to focus on a particular service area or
plans to branch into deeper levels of managed servic-
es, you need to find a vendor with the existing technol-
ogy and roadmaps in place to deliver on that promise.
Operate Efficiently:
Leveraging technology and
maintaining client environments may be the reason
you went into managed services, but to succeed, you
also have to keep an eye on the operational side of the
business. Ask yourself - how do you go about effective-
ly nurturing client relationships? Are you properly fore-
casting sales and balancing against the cost of keeping
the lights on in your office?
Hire People -
the Right People: The goal of any
business is to make money – yours is no different.
But amid increasing competition and ever demand-
ing customers, increasing the business’s top line can
be a challenge. But it doesn’t have to be. Having solid
technology and delivering exceptional service is key,
but you also have to have the right people. And that
means you have to hire people, sales people. All your
clients aren’t going to understand the ins-and-outs of
managed services, so you need people who can clearly
articulate your business’s value in their language. So
hire the right people and make sure they have the
proper training to be empowered for success.
Marketing:
“Build it and they will come,” they say.
If only things were that easy. Marketing is essential in
building a sizeable customer base and generating new
opportunities for your business. The bad news is that
you may not be a marketing person. The good news is
that you don’t have to be. Outsourcing is a very viable
alternative as a manager service provider. There are a
numbers of freelancers and savvy social media experts
who can be paid hourly or flat fees to promote your
business via digital channels. There also are several
professional organizations that offer classes or assis-
tance in developing marketing efforts. Also keep an eye
out for technology vendors that have partner programs
that drive marketing demand generation activities
for their partner base. Those programs provide leads
which you can turn into real business.
With these four strategies in place, an MSP can stand
out and differentiate itself among the crowd, so companies
view them as “the” choice for their IT and managed services.
John Peterson is vice president of Enterprise Products
at cybersecurity innovator Comodo.
How MSPs Can Rise Above the Noise
By
John
Peterson
12
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January - February 2016