The seven teams were made up of a mix of customers and sponsors giving everyone involved the perfect opportunity to get to know each other while delving into the topics to be discussed each day. But of course this wasn’t just an excuse to have a good ol’ chinwag, as points would be awarded each day for the best contribution to the group discussion that evening.

As well as this each team was also awarded points based on how well they performed with the tricky challenges set for them along the way. These included submitting a picture of MAX ‘on tour’, finding an MSP on route (and of course getting a picture with the CTO as proof) and getting the best picture of someone (not in the team) reading IT Business or CRN.

So after a great deal of discussion, some fast driving and a lot of fun the winners were finally announced… and here they are:

As well as the great accolade of winning the first ever acmeo Systemhaus Rally each of the overall winners were also awarded a bottle of Champagne and a winner’s Trophy to take away with them.

All in all everyone agreed the rally was a huge success with everyone involved making the most of the opportunity to connect with others in the industry, see some amazing sights and of course drive some fast cars! Gerald Gruh, managing director of PDV-Systeme Sachsen summed things up perfectly:

“The rally exceeded my expectations. This was partly due to the fact that the participants were a really good match. Being able to receive points for daily tasks and discussions in addition to the driving was a great idea…The organisers got the combination of fun tasks and networking absolutely right. I was able to make great new contacts”

Rally organizer Henning Meyer said of the event:

“As organizer of the event I can only say that it has been far better than I could have ever imagined. I am overwhelmed by the creativity and team spirit everyone showed during the daily tasks and as the participants were so open we managed to have great discussions and conversations…that’s what we wanted to achieve.”

It’s safe to say that this event was a resounding success for all involved and we at GFI MAX can only hope it’s the start of many more to come!

To start off our series we’re going to take a look at how providing Workstation Management as part of your managed service offering can help you to tie in break/fix customers, generate recurring revenue and continue to drive growth.

Workstation Management:

Workstation Management is a great starting point when transitioning clients from Break/Fix to MSP.  The reason being, more and more companies are coming to realize that servers aren’t the only machines within their infrastructure which are important; in fact some of their workstations are actually critical to the running of their business.

If your client is an online retailer, chances are a lot of their mission critical activities – stock control and billing for example – will require workstations to be operational in order to run efficiently. If a work station goes down it will slow down the service, if all workstations go down then they simply won’t be able to sell to their clients.

Here is a great opportunity for you to offer your clients a service which will protect these vital machines at a low monthly cost. This service can include all or one of the following things – Workstation Monitoring, Workstation Maintenance and Work Station Support.

Workstation Monitoring:

The easiest place to start is with Workstation Monitoring as it is the easiest service to sell to your clients. With Workstation Monitoring you would simply assess the overall status and health of each workstation and then monitor to spot any issues which could go on to cause bigger problems.

The checks you could carry out and report on could include; Asset and Inventory tracking – to identify when hardware and software needs to be up dated, Antivirus Update checks – to ensure workstations are protected from viruses and malware, and Drive Space Changes – to alert you when Drive Space is being rapidly consumed.

By alerting clients to these small issues you can even find areas where you can upsell.

Workstation Maintenance:

As Workstations are becoming increasingly important in the daily running of businesses, you can also upsell maintenance services to help ensure your client’s machines will be not only functioning but also running efficiently at all times.

By automating recurring and essential maintenance tasks on your client’s workstations you can save yourself time as well as ensuring that their machines are always ready to use – reducing the amount of downtime which occurs for scheduled maintenance.

With Workstation Maintenance you can automatically update Anti-Virus software when you are alerted that an upgrade is due -to ensure machines are always protected from attacks, automate routine task such as defragmentation or file clear up – to save maintenance time and set up automatic reports – to show your client that you are on top of maintaining their network.

Workstation Support:

Finally, part of managing Workstations for your client’s should be offering support in the event that issues do occur – what good is all this monitoring and automated maintenance if there is no one offering user support to fix issues which may still arise.

With a RemoteManagement tool like GFI MAX you can not only carry out all of your Workstation checks and maintenance tasks from the one dashboard, you can even make use of the Take Control feature to determine if a workstation on your client’s network is accessible. As well as this you can then remotely take control of that machine to provide user support quickly with no traveling to site needed!

By offering all three of these services you can ensure that your client’s minds will be at ease knowing their workstations are protected from all angles and you can do all this from one place with minimal set-up required.

