No Sign of Letup for MSP Platform Round Robin - The Complexity Issue (
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That's why, Sandiford adds, Level Platforms has put a lot of effort into the
latest release of its platform. "We have spent the last year basically
reengineering our product for unlimited scalability, high performance and ease
of use," he says.
"It's a difficult product to get right," says Labandibar, "and
vendors set expectations that ultimately the product doesn't live up to."
Clinton Gatewood, vice president of corporate development at Zenith, says he
believes complexity explains some of the switching that has taken place between
managed services platforms. Add complexity to the issue of profitability,
Gatewood says, and you start to understand the challenges MSPs face when they
choose a platform.
Many solution providers invest in a platform thinking that it will suffice
in building a managed services model. It's what Gatewood describes as the "field
of dreams" managed services syndrome: "Build it and they will come."
But then it turns out that the least important piece of building a managed
services business is the platform, he says. "The real cost in providing a
managed service is process creation, process change management, implementation,
consistent and diligent application of processes, and manpower."
In the past, Gatewood adds, solution providers could address client needs
simply by adding technology.
"A provider would simply have to learn how to install the application
or hardware and not necessarily concentrate on managing the solution," Gatewood
says. "The risk was assumed by the client and not the provider. Now, in
managed services, the provider assumes the risk. The responsibility of the
provider no longer ends once a piece of hardware is installed or an application
is set up and configured."
Partner round robin
Managed services platform vendors have come to expect churn in their partner
ranks. The platform round robin shows no sign of ending any time soon, and
vendors know that even if it slows, it may be a temporary respite. There is
always a chance that a new player will jump into the market and shake things
up, as Zenith did.
"As new products come on the market with better and more advanced
capabilities, it makes sense to make the switch," says Heartland's Cage.
Rory Sanchez, president of South Florida solution provider SL Powers, says his company was
using Kaseya when he decided to add Zenith because of the vendor's virtual NOC
service, which takes some of the day-to-day monitoring out of the hands of the
provider partners.
"At first Zenith was not a complete replacement for the Kaseya tool.
Kaseya was faster and more efficient at remote control but the Zenith tools
quickly caught up," Sanchez recalls.
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