Jim Hamilton Posts

Note: This is the fourth of eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in the CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 market research.In business school, we were informed of the challenges facing companies that are driven by great engineering. These organizations often had a laser-like focus on building great products with a mistaken belief that a great product sells itself. A quick look through the technology industry’s scrap yard would reveal some of these products: Son ...

Note: This is the third of eight blog entries in which I examine managed services best practices identified in CompTIA MSP Partners’ 2010 market research.In a classic Simpsons’ episode Homer exclaims “Oh! I haven't changed since high school and suddenly I am uncool.” Ah yes Homer, things change over time even if we don’t! Our second managed services best practice counters that common mindset; Best-in-Class MSPs develop and deploy new technology solutions to keep pace with the industries their cu ...

Note: This is the second of eight blog entries in which I examine the 2010 managed services best practices identified in CompTIA MSP Partners’ market research.Nature confirms what we all intuitively understand - living things need time to mature before they become fruitful. None of us plant a seed in the springtime and then stand over it with a fork in hand waiting for dinner. Those of us who have teenagers can also heartily attest to this fact - fruitfulness takes time and is often preceded by ...

An often quoted Albert Einstein definition for insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Based on this definition, most of us must be one card short of a full deck.  Our tendency in business is to play it safe and follow the pack; yet, none of us goes into business with the goal of being average.History teaches us that those who break from the pack and discover new ways of doing business reap the rewards. Take the development of the latest generation ...

MSP Partners has just published its 2010 IPED managed services research and education courses and the emerging industry trends are truly compelling! The findings I will be discussing in this article are based on research conducted in December 2009 and January 2010. This extensive survey included thousands of solution providers and resulted in findings to a 97% confidence level. The top four trends identified are:1.    The managed services market mirrored the overall IT market in performance, but ...

This is the second part of my commentary, “Why Managed Services.”  In the last article, I examined the reasons that managed services are good for the SMB end customer.  In this piece I will discuss why managed services mean better business for the solution provider.Every once and a while, I step back and marvel at the way IT has changed my life. Thanks to constant innovation, my house is a veritable museum of advances in IT.  In one corner of my house, my CD collection sits gathering dust, never ...

Something that has occupied a lot of my thinking lately is the development of an industry-wide standard for managed services.  No matter who I talk to, from large OEM manufactures to the smallest of service providers, each sees value in the development of a standard that clearly communicates an MSP’s managed services proficiency to their customers, partners and vendors.  A standard would significantly help promote managed services to end users, differentiate strong MSPs from the less qualified, ...

Good, timely information is valuable.  A recent trip to New York reminded me of this when my wife and I made a last minute decision to eat at a trendy restaurant in SoHo. After a quick call, I secured a table, but only if we could get were there in the next half hour.  I punched the restaurant’s address into my phone and, thanks to the magic of the internet, Google, GPS and my iPhone – I am provided with walking directions to the nearest subway station, the train to catch and when it will arrive ...