Additionally the GFI MAX building blocks program is available to all GFI MAX customers and will help you to understand the steps you can take to sell Workstation Management to your clients. You’ll even find all the marketing materials you could need to get you started.

If you’d like to find out more about how RemoteManagement can help you as your transition to Managed Services, why not head over to GFI MAX and sign up for a free trial.

The challenge began yesterday when GFI MAX™ and acmeo, along with a number of eager teams, jumped behind the wheel for a networking event with a difference!

GFI MAX are delighted to not only be sponsoring this amazing rally but also taking part – giving our team a welcome opportunity to bond with one of our long valued Partners as well as the chance to meet with others in the industry. We can’t wait to talk about the things that matter and of course to show just what MAX is made of as we tackle the tricky challenges set for each stage of the adventure!

Passing through Germany, Poland, Russia, Latvia, Estonia and Finland the teams will be covering 2,500km to complete the 8 day challenge – and of course enjoying the amazing culture and scenery of Europe along the way.

Follow us on Twitter #maxontour and LinkedIn as we take on the acmeo Rally challenge and don’t forget to cheer us on!

Learn about GFI MAX and/or sign up for a free trial today!

This webcast will introduce you to the exciting new product from GFI MAX and the next big thing in Backup! Register now to learn how you can harness the speed and security of the cloud to grow your business, tie in customers and earn increasing revenues.

This is one webcast you can’t afford to miss!

Webcast: Harness the Speed and Security of the Cloud!

Date: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT

Register now

And if you’re still looking for reasons why this webcast is not to be missed maybe these will help:

-          Get an introduction to the new MSP service

-          Find out how it fits with existing services

-          Learn why Disk-to-Disk-to-Cloud (D2D2C) is the way to go

-          Discover how MSPs will make money from this service

-          Find out more about additional free services to help you sell Backup!

What more could you need?

To find out how you can earn extra revenue with the latest product from GFI MAX all you have to do is register now!

So what’s the big deal?

Well first of all let’s look at what exactly Big Data is.

As you’d probably expect, Big Data is a term used to describe a large amount of data, but more specifically it is referring to the abundance of information now available about essentially anyone and anything that has ever been near a computer.

When people talk about Big Data what we’re really talking about is all the infinite amounts of digital information that is constantly building up as more and more people across the globe continue to engage with digital technologies. This information can come from anywhere and everywhere. Digital photos and videos, posts on social media, customer purchases and transactions, medical databases, stocks and shares, search results, downloads, uploads… the list is endless and it’s all digital data.

When you think about it that way it does seem like quite a big deal.  There’s gazillions of digital information out there and it’s never going to stop getting bigger. Realistically though, it is still just data, yes it is going to take some mighty machines to deal with it all but at the end of the day it’s no different than any other data. There’s just a lot of it. And the IT industry has been dealing with large amounts of digital data for a lot longer than most.

So you could be forgiven for wondering why everyone is getting their collective knickers in a twist over it.

Should we care?

Well when it comes to MSPs and big data, what we are talking about here is the vast volumes of information passing through all the various networks, servers and applications that MSPs manage; this understandably is an ever increasing amount of data. The way I see it though, the big question shouldn’t be “how are MSPs going to cope with all this data?” but more importantly “what can we as MSPs do with all this data?”

Yes of course there are going to be some issues… traditional systems are just not going to cope with analyzing this ever growing amount of information, but this is an issue that will no doubt be resolved quite simply because it has to be; that is how technology continually develops.

The main thing to remember here is that, as an MSP, with your inherent knowledge of data handling you are already at an advantage over other businesses who are just now realizing the potential of all this lovely digital information.

It seems to me that instead of worrying about just how BIG data is becoming, you simply need to remember that it is there and to use it to your advantage.

First off, be sure that you are not only aware of the data available about your clients, networks and IT services but you are also doing your best to analyze it. This can help you gain invaluable insights into ways you can develop and improve your MSP offering. Obviously this will become easier and offer more comprehensive results as processes develop but by starting now you can ensure it is built into the ongoing development of your MSP.

Consider how the networks you support are being used; where cost and efficiency savings might be made, and how this can show extra added value to your clients.  Do they have bottlenecks in networks, underused elements on their overall IT system?  Can you help them improve and cement your trusted partner status?

Handling Big Data for your clients

Secondly, don’t forget your clients will have data flying around their own networks too – this will need to be looked after, especially in data critical organizations such as medical, legal or government.  You need to be able to provide a service to your clients that they can trust and rely upon.

