Microservices and the need for APIs
In my last piece, I discussed how MSPs need to start moving to a microservices architecture to embrace the rise of the composite app, created by pulling together microservices from across a hybrid private/public platform. The issue with such an...
Microservices’ role in the MSP economy
To date, enterprises have worked with everything from home-grown hand-coded systems to off the shelf enterprise applications. These started off as highly focused applications, such as those looking at supply chain automation (SCA) or sales force automation (SFA), but rapidly...
How an MSP can meet its most complex needs
You may well be aware of Abraham Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’, which he created in 1943 in “A Theory of Human Motivation.” The basis of the hierarchy is that there are some basic areas an individual needs to meet to...
Your MSP doesn’t need to be the end-all be-all
As an MSP, you probably have your deep area or areas of expertise that you are rightly proud of. If you provide managed security services, then you understand security. If you provide ERP, then you will be proud of your...
OK – you’re an MSP. Now what?
MSPs have varied prospect bases. Some focus on servicing large enterprises where the effective decision maker is a technical person or group. But for the many MSPs that target small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there is often a completely different...
Email? That’s free, surely?
The task of hosting and selling email is often regarded as a thankless one. With the likes of Google mail offered as a free service and many hosting companies providing free (or massively discounted) email accounts with the hosted domain...
Overcoming obstacles with selling security
From “Insecure platforms are a threat to your business!” and “There are millions of malicious people trying to break into your systems!” to “State-sponsored security attacks are a threat to you!”, the “Chicken Little” approaches to selling security never seem...
Clive Longbottom: Helping customers avoid their biggest threat
In talking to customers, you probably find that their biggest concern is how they can protect themselves from external malicious activity. However, many times the biggest threat to their business is the behaviour of their own employees. The troubling behaviour...
Clive Longbottom: When selling MSP services is like selling a house
I’ll start with a bold statement: being an MSP salesperson is like being a real estate agent. Hold on – don’t stop reading: there is a reason for such a statement. Any real estate agent will tell you what a...
Clive Longbottom: MSPs need to think beyond physical security
As an MSP, you probably spend a lot of time making sure that your platform is secure — using long, complex passwords and (hopefully) two-factor authentication wherever possible; specifically named superuser accounts, rather than general shared sysadmin ones; heuristic-based anti-malware...
