HP: 50% of Managed Services Market Involves Small Business

hp small business managed services

First, some background from today’s meetings between HP’s channel team and MSPmentor. For the most part, the discussions were upbeat and optimistic. No doubt, HP has a strong, big product portfolio. And HP VARs at this conference seem optimistic.

Now, the challenge: Start quizzing HP channel managers about recurring revenue strategies, SaaS and managed services — and you might get concerned. When I asked about those topics today at the conference, most of the answers I received today were polite realizations that SaaS and managed services exist. But I didn’t hear anyone from HP clearly state how HP partners can generate recurring revenue.

Sure, there were passing mentions to SaaS relationships with USA.net and Microsoft BPOS. But there was nothing “new” here about HP’s overall recurring revenue efforts for partners.

Still, DiFranco gave me reason for hope. During one brief moment in his keynote, DiFranco noted that 50 percent of managed services revenues in the U.S. involve small businesses. Conventional wisdom says the MSP industry mostly involves large enterprises, DiFranco conceded. But he truly emphasized the MSP connection in small business.

Even so, this blog entry is a cliffhanger — an HP MSP story that remains incomplete. DiFranco didn’t offer any details about how HP will help partners address the MSP opportunity. But you can almost sense that answers will arrive soon. I’m sitting down  with DiFranco on April 27, and I’ll keep probing for answers on the MSP front.

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