As I am sure most of you have seen by now Zenith has made public their new data center as a service (DaaS), Box Office, and Data Center in a Rack (DCIR) offerings over the past few weeks.

So what’s the big deal? Great question and one that I think many MSPs as well as some of the big dogs such as Microsoft, Dell, Rackspace, and the Planet will soon be asking themselves.

At the most basic level the new technology uses shared hardware and storage components to run virtual servers across the resources creating built in redundancy, backups, scalability, and speeds close to that of operating on bare metal. All of this is done through a drag and drop Visio like interface that allows you to map out a network in minutes that is automatically built and provisioned on the back end.

The difference between the products is simple at this point:

DaaS is hosted by Zenith in their data centers and you can resell it to your end customers branded as your product.

DCIR is hosted in your data center and give you a bit more flexibility with direct connections for clients such as MPLS or point to point lines.

Box Office is installed at the customer site and is smart client capable.

Sound too good to be true? I sure thought so but I can tell you after testing their beta product and getting a chance to see under the hood it is for real and it is a game changer.

HP released its Single Box Networking earlier this month and if you thought that had potential this Zenith offering blows is away.

I don’t expect anyone to have the answers yet but a question we are asking is how does this product, and others that will follow, change our business?

Overnight we can compete with the data centers that have spend countless dollars building out their infrastructure and even have an advantage as they take time to strip away the inherent cost built into their model, but is that the best move.

Immediately we will be able to provide a higher level of service to our customers with reduced management costs creating better margins in our business, but will they care.

We think this technology and technologies like it will level the technology playing field for small businesses, simplify everything and put a large portion of people in our industry out of business. Technology will become about driving business efficiencies and productivity rather than working about the plumbing of the business.

The key to survival in our mind as this change takes place is sales and marketing. Create a strong brand, be the trusted adviser for the client, and control where their dollars are spent in this new world. I know this doesn’t sound much different than the Managed Service pitch but the major difference is that you will not be pitching IT service and support you will need a product that speaks to a business owners needs in order to get through the door. All of the plumbing will be taken care of with a Box Office.

We are working to figure out what these products are and will be over the coming quarter and would love to get input from the community weather you have seen the new Zenith products or not.

The first example of this new type of product that is higher up the stack is Everon Integrated Web Services

This new service allows us to have a completely different conversation with a business owner; “let me work with you to drive leads and ultimately revenue to your business Mr client, I am going to help you find your next customer with my service and I will also take care of all the plumbing that things need to run on.” That sure changes the conversation from what it was a year ago; “We can more effectively manage and maintain your IT infrastructure while providing your strategic advice on where to spend your IT dollars.”

Who would you rather talk to?

JC

Hurray!  Somebody outside of our industry – a major publication for small businesses at that – is starting to use the language Managed Service Provider! 

This is a big deal.

For those of you that don’t understand why, please see my previous post on my conversation with Rackspace Chairman Graham Weston:

http://smbitpros.com/2008/02/29/msp-or-var-the-words-we-use-are-important/

Inc. magazine has a ton of credibility with the market of customers we are targeting every day, so having them start to use this language and discuss our model’s benefits is great for our industry.  If they and others keep this up, our industry language will finally start to make its way into the vocabulary of most business owners, making it that much easier to market our services.

I couldn’t find the article on their website yet, but it’s in the May 2008 issue and is titled Clip Here and Save Big: How to Trim Your IT Budget Without Making Sacrifices.

MRC

“People first, technology second.”

It’s one of the most used phrases at Everon, and I think it’s the foundation for the success we’ve had as a managed service provider to date. 

“But I’m in the technology business”, you say. “Why is this important for me?”

Two realities:

Reality #1: You aren’t in the technology business, you are in the service business.  The fact that your service is largely centered around or based on technology doesn’t change the fact that it’s people on the receiving end of what you deliver.

Reality #2: The majority of your services are still delivered and supported by people.  It’s the interactions your clients have with these people when it’s necessary that determines the winners and losers in our marketplace.

For a good example of these realities in action, take a look at Rackspace.  Rackspace is an “IT Hosting Company” (they recently started using that language – will others follow?); they offer hosted/managed servers, email, and other common IT functions.  What makes them any different from the hundreds or thousands of other companies that do the same?

Their dedication to what they call “Fanatical Support”.  It’s what allows them to charge more and grow faster than just abound anyone in their industry.  That’s a nice combination.

Now what do you suppose is behind that fanatical service they provide?   Hmmmmm?  That’s right…people.

And who do you think those people are taking care of each day?  That’s right…more people!

Yes, I’m being a smart-ass.  But I see so many people and companies in our industry focused on the latest and greatest technology tool, thinking that it’s going to win them all of the new business they can handle.  Well guess what?  All of your competitors have access to that tool as well.  The only way you are going to stand out is by the quality of people you have on your team and the level of service they provide to your customers.

People first, technology second.

MRC