We recommend a three tier backup process for all managed networks – disk > disk > online.  This provides the highest level of security and continuity. The scenario where the latest backup tape has been lost is one that occurs frequently; by changing this to utilize the cloud to provide backup and continuity services you have a foolproof method to ensure your clients can recover any data from any situation.

As well as handling big data for your clients, why not think about ways you can use your expertise to inform and advise your clients as they themselves become aware of the big data trend?

You could help them to understand the importance of the data they have at their disposal, make recommendations as to how they can best utilize this information and demonstrate the benefits gained from analyzing their own services and client base; all putting them at an advantage over others in their industry. Having the ability to help your clients in this way will not only demonstrate and reaffirm your expertise in the IT industry but also strengthen your client relationships. You may also find that you can monetize on this expert knowledge!

What it comes down to…

In the end it’s simple. Any MSP worth their salt is going to be keeping up to date with advances in technology and developments within the industry they operate; thinking about the impact of big data – and the opportunity – should be part of this process.

My advice? Keep it in mind, pay attention to what’s going on, utilize it to improve your service but at the end of the day remember…it’s just data!

Significant changes, most notably Microsoft’s announcement that there will be no further development of Small Business Server (upsetting news for many MSPs for whom SBS has been essential over the years), are paving the way for a new kind of MSP. An MSP which is proactive when it comes to continuing developments in the industry, one that has the ability to adapt to ever changing client needs.

It’s no longer the case that all clients will be running traditional computer systems, as mobile devices become ever popular and cloud services begin to dominate, Windows will soon lose its position as the prevailing platform. MSPs will need to respond if they are to continue to offer their clients a reliable service as well as added protection against the ever increasing security threats these changes bring with them. This is why GFI MAX will soon be offering Mobile Device Management; to enable its customers to proactively manage these changes.

It’s clear that the time has come for MSPs to consider new products, to not only keep up to date with but more importantly be instrumental in developments within the industry and to continually adapt their portfolio of services if they stand any chance of succeeding in today’s business environment. In other words it’s time for MSPs to become Agile.

If you would like to learn how your business can adapt to these changes, check in at MSP insights over the coming months as we take a look at how to become an Agile MSP.

If you would like to find out more sooner why not head over to GFI MAX and sign up for a free trial to find out how GFI MAX can help you.

To begin with I’d like to start by making it clear that there isn’t necessarily anything “wrong” with break/fix and to a certain extent the idea of waiting for something to be broken and then fixing it makes perfect sense. For the most part it is easy to sell; if something is broken it needs fixing, it’s that simple. However the problem with break/fix arises when you want to take your SMB, happily working away fixing problems as and when they occur, and make it grow. How exactly do you scale a service that you can’t predict?

The truth of the matter is there is only one way to scale a reactionary business model like this; hiring more staff. You need to do this to ensure you have enough hands on deck if your entire customer base suddenly needs “fixing” at the same time. This in turn leads to larger premises, more visits to site and essentially higher costs.
But what if none of your customers need fixing? Then what happens? You need to pay all the staff you have on hand.

This is where the MSP business model comes into play. As an MSP it’s your job to be pro-active; rather than waiting for something to break and rushing to the rescue, you simply keep an eye on things and tackle possible breakages before they arise. (For a retained monthly fee of course).

This model is far easier to predict; if you know that you have X number of clients paying $X a month for you to keep their IT services running at optimum, then you can begin to assess your business requirements. This will make your business much more sustainable and far easier to scale.

On the surface making the switch from break/fix to MSP is easy. You simply install your RemoteManagement software on to the devices to be monitored, set up checks and reports and you are ready to go. The most difficult thing about is going to come when you have to explain to your clients why they should start paying you monthly and up front instead of only paying when it is needed. The last thing you want is to lose all your existing customers. For this reason it is important to help them grasp the benefits of a service designed to actually protect their computer systems rather than just patching them up.

This is where GFI MAX can help. The GFI MAX Building Blocks Program aims to help you sell your new services to your customers in a way that is easy to understand. The program is available to all GFI MAX customers and comes complete with everything you could need to market your service; including sample sales materials, implementation guides and presentations.

With Building blocks you can introduce your new approach to your existing customers with a slow step-by-step transition, starting with a small affordable service and gradually building up to a full managed service approach. Once you have your existing customers on board you’ll be well on your way to taking your SMB and becoming a full scale MSP.

Want to learn more about this product? Check out GFI MAX and register for a free trial.