Lessons Learned from London

Last Friday's Managed Services Summit in London was a great event and I think the beginning of a very strong movement into Europe and abroad. One of the things that struck me was the universality of the managed services professional community.

Many of the members were from the UK (with a few from France, Ireland, and other regions). Despite this diversity of background, many of the views expressed by the MSPs were nearly identical to those in the United States and Canada. Many of the MSPs talked about the same difficulties in dealing with clients that their North American counterparts do. One of the similarities that I was particularly happy to hear was the overall optimism the UK and European members felt about managed services, even in the wake of our current economic problems. Despite the softening of product and large project revenue projections, most of the MSPs stated that their managed services led revenues were in fact increasing. This methodology of leading first with managed services, not surprisingly, has the tendency to increase the chance of other hardware and project services. Yet again, another trend that has been proven as true in other parts of the globe.

Legitimacy was another concern of the MSPs at the event. While the notion of managed services has already taken hold throughout the IT channel here, the end-user is still in need of education and reassurance when it comes to handing over their IT management to a MSP. At the conference we announced the first ever MSP from Ireland to pass the MSAP exam. This continued growth of the MSAP exam throughout the world will help spread the legitimacy of the managed services profession.

One of the happiest moments for me was having a new MSP say how thankful he was that the MSPAlliance held an event where he and his peers could exchange ideas and strengthen bonds between colleagues. To the UK and European MSPs I say, continue the great work you have begun!