Back when we were launching services at NetEnrich, we often had conversations with VARs about how to get into selling managed services and what services to initially launch. The initial services in your practice are your core services. We actually have four services we recommend as a starting point. We call this group of services, The Core Four. They are easiest to sell because the ROI is clear and they have broad appeal because their value is universal all companies. Additionally, these services create a “foot in the door” that provides a foundation for you to sell additional specialized services down the road.
The Core Four
- Backup & Disaster Recovery — Every business needs a viable way to recover its data in the event of a disaster. Traditional solutions are too costly and too complicated for typical SMB customers. Protection from data loss, local failover and complete disaster recovery are now available to your SMB customers in an easy to consume and affordable service.
- Hosted Exchange — Email is the life blood of any business, but the cost of infrastructure, licensing and expertise to properly manage it is out of reach of most small companies. A hosted Exchange solution delivers an always working and fully updated Exchange with no expertise required from the customer, all at a lower cost than a local exchange server.
- Desktop & Server Management — Most work stops when a company’s IT systems break. Typically your customers will have to wait for your technician to arrive, troubleshoot and then fix the problem. All this time is lost productivity for your customer. Desktop and server management services perform regular preventative maintenance to prevent most minor problems. These same services can monitor the systems to catch bigger issues and fix them remotely before they create downtime for the customer.
- Helpdesk — The profit margin on SMB customers demands a low touch model, however we know many small customers can become needy. The helpdesk service allows you to monetize these high touch customers while you and your staff remain focused on higher margin projects. A helpdesk service provides an affordable and affective resource to keep the users productive.
Specialized Services
After you establish success with The Core Four, you will likely want to add a few specialized services. Examples of these services include: VoIP, hosted SharePoint, email archiving and many others. In future posts we will discuss how to best select your specialized services and pricing strategies for your services.
Be sure to let us know your thoughts or what you would like to see us discuss.
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