Cloud Technology Articles

Ahh, Winter… That Dreaded Swear Word. It Always Seems to Last Forever, Doesn’t It? Fortunately, The Cloud Can Make Winter Just a Bit Less Painful – Here’s How. When we’re younger, winter is a blast – giving us the opportunity to play in the snow – making forts, snow angels, and overall, having a great time. As we grow older, winter’s charm starts to fade away. Why? There’s one simple reason: Winter gets in the way of EVERYTHING. In our personal and professional lives, winter can leave us stranded at home more often than we’d like. We start itching for spring to make an appearance again.

Jeanne DeWitt, Senior Vice President at CPU, Inc. is back with another common question from MSPs. Many MSPs ask us the same question: “How do I make money selling cloud services?”

Cloud services for MSPs aren’t all created equal. If it’s not managed properly, the cloud can quickly go bad – or even ugly. Do you know how? Since its introduction to the business world, the cloud has quickly established itself as one of the most integral technologies in modern society. In the private and professional worlds, the cloud has delivered a range of benefits, both in the form of direct consumer products, and cloud services for MSPs. That’s why you hear so much about it – but you likely only hear about its good qualities, right?

Your cloud migrations don’t have to be difficult. There are some great tools you can use for planning, discovery, and tracking along the way. You can use them to create an inventory, develop a migration roadmap, implement migration readiness, plan for the workloads and data, and measure the success of your migration. It’s essential that you consider your unique situation before selecting a cloud migration tool.

As MSPs enter the cloud building arena, they must understand the technical underpinnings and obstacles that stand in the way. These are just a few of the things to consider before building a cloud. Want to build your own cloud service? Think again. Cloud computing saves money for consumers and businesses, but when it comes to Managed Service Providers (MSPs) who try to build their own cloud, this isn’t so. Why is this?

Everyone seems to be selling the Cloud, including IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs). That’s because they want an increasing part of the cloud market. After all, as Gartner says, “By 2020, a corporate “No Cloud” policy will be as rare as a “No Internet” policy is today.” But, with everyone jumping into the cloud marketing space, how do you differentiate your MSP from others selling the Cloud? In today’s highly competitive cloud industry, selling services isn’t enough to bring the business you’re looking for. You must find a way to promote how you go the extra mile for your cloud customers.

As a technology solutions provider, you absolutely need to offer cloud services. Why? Because by the year 2020, it’s estimated that nearly one-quarter of all IT spending will be budgeted for the Cloud. And while IT spending is on the rise, the spending on cloud infrastructures is climbing even faster. This means that your potential to capture revenue from selling cloud services is growing! Think about it… Although you might earn $500 to $1,000 by selling a physical server, that’s where your revenue stream ends or at least takes a big downward dive. When you sell the Cloud to your customers, you create an ongoing revenue stream. As long as you keep providing excellent service to your customers, they’ll continue to depend on you for all their technology needs.

I frequently get asked this question. First, the big thing to realize is that the Cloud isn’t going away. It’s no longer a question of whether or not your clients are going to move to the Cloud, but rather when.

Too many managed service providers aren’t taking advantage of the revenue that could be generated by selling cloud services to their customers. Although most are at least selling Microsoft Office 365 to their client-base, there’s so much more to the Cloud than that. We’ve provided a few tips below to help you sell the Cloud to your customers.

One thing that’s true across the board is that business owners and managed service provider want to get the most for their technology investment. We all need to curb costs while still taking advantage of the latest breakthroughs in software and hardware. A few of today’s managed service providers aren’t really selling cloud services to their customers. MSP’s earn a significant portion of their income from monitoring physical servers for the customers. If you sell cloud services to your customers, then won’t that cut off an important revenue stream? The answer is no. Cloud servers require monitoring and maintenance as well. Though they do provide a much higher level of service than physical servers, you can’t simply migrate your client’s data to the cloud and then leave the country, so to speak. Even the cloud does require regular upkeep and supervision.