MSP University Managed Services Blog

Microsoft Live Managed Services TS2 Event Redux

We'll be reprising our role at the last 2 SoCal TS2 events, and delivering the Managed Services portion of the September  25th and 27th TS2 events in San Francisco and Irvine, California. We hope to see you there!

Here's an abstract of the events:

Event Overview

As you know, today’s business environment is more dependent on technology than ever before. And, as technology partners who support your customers’ business goals, you want to help them implement the proper technology from the get-go. But what happens after the initial sale? Does your business model reflect the ongoing needs of your customers?

Join Microsoft TS2 for an in-depth discussion about the potential business opportunities in Managed Services and the support tools we offer. Learn how you can beef up your management offerings with the new System Center Essentials 2007, Forefront Client Security, and Exchange Hosted Services. Find out how to build a reoccurring revenue model around security management using tools such as the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer, Microsoft Software Inventory Analyzer, and Windows Server Update Services. And, like previous TS2 events, learn how to better engage new prospects with Microsoft resources, using programs such as Windows Genuine Advantage, Competitive Sales Assistance, and the Ready to Go Campaigns.

For the latest TS2 blogs, team introductions, and latest partner information, visit the TS2 Events Webpage.

Make a full day of it!*

On the same day as the TS2 Event, Microsoft Across America is hosting several other informative and complimentary events. Whether your company works with small businesses, developers, or IT professionals, there is an event that will spark your interest. For details about the Microsoft Across America Events taking place in your location, click here.

www.mspu.us

Intel Channel Conference 2007

We'll be a Gold Sponsor at 10 cities for Intel's Channel Conference 2007, delivering our Managed Services methodologies during 2 presentations at each event. Bringing together thousands of attendees interested in learning about new technology, the ICC is Intel's main training event for its Partners.

The cities we will be in attendance at, and sponsoring are:

Minneapolis, MN  9/11
Tampa, FL  9/13
Washington, D.C. 9/17
City of Industry, CA 9/18
Columbus, OH  9/18
Irvine, CA  9/21
Boston, MA  9/24
Newark, NJ  9/26
Dallas, TX  9/28
Long Island, NY  10/2

We look forward to seeing you there!

www.mspu.us

New book now available for Pre-Order!

We've just announced immediate Pre-Order availability of our new book:

The Best I.T. Sales & Marketing BOOK EVER!

In our new book, the next in our series, we focus squarely on one of the most challenging aspects of running a successful I.T. service business: creating, managing and growing a successful Sales and Marketing program - and we cover this challenging topic head-on.

Beginning with an in-depth discussion of all of the preliminary activity that needs to be thought-through and completed before a Service Provider can even begin to develop a marketing strategy; this valuable resource documents a step-by-step process that walks you through every topic necessary in order to realize a fully-executed, successful Sales and Marketing process.

This book will reveal how to successfully sell and market your I.T. solutions and become a Trusted Advisor to your clients. These methodologies have helped hundreds of our Managed Services Partners, Live Workshop, Boot Camp and Webinar Attendees tremendously increase their revenues.

The included CD ROM is chock full of brand-new tools, forms and collateral, including Video Training on each aspect of a Client engagement - from 1st appointment all the way through the close. As an added bonus, we've included an I.T. Solutions Provider and Managed Services website design worth over $5,000!

Save $50.00 immediately - please click here for more information, and to browse the table of contents.

Microsoft TS2 Managed Services Events

I helped Sharjeel Noor from Microsoft's TS2 team conduct a Managed Services-focused in the field event in San Diego yesterday. In addition to covering Managed Services from an introductory overview (I wove in some of our standard MSP University training slides into this presentation), additional topics covered were Microsoft System Center Essentials, Forefront Client Security, Windows Vista Group Policies and Exchange Hosted Services.

I really got the audience keyed up when Sharjeel asked me to talk a bit about Microsoft Financing, and how easy it is to leverage this powerful tool to help close deals (www.microsoftfinancing.com).

The Microsoft TS2 team is giving  away a free copy of our first book: "The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice" at each of 45 stops on this tour, and are featuring a link to purchase it for 20% off during these events.

I'll be presenting again at thet event in Los Angeles tomorrow (sign up here: http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/EventDetail.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032344513).

I'll also be at the San Francisco and Irvine events on September 25th and 27th. Sign up here: http://www.ts2seminars.com/.

www.mspu.us

Haas and the Magic Formula

Well, we finally did it - I was able to hornswaggle our good friend Karl Palachuk into helping me conduct a webinar on HaaS - Hardware as a Service. Karl has gotten this HaaS thing figured out - he's come a long way from the breakfast meeting we shared a few months ago at SMBNation East in Islandia.

Talk about things happening for a reason...I wasn't even going to go to this Event, as it was advertised  primarily as an SBSC exam-cram and test-out (I got my SBSC early last year), but Karl had scheduled a pre-day event launching his new book: Relax Focus Succeed (get it at www.greatlittlebook.com), and offered me the opportunity to tag-team with him. It was an offer I couldn't easily refuse...Karl after dark is a lot of fun, so I figured we'd work hard, sell some books, brainstorm on our businesses and have a little fun in between.

The last day we were there, Karl and I began discussing HaaS and what we knew about it, done (or not done) with it, and started (literally!) doodling on napkins. What a great impromptu brainstorming session that almost never happened! Well, to make a long story short, we both got back to our real jobs, and worked our individual connections with Vendors such as Microsoft Financing and others to see if the beginnings of the diabolical plans we had discussed held any promise.

If you haven't engaged Microsoft Financing in your Service Delivery, you're missing the boat BIG TIME. A simple one-page application online for your clients, and you could be selling more solutions much easier than you ever thought possible. Check out www.microsoftfinancing.com and get signed up.

Anyway, to make a long blog post short, Karl took all feedback and input, put it into his meat grinder, and has come up with the definitive "How-To-Do-HaaS". In addition to the Webinar we did (it's viewable up on www.mspu.us/Courses.htm for FREE after registering), Karl has created a Haas Toolkit. You can get it at www.greatlittlebook.com/HaaS/.   I suggest you pick it up right after watching the Webinar - I did.