What did we learn about Managed Services at the recent ChannelNEXT Virtual event?

Lots!

Jay McBain from Forrester did a 45-minute overview on where the MSP channel is headed as we roll out of this crisis. Jay backed it up with current research data. He also showed what opportunities are emerging and what will become marginalized.

It was a pretty good 10-mile high overview roadmap for MSPs and Vendors to bake into their playbook moving forward. I agree with much of what Jay said and I urge all of you to get on the train as it’s already speeding up.

All sorts of players are getting into the channel game. Many IT marketplaces are already everywhere. Channel partner ecosystems are being redefined. There is quite a lot to digest and while some predictions may seem likely, always remember that even the best predictions do not always come true.

If you are not up to speed on what is REALLY happening in the channel today, then it’s wise to take the time to digest, re-evaluate your situation and plan forward. The great news is that the new opportunities are crazy huge!

Remember, you are not alone! You are welcome to attend the ChannelNEXT events where channel partners, vendors and other professionals come together to learn, discuss and exchange ideas to build business. We do some every month – see ChannelNEXT for details and schedule.

Shane Gibson announced a new book coming soon on why and how businesses will need to transform into a digital-first buyers’ world. It will outline what the new digital sales warrior will look like and the skills they will need to succeed (literally a recipe for sales reps to rebuild their skills and a check list for employers when hiring).

What I really like about this book is that all roads lead back to the MSPs. They are who the businesses will need to help them figure out what to do and how to implement. We will be doing some cool things to help our channel community to leverage this book as a tool to open doors and make the case for doing business with them!

Randal Wark from the Channel Partner Alliance was at it again helping MSPs to figure out how to best adapt to this change with “M.A.T.H.” If you want to know exactly what it means, then ask for access to the recorded workshop. It’s like a check-up for your business to help you figure out the best way forward to ensure your business is financially healthy and profitable.

Anna Yu, a long time channel leader at Xerox, is now helping channel partners become better leaders that will immediately impact their growth. Regardless of how good of a leader you think you are, you need to check this out. We are currently working with Anna and other amazing experts to help some of the most successful MSPs to accelerate much faster through a Mastermind Peer-Group for top performers.

Chris Herbert is the guy that you go to for help with your digital marketing. Everyone knows that they urgently need a digital strategy and playbook. This is not so easy to do. It may be smarter to outsource while learning through real-world practice to build out the expertise in-house.

Erez Zevulunov is a very successful MSP and he likes to acquire other MSPs to build his business. He knows all about business valuation for an MSP and he showed what it takes to sell your MSP business for top dollar, even through a pandemic!

Michelle Warren is awesome when it comes to communications and these days communicating properly and effectively can be the difference between success and failure. Michelle outlines some realistic communications and tactics for getting through this on-going crisis and the new economic paradigm.

Paolo Del Nibletto showed how MSPs can do some easy and cost-effective things to promote their company in their local community by simply leveraging news media. The vast majority of MSPs never leverage news media because they think they need to pay for advertising, but there is a way to get the brand exposure without costing a fortune.

This is just a sample of the content that we made available to our ChannelNEXT attendees. We also introduced a platform to help MSPs build and improve their technology stack and another platform that helps MSPs improve the outcome of their sales team. Both can impact the success of your MSP business tremendously.

A very big thank you to our select vendor sponsors with amazing solutions for MSPs including ESET, Tigerpaw, Automox, Siemplify, United Cloud and Veriato. Any MSP can leverage all of these vendors to solve big problems for their customers and make money. Check them out for yourself to learn why. Check out e-ChannelNEWS for many other vendors that offer solutions for MSPs. Some are brand new to the market. Everyday, we showcase more! Subscribe for free!

All of the sessions are available for on-demand viewing, upon request. Watch e-ChannelNEWS as we post them or Contacts us to learn more and request access.