Managed service providers know that they have plenty of competition to look out for. Everyone has heard about the big dogs coming to take a big slice of the MSP market share, but until recently I think we have all felt like “So when is it going to actually happen?”. We’ve heard rumblings, but haven’t seen a lot of action.
Dell changed that when they launched their initiative to partner up with managed service providers around the country to offer their own version of managed services, but even they seem to be having limited success (I say despite having lost a customer to them…son of a gun!).
Well, I’ve seen a new sign that some of the big dogs are getting more serious.
As you may know, I’ve become much more involved with internet marketing. I spent some time this last weekend using some internet marketing tools to research ways I could expand Everon’s online marketing presence. Part of that research was identifying the largest competitors for certain search terms. And guess what I found.
AT&T was by far and away the largest advertiser of computer support services for several of the highest volume keywords I researched.
I was really surprised by this. Of course I’ve heard that the telecoms are coming, and I’ve even run across Verizon in a couple of deals, but until this weekend I hadn’t run across any telecom being so aggressive in their marketing. They weren’t exactly offering managed services, but I’m sure that’s not far off.
I think the question is becoming, “Who isn’t offering computer support services of some kind?”.
This is becoming a very crowded market, which of course means that each of us need to find new ways of differentiating ourselves from the competition.
MRC
