Canadian Services Community Receives Optimistic Outlook

MSPs, VARs, vendors and other service providers converged in Toronto this morning for a meeting of the IT Services and Support Executive Forum. Excitement among the attendees was very high, with many expressing optimism at 2010 business and revenue prospects.

This economic confidence was supported by the keynote presenter, Sebastien Ruest, Vice President of IDC Services and Technology Research. His discussion, From Virtualization to Cloud: Dealing with the Changing Economics of IT focused on the history and potential of the business economy, as well as opportunities that exist for technology in challenging times.

While the international and Canadian economies show signs of improvement, Ruest cautioned that both are still in a period of uncertainty. In the IT services industry, providers need to help CIOs shift their attitudes towards managed services and cloud offerings. The term “outsourcing” may not be well received by some clients with an IT staff on premise, but by presenting these technologies and services to the same executives in a collaborative or support approach, it could get your foot in the door. Then you have a chance to show them additional ways to conserve their resources while improving their business performance.

Ruest discussed the socio-technological changes that are forcing IT executives to look to external organizations to help them meet rapidly changing IT and Business challenges. Server virtualization is one area where external service providers can support customers. It takes a specific skill and knowledge that an internal IT staff may not have (or that providers can do for less cost than training company employees).  Virtualization can lower the costs of server management, but also desktop and email services as well. Building these complex technology capabilities with their own employees isn’t in the best interest of many small to mid-size companies, creating large opportunities for IT service providers.

Another area of opportunity is to create a hybrid service model- work with Amazon, Oracle, Google and other vendors to deliver the cloud services. The larger companies typically target enterprise companies, while they need partners to deliver support and programs to small to mid-size businesses.  CIOs are familiar with larger vendors for cloud services, providing confidence in your abilities and service. These vendors are developing robust partner programs that not only provide good margins, but also the training to grow an IT service company’s business and technology skills. The investment from the provider is small, but the new business revenue potential is substantial.

Either way, Ruest emphasized that the economic trends are promising and, along with the emerging services offerings, 2010 could be strong for many players in the IT community. More great industry discussions will be covered today at the IT Services and Support Executive Forum meeting !