The VAR Guy

Owning an IT services business isn’t all wine and roses, as some outside observers may suggest. Of course, there are many benefits to being an entrepreneur or few would put up with the “blood, sweat and tears” often required to build a successful organization. Problems are part of the equation for solution providers, who make their living by eliminating their clients’ current and future headaches — but they also have to resolve their own internal issues to survive and thrive through the years.

A good carpenter has the skills and knowledge to construct almost anything their clients need using the proper materials and tools. Of course, the quality of a craftsman isn’t determined by the quantity of the instruments in his toolbox, but by the results of their work. Multi-purpose tools, such as combination power drills/screwdrivers, often save contractors both time and space—making it easier to organize and transport to a worksite.

Was The Who’s Pete Townsend predicting the smartphone revolution forty-years ago when he wrote the lyrics, “Out in the woods or in the city, it’s all the same to me…I’m going mobile?” Whether he truly a mystic or just looking for the words that fit the music, he was able to capture the spirit of today’s traveling workforce. A recent IDC survey found that 75 percent of the North American workforce identifies themselves as mobile workers; spending at least part of their day away from a corporate or “fixed” office environment.

Did you plan for success last year? Did you write down your plan? If you answered yes to both, that is awesome. Get out your plan, review it to see where you were successful and where you were not as successful, and figure out what you could have done better.  Get started with 2012 planning if you haven’t already and have a Happy Holiday.

It’s amazing how much procrastination goes into something as simple as a printer driver or satellite dish driver update, but it happens every day. While uploading the new software to modern devices doesn’t take the same time it used to (30-minutes or more), the process is often delayed or never completed. People are reluctant to take time out of their busy schedules to update home technology that isn’t broken, or may take longer than anticipated. The same rule applies to critical business systems, though the delays can be longer and more disruptive.

Do you respect your family doctor’s opinion as much as a neurologist or orthopedists? On the surface, specialists are seen as a step above a general practitioner when it comes to knowledge and patient care. That’s more of a perception than fact. While their education and training is focused on a particular part of the body (or mind), it doesn’t mean these physicians should rank higher than the typical family physician. But when someone is seriously ill and needs an experienced specialist, their services are invaluable. The same is true for MSPs and VARs that have well-developed vertical market practices. Here’s why.

Cloud is quickly becoming the de facto offering for many solution providers, with fairly simple implementation and a monthly recurring revenue stream that can help balance their cash flow. These applications are also of great benefit to their small business clients, between capital savings to continuous and relatively seamless updates.

While a carpenter may have a workshop filled with thousands of tools, many designed for very specific uses, he could likely accomplish a majority of his work using just a few basic implements. Consider the number of projects that can be completed with just a hammer, screwdriver and saw? The final project may be a little rough without utilizing specialized equipment (such as a router), but a number of beneficial things can be constructed with just these few items.

There is a tremendous opportunity in healthcare technology for VARs and MSPs. With federal stimulus available to medical professionals implementing electronic medical records (EMR) and a wealth of technology and compliance consulting opportunities, solution providers that are equipped to offer these services are experiencing great success. Here’s how to get started.

Managed service providers will often use online backup for a company’s mission critical data and local backup for their data that is important, but not utterly critical to basic business functions. And sometimes IT service providers will use a combination of both. However, helping your client decide what constitutes critical data and how to best backup that data can be a complicated task.

Last year the federal government announced its goal to have most Americans on electronic medical records (EMR) by 2014. Coupled with the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provides funding to promote adoption and use of electronic systems, the use and storage of medical data and systems has already begun to surge. So, how can VARs and MSPs get started with healthcare IT? Here are two practical steps.

No matter what kind of prospect they are, your potential clients will be able to spot a sales pitch a mile away. So surprise them by doing more listening than talking. VARs, MSPs and IT service providers must invest time in talking to their prospects as if they were actual people, and not just a hand that can writes a check. The secret to success: Determine your prospects’ personality type, and tailor your message to their values. Here’s how.

Intronis recently launched a major product release—our own local backup feature. This feature allows managed service providers to not only parse their critical and non-critical data, but manage it with the same Intronis software they use to manage all their offsite data. What inspired this latest move? Here’s some background.

Many small business owners and other end users don’t have a detailed understanding of the products and services that IT consultants and service providers promote. In some cases, IT providers may be dealing with clientele that has very limited technical knowledge. Here’s how to close the communications gap.

Despite New York Times columnist David Pogue’s crusade to “Take Back the Beep,” most cell phone carriers have refused to remove the compulsory voicemail instructions that are standard for all carriers. Proponents of “Take Back the Beep” are exasperated by being forced to listen to unnecessary instructions from a robot. There are some important customer feedback lessons here for VARs and service providers. Take a look.

Many IT solutions providers don’t consider design as critically important to their business. Because design isn’t a part of most IT professionals’ everyday tasks, website design may seem superfluous when compared to their core business functions. Or they think the nature of the IT industry doesn’t warrant careful attention to their business’ website. That’s a critical error. Here’s why.

As the State of Massachusetts and other states revise their privacy and encryption laws, I’m receiving a lot of questions from service providers about the impact of laws and regulations on their customers’ data. Many of these questions focus on encryption rules and third-party vendors. Here’s my view on the situation.

With the upcoming release of Office 2010 expected in June, businesses at all levels are considering the upgrade to Microsoft’s latest iteration of productivity software. However, after the adoption problems of Office 2007, Office 2010 might be a hard sell. It’s likely that the many of your clients skipped 2007 altogether and are still using 2003 or perhaps even 2000.  Some clients may view the specter of a new version of Office with more trepidation than excitement.

In the few days since the launch of the iPad, both naysayers and cheerleaders have had ample opportunity to either harangue or applaud Apple’s newest invention. Advocates say that the iPad’s intense, high-res display combined with its body-conscious touch screen and smooth operation takes media applications from sexy to smoking.  Apple has mastered the art of making us need things we didn’t know we wanted. But can the iPad do anything for your business? There are a few possibilities.

Getting into a rhythm is probably one of the most important disciplines a team can grasp to help their company excel. A rhythm is like going to the gym. The first week is really difficult, but if you stick with it, it will eventually pay off. Here’s how to help your company get into a rhythm for 2010.

With low barriers to entry (i.e., low up-front costs) and the potential for signficant recurring revenue, many service providers are moving into the MSP market.  But what is the key to successfully growing your MSP practice and retaining customers so they will not turn elsewhere for their IT needs?  By keeping some key best practices in mind, you can differentiate your services so that you not only survive, but thrive in this challenging economic environment.

The market for  online backup and recovery has exploded. With many service providers  looking to expand their offerings and the lure of recurring revenue and low up-front costs, online backup has become a very attractive business venture. But there are some dirty little secrets VARs and MSPs need to investigate before choosing a back-end service provider.

The waterfall method of development is as old as time itself.  For those unfamiliar, waterfall is a production process in which the development of a product takes place in sequential stages. It has served as a ubiquitous framework for production in various industries. Most notably, waterfall has been the go-to method for development teams in the software industry. In recent times however, time has caught up with the old waterfall process. This once popular software development process is losing substantial ground to more agile frameworks like Scrum. Where waterfall errors, Scrum thrives. Here’s why.