No News… is no news
If you’re looking for news about which company bought which other company, or who has merged, or who has moved from one company to another, you’ve come to the wrong place. This publication is not about the companies in our channel and what they do to each other. There are plenty of other sources for that.
Results Speak!
We often hear that “Results Speak Louder!” But early in my career, a very astute manager explained to me that “Results Speak.” He emphasized that ONLY results speak. Nothing else. When it comes to the work we do, the services we provide to others, the only thing anyone is really concerned about is results.
Every time I thought to make an excuse, this stopped me. Every time I found myself trying to come up with reasons why something hadn’t happened, I just remembered that only results speak and I stopped myself.
Senior Resultant
This is why, when I left 35 years as an IT channel executive to stab out as a freelancer, I chose the title “Senior Resultant” for myself. “Senior” because I wanted to signify that I was starting this new adventure way too late. “Resultant” because that’s what I’m about. I’m about results. Great results. Results you can take to the bank and results you can take pride in.
techChannel.Results
The “techChannel,” as I’m defining it, is different from the channel we have all lived and worked in for the past five decades. The “channel” was defined in1981 by IBM at the introduction of their first personal computer (PC). Since the rule was “nobody but IBM can sell IBM,” they came up with the concept of a “reseller.” For them, this “reseller channel” would take their products from manufacturer to distributor to reseller to customer.
Steep discounting made it harder for resellers to prosper, and the arrival of the cloud has all but eliminated the purchase of servers, storage, and other high-priced equipment. Resellers needed to find another way to make money.
Enter the Managed Service Provider (MSP)
The techChannel is the ultimate destination for resellers who set out to make the journey to become MSPs. We only need to envision the map for that journey to better understand it.
Resellers
This is where most everyone begins their journey. They realize that selling IT services is more profitable than selling IT products. Some have identified products they can still enjoy reasonable margins on, but these are getting fewer and fewer.
Faux MSP
Some have mistakenly decided they can become MSPs simply by calling themselves MSPs. These have hurt the rest of us by disappointing customer after customer. The worst impacts they’ve created are the bulletins coming out of CISA, the FBI, the New York Times, and others warning customers to beware of anyone calling themselves an MSP. This makes it harder for everyone else to convince customers to trust them.
MSP in Transition
Becoming a capable service provider doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to hire skilled people, train others, create methodologies, and properly prepare the company. Many have engaged service partners whose services they can sell to their customers while they work at becoming experts themselves. They have created new revenue streams for themselves which help them better understand the dynamics of selling and delivering services.
Information Technology Service Providers (ITSP)
MSP is just one category of service provider in the techChannel. There are also Cloud Solution Providers (CSP), Internet Service Providers (ISP), and others. We’ll see the emergence of Data Science Providers (DSP) who will afford any company the services of data scientists to interpret the meaning and importance of the data they collect and process. Internet of Things Service Providers (IoT) will perform all the physical installation services, deployment, configuration, connection, security, and everything else required for the billions of devices residing at the expanding edge of the network.
techChannel Partners Are All About Results
ITSPs no longer talk to their customers about speeds and feeds, bits and bytes, RAM and ROM, or any of the other technical details involved in delivering results. They only speak with customers about the business operations and processes that benefit from the automation and other digital support they provide, and the results they can expect coming from those benefits.
ITSPs speak the language of technology as it is applied to create excellent results for the businesses of customers.
The techChannel.Results Mission
The mission of this publication is to serve all four communities that live along the path from reseller to ITSP.
Resellers will find useful advice to help them begin their journey
Faux MSPs will find reasons to get serious and truly profit from the rewards awaiting ITSPs
MSPs in Transition will find guidance based on decades of experience in the channel that will help them build their businesses bigger, better, and more profitable.
ITSPs will learn about what other ITSPs are learning and doing, and about the many incredible community groups service the techChannel and how to best leverage them to increase success.
Let’s Discuss
This publication is meant to foster a dialogue among the many who are making the journey that will benefit everyone involved by sharing lessons learned along the way. I’m not the ultimate authority on anything, but the collective knowledge of the techChannel most certainly is.
Please… read, review, comment, discuss, subscribe, and participate.
Thank you,
HMC
