MSPs: Maintaining Growth During A (Potential) Recession

By Dan Shapero 1

It’s no secret that economic indicators point to a possible US recession in 2008. Financial markets have recently declined, driving key stock indexes to their lowest levels in more than a year. In an economic downturn, some businesses are more vulnerable to recession than others.

When times get tough, people tend to tighten their belts and look for ways to fix or cut expenses and increase revenue. There are a variety of ways that businesses can leverage & better managed their IT assets to accomplish both.

As organizations look for ways to maintain productivity while fixing costs, IT Automation is one of the first areas a business should consider. Using a “managed” approach to IT service delivery leads to exploration of innovative and more cost efficient options such as remote systems management, consistent power policy management, fixed price service agreements, IT out-tasking and energy conservation programs.

Surviving any economic decline also requires maintaining the core lifeline of the business by ensuring pro-active IT management, security, IT governance, regulatory compliance, data protection, timely customer migration and the implementation of best practices.

The Managed Service model is the ideal solution for business of all sizes to meet their budget conscious objectives. In the three economic downturns of the late 1980’s and 1990’s, Solution Providers who were delivering Managed Services to enterprise clients found that these clients outsourced as much or more to them during downturns. Delivering IT management through remote automation provides “more for less”, allowing businesses to focus on their business; increasing revenue, decrease staffing requirements and maintain existing equipment.

By providing IT management service capabilities as a cost-savings, productivity enhancing solution, MSPs and their customers can weather the economic storm and actually grow their business. With the Kaseya IT Automation Framework, MSPs gain significant leverage in meeting the requirements of corporate IT professionals. By automating IT processes, implementing best practices, predicting cash flow and providing consistent customer service levels, even in an a recession, MSP can experience business growth and increased profitability.

Note: Dan Shapero is Senior Vice President, Marketing at Kaseya. Guest blog entries such as this one are contributed on a monthly basis as part of MSPmentor.net’s Platinum sponsorship.