Guiding IT Businesses to New Practice Success

When you started your IT services business, did you have a detailed document that walked you through best practices and alerted you to the pitfalls you could encounter along the way? If your experience was similar to that of most VARs and MSPs I know, the answer would be a resounding NO! Most of the successful entrepreneurs in the IT channel built their businesses the old fashioned way; through trial and error. While there are a number of reasons why most companies fail, those who receive advice and support from industry experts have a better than average chance of succeeding. Perhaps this is even more important in the IT channel, where technological experience is typically deeper than business acumen. Most VARs and MSPs encounter situations that require research or resources they don’t have available, especially when they’re exploring a new market or technology practice.    

That’s how CompTIA Quick Start Guides can help. These are more than white papers or articles on a specific technology; each is designed and developed by members of a CompTIA Community that is devoted to that area of expertise. Quick Start Guides are IT service provider-specific resources, with a comprehensive overview of the market opportunities, industry best practices, and actionable advice from those who have been successful in that particular business segment.

This week, CompTIA is introducing Quick Start Guides around three crucial IT channel business practices:

1.  IT Security

2.  Managed IT Services

3.  Managed Print Services

Each of these instructional documents was vetted by members of the CompTIA Community that originated the initiative, ensuring that the information is valuable and actionable for solution and service providers. If you’re looking to develop or improve knowledge and skills in one of these technology areas, these guides will fit the bill; outlining the opportunities and issues, while providing step-by-step instructions.

Community leaders are also reviewing and tweaking several additional Quick Start Guides that will be made available to members over the next few weeks. These cover valuable channel topics such as developing healthcare IT, cloud/SaaS, and unified communications (UC) practices. Despite this flurry of new Quick Start Guides, expect to see these collaborative groups working to develop additional versions during the upcoming Annual Member Meeting, April 6-7 in Chicago. 

One of the best things about the Quick Start Guides is they don’t cost you or your business a thing (otherwise known as FREE). That’s just one more reason (or, six more reasons in this case) to belong to THE IT industry association!

Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles included chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact him at [email protected].