Managed and cloud services is one market that got an unexpected boost from the recession over the last couple of years.
Enterprise willingness to try managed or outsourced infrastructure, networking and mobility services became a "C-level" business decision.
This shift has been a boon to managed service providers (MSPs), equipment vendors and value-added resellers (VARs) that have holistic managed services portfolios in place.
But the revenue opportunity is lost on MSPs that don't have a step-by-step plan along with the tools for increasing managed services sales, which includes having vendors as channel partners to help them.
ACG recently launched a Managed Services Cloud program to deliver a range of action plans to managed service providers that need help, whether they're starting from scratch or need to refine or completely overhaul their programs.
SearchTelecom.com executive editor Kate Gerwig talked to ACG's Lauren Robinette -- who has built loyalty and partner-enablement programs at companies such as Cisco, HP, Avaya, Symantec and Fortinet -- about her nine-step managed services training program designed for MSPs and vendors at any stage of the lifecycle.
Why are managed services growing right now?
Lauren Robinette: The economic double dip that we've been going through has caused a lot of enterprises to rethink. The decision-makers, CEOs and CFOs are looking at the CIOs and saying, "Why not?" The interest in managed services is coming more from the business end, because they need to make a change for economic reasons. The recession has probably been the biggest boon for double-digit growth in the managed services market.