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Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite

Posted By: Josh Published in Technology Tags: Customer Service, managed services, Microsoft, MSP, MSP Tools, SaaS

Oct

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We are only a few weeks away from the release of Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) if Microsoft manages to stay on track with their release date. The service which has an odd name in my mind combines hosted exchange, hosted sharepoint, office live meeting conferencing, office communications server, and the Microsoft online administration center management portal all delivered to your customers on a monthly basis from the cloud.

While is seems the offering will initially be targeted at enterprise clients I foresee it quickly being asked about by our small business clients as Microsoft starts to turn up their marketing engines.

I would suggest as I have suggested in the past that your business needs to be thinking about how to continue to add value to your clients as they begin to use these service or others like them delivered from the cloud. I can assure you the 12% of the year one value and 6% of the ongoing that Microsoft has outlined as their partner commision structure is not enough to build a business. The traditional service fees for installation, upgrades, and ongoing maintenance and management will be wiped making it time to reinvent yourself.

The million dollar question is what does todays IT service business look like five years from now…..

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4 Responsed To This Post

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sjketterman Says, on 10-7-2008 at 02:32:44

Josh -
Today’s IT Service business will be much different five years from now. For one, it will have transformed from a discussion with clients about monitoring and managing networks to helping them increase their revenue, drive higher profit margins, and use technology as a competitive advantage. Secondarily, there will be much more than just “IT” Services. Managed Services is about the Service and the recurring revenue from value you provide. When appliances, TV’s, Digital signage, video surveillance, and just about anything else electronic has an IP address then we can begin to open the flood gates of “recurring revenue” from services to companies of all sizes. MSP’s will lead because they already have a foot in the door, are trusted, and have the platforms to support this.

my 2 cents

Josh Says, on 10-7-2008 at 04:23:28

I agree with you but I can’t stop and wonder what that does to our industry. Will the margins be there for monitoring and dispatching for these services? Will your people need the same skill sets and if not what will they be?

Things are changing quickly and it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

sjketterman Says, on 10-7-2008 at 20:02:16

Josh, those are some great questions! In regards to the margins, I think it’s good to also ask what kind of margins are fair? Are we used to margins that may decrease and if so, can this be offset by other revenue? One thing I keep in mind is that there will always be a need for the core MSP offerings even as automated as we see things heading. But what happens is that it becomes a part of new offerings, new services, and new revenue opportunities. If you take MSP Company A and MSP Company B that both offer the same thing, then what differentiates? I would say that MSP’s will need to learn business skills such as competitive advantage and other skills they aren’t used to knowing. Skill sets will change as well. I like specialization, but, I also like diversity in skills. Let’s say the economy continues to tighten - - if you have a person with varied skillsets they become more valuable as they can shift to different roles. I would say being well versed in IT, Business, Marketing, and Sales would be a good set of skills to have. If anything - I think MSP’s (and staff skillsets) should focus more on innovation and marketing - the two most powerful forces behind growth.

Josh Says, on 10-10-2008 at 04:23:45

All great points. Everyone will need to learn new business skills and sales skills or they will not have a business in the next five years.