This is from a press release MSP alliance put out today as they announced their green program at their Las Vegas MSP Summit:

“The need for Green IT has never been more evident, and the standards set by this new program will guide MSPs in delivering Green IT services and reducing their own carbon footprint,” MSPAlliance president Charles Weaver said in a statement. “Today, every MSP has access to tools that deliver environmentally conscious services, however, there isn’t an industry standard for them to use as a guide to ensure proper stewardship of all resources. As the industry’s only accrediting body for MSPs, we are proud to address this glaring deficiency.”

MSP Alliance has done some interesting things lately, launching their accreditation program, holding their annual summit, and growing to be one of the largest MSP membership sites in the world but I am not quite sure how their green program, that was announced today, will play out for the normal everyday MSP.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for everyone to be more responsiable about their power consumption around the globe, and in data centers this makes a lot of sense, heck there is just as big a cost factor for a data center as there is a desire to save the planet. What I don’t see so far is anything more than a pitch for you and I to buy Intel products so that we can say we are green.

I look forward to seeing the list of requriements to meet the standard of the green program and am intersted what others are doing along the same lines.

JC

This is interesting stuff.  HaaS has a ton of potential but has been stuck in the mud for a long time because it is too complicated/frustrating to find the right financing partners.  It looks like MSPAlliance has taken a big step in solving this problem by partnering with Varilease to create a program specifically for MSPs.

Others are doing this as well, most notably MSP On Demand.

An interesting conversation is taking place on this subject over at MSPMentor…check it out here.

MRC

Mike and Joe met at the MSP Alliance conference in Boston a few weeks back and sat down to talk about Everon and what we are up to this year.

http://www.mspmentor.net/2008/05/19/mspmentor-podcast-may-19-2008/

Text from the msp mentor site:

• Episode #: 006 (May 19, 2008)
• Featured Guest: Mike Cooch, CEO, Everon Technology Services LLC, a regional solution provider that has transformed itself into a national MSP.
• Topics Covered: Key themes and trends Cooch expects to hear at the MSPAlliance’s Managed Services Summit near Boston; how to transform from a local break-fix VAR into a national MSP that has regional support partners; melding software as a service and hosting services with your MSP solutions; the economy.

Let us know if there is anything from the interview that would be valuable to dig into in more detail and we will do our best in future posts.

JC

I hope to see you there!

I take the stage at 250pm ET, and I’ll be around for a while before and after.  I hope to connect with some of our readers in person.

MRC

This was the questions Charles Weaver asked in his recent post on the MSPAlliance blog.

My answer: No.

No industry is totally immune to a recession.  That being said, I think managed service providers are in much better shape in a recession than most businesses are.  Why?  A few reasons:

1. First and foremost, if your technology stops working at your business, you have no choice but to get it fixed if you want to remain competitive.  It’s kind of like running a restaurant with a backed up toilet…no can do.  You have to get that toilet fixed no matter how bad the economy is or people are going to stop coming to your restaurant and your done!
2. When the economoy goes south and people get more cautious, they would much rather outsource to a vendor than hire a full-time person to do a job.  Why?  It’s easier to fire a vendor than it is to let a full-time person go.
3. We have so many potential customers and most of us are still so small, that if we work hard enough we can find new customers in almost any economy.

We’re still not sure we’re even in a recession at this point, so make sure not to let yourself use it as an excuse for lack of growth!

MRC