CompTIA Blog

If you are among the many traditional break/fix VARs interested in jumping into managed services, you won’t want to miss our Breakaway panel on just that topic at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 10. I’ve lined up industry leaders and successful MSPs to share their advice and answer your questions about successfully making the move from break/fix to managed services. Hear insight from Jeannine Edwards, director of ConnectWise Community; Edward Stringfellow, president of Stringfellow Technology Group; Al ...

Last week I had the privilege of watching 15 doctors talk candidly about technology from behind a one-way mirror. The two focus groups, among general practitioners and specialists, were very educational and at times quite entertaining. While the information gleaned may not be representative of all doctors, it helps provide some qualitative insights around what doctors are really thinking about IT. I’d like to share with you some examples of the key themes and interesting points I saw emerg ...

As the reality of health care reform begins to take shape, small businesses remain pressed by the high cost of health care for their employees, and comparison shopping becomes ever more important.  One of the obstacles in shopping for the best and most affordable coverage has always been the difficulty of comparing plan benefits and pricing; for most, comparing health plans is akin to comparing apples to oranges. In an earlier posting, I noted that the creation of health care insurance ex ...

Healthcare IT (HIT) is a huge opportunity for solutions providers, but it's important to understand the complexities and nuances when it comes to coming an HIT provider.  Patrick Wilson, President of Vital Signs Technology, will walk you through an overview of CompTIA's Healthcare IT Guide for building a practice. What are the various verticals in this space, and how are they different?  Should you become a general Electronic Health Records (EHR) provider or go after a specific verti ...

We all (or at least most of us) want to be the best at what we do. This holds true even for those who perform IT services and manage IT services organizations.  I remember the sense of pride we had in my service department, which went far beyond a paycheck. Overtime was the norm for our group, and customer dissatisfaction personally upset the people I worked with. That pride was an intangible asset that the companies I outsourced to usually understood within the first month or two of our engagem ...

Is your technology business the best kept secret in town?  You have great staff, faithful customers, operations second to none, but what’s keeping it from growing?  Quite simply — leads. You know many businesses are an ideal fit to utilize your products and services, but how do you find them?  Without good leads, your sales team will be less effective and your company’s revenue will likely remain flat. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Lead generation is not a black art and does not need to be ...

According to managed print services (MPS) research company Photizo Group, the total MPS market in North America and Western Europe will be $26.7 billion by 2012, and it will account for 35% of the total imaging market, rising significantly from the 14% it held in 2007.Ed Crowley, CEO of the Photizo Group, previews what opportunities are available to resellers in this growing market and discusses some common myths about MPS and what it really is.Gain an understanding of the MPS business model thr ...

Got a good business book you've loved or are really into this week?  Let us know about it.We're starting up a new book club, the CompTIA BookBuzz,  devoted to members and industry event participants.  We'll pick books to help you become a better leader, manage your people more effectively and grow your company.  Tell us what some of your favorite books are.  Which ones have helped you become more successful?The first book BookBuzz is reading and discussing is Daniel Pink's Drive: The Surprising ...

Note: This is the seventh of eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in the CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 market research.Henry Ford once quipped “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black”. In a world of “half-caf skim latte – hold the foam”, the industrialist’s quote may seem like a quaint memory of years gone past—but it is actually an insightful observation on business. It speaks to the importance of repeatability, ...

I’ve always been a bit of a leadership / management book junkie. I’ve probably ready Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People five or six times and every time I do I come away with a new nugget or perspective I didn’t know was there. Another book I’ve recommended a bunch of times over the course of my career is from Kenneth Blanchard. It’s one of the One Minute Manager series called The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey. If you ever meet someone who has never managed people befo ...

A large part of the industry's growth hinges on solution providers being able to migrate their business models to newer models.  Specifically, they must be able to identify and solve end users' business problems, understand vertical and unique market segments, and incorporate newer technologies into their solutions mix.This is one of many points CompTIA's Vice-President for Channel Strategies, Annette Taber, makes in this featured podcast.  Annette will be hosting a luncheon session at Breakaway ...

It seems like every time you turn around, a new device or technology is capturing the attention of the business world (as well consumers). Unfortunately, each seems to bring with it a new IT security threat requiring additional diligence on the part of users, and expertise from channel partners. Take Apple’s iPad as a prime example. Before it had even launched, concerns were circulating about its weak Wi-Fi encryption, lack of device wipe features, and susceptibility to malware through the iTune ...

What if a construction company decided to repeatedly add new floors to a building without reviewing the strength of the current structure? The potential for a major catastrophe (collapse) will escalate exponentially with each new block or board added to the infrastructure. That’s why they test and evaluate the current situation (building) before designing the next steps. The same philosophy should be applied to a business’ financial situation; get a full evaluation of the organization’s fiscal m ...

With SaaS and cloud computing capturing the attention of the IT industry and the community at large, significant issues are moving to the forefront. Security, downtime, connection speeds, and legal compliance concerns all need to be addressed while adoption continues to climb. In order for the IT channel to provide quality service and support of cloud computing, education and related resources must be developed, and a dialogue among industry constituents is a great place to start.CompTIA and its ...

Five more weeks until we meet at Breakaway in San Antonio.  For me, that means I got 5 weeks to figure out who I want to see, which sessions will mean the most to my business and which vendors might have the best opportunities for helping me make new profits.  It also means I've got 5 weeks to lose another 8 pounds -- in my "get healthy" bet with some other colleagues.I'm not sure MyBreakaway can help me keep from raiding the refrigerator at midnight or splurging on ice cream at the pool, but I ...