Managed Services - Channel Insider
Empowering the next generation Channel

8 Books for Managed Services Success
By Ericka Chickowski on 2010-06-15



With margins on hardware and software growing ever slimmer, smart channel partners have been looking for ways to transition from traditional reseller and break-fix roles into managed service providers. Channel Insider takes a look at some useful books that VARs can read to help jump-start their managed services efforts.
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Foundations of Service Level Management by Rick Sturm and Wayne Morris SamsApril 2000Though a fair amount of the content in this primer is directed toward maintaining internal service levels, it also dedicates plenty of information to service providers looking to maintain SLAs.

Service Agreements for SMB Consultants—A Quick Start Guide for Managed Services by Karl W. PalachukGreat Little Book PublishingJuly 2006A great book to those smaller partners who may be transitioning to managed services and are used to closing deals with a handshake and a promise, this one will help get the paperwork underway.

How To Setup A Managed Services Business In 2009 by Dev AnandCreateSpaceApril 2009Sure, it may now be 2010, but this beginner's tome still remains relevant with the considerations necessary to get your services business rolling.

Professional Services Marketing: How the Best Firms Build Premier Brands, Thriving Lead Generation Engines, and Cultures of Business Development Success by Mike Schultz and John Doerr WileyJuly 2009A generalized text spanning across numerous types of professional services, this research-driven book offers insight into how the typical customer buys services and what the best companies do to attract that business.

SLAM: Service Level Agreement Model: SLAM Your Managed Services Revenue by Mathew Dickerson BookSurge PublishingMay 2008Written by the owner of an award-winning services firm, this how-to provides a modular means for building a business based on recurring revenue services.

A Guide to MARKETING Managed Services—faster, easier & for greater profit by Matt Makowicz Lincoln PressJuly 2008Once you've got your managed services business fleshed out, you'll need to get out there and sell. This tome offers pointers on how to maximize your marketing efficiency.

The Art of Managed Services by Charles Weaver MSPAlliance PressMay 2007A ground-level overview of the managed services market, this book is a good starter for VARs and other partners who want to know what all this talk about managed services really means.

Winning the Professional Services Sale: Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity by Michael W. McLaughlin WileyJuly 2009Another general-minded services book that could prove useful to managed services sales professionals looking to brush up on the pitch necessary to drive recurring revenue.

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