CompTIA Launches Web Site for Managed Services Market
<strong>Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Feb. 28</strong><br />The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), an IT trade association, launched a new Web site targeted toward the growing market for managed technology services.<br /><br />FocusOnMSP is a comprehensive resource for providers of managed services, manufacturers of products for the managed services market and customers investing in managed services.<br /><br />A 2007 CompTIA survey of more than 300 users of managed services found that a majority intended to increase their spending on managed services during the next 12 months. A corresponding survey of nearly 200 managed service providers found that nearly 60 percent expected the industry’s revenues to increase during the next year.<br /><br />But favorable forecasts of growth are somewhat tempered by the challenges companies face in developing a successful managed services business. FocusOnMSP is designed to help them address many of these issues. <br /><br />For example, one of the biggest obstacles that providers of managed services face is convincing customers that they will realize a positive return on their investment. <br /><br />“The nature of managed services is such that they are often delivered remotely, or during off-peak business hours, making customers much less likely to see acts of service delivery,” said Laurel Chivari, vice president of marketing and communications at CompTIA. “When it’s out of sight and out of mind, the perceived value of the services being delivered may be harder to establish and maintain over time.”<br /><br />To help provider address this issue, CompTIA and Kotler Marketing Group of Washington, D.C., a consulting firm specializing in value-based selling, have developed the CompTIA Managed Services ROI Tool. This online calculator sales tool covers many common managed services and generates a downloadable output report suitable for presentation to customers. It is available at http://www.focusonmsp.com/roi_calculator/.<br /><br />Among other features of FocusOnMSP:<br /><br /><ul><li>Access to major industry news and research.</li><li>Online forums.</li><li>Managed services vendor directory.</li><li>Case studies, success stories and other articles on how to run a managed services business.</li></ul>
