Boosting Revenue eBook

8/11/2019 Boosting Revenue eBook

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6 Ways to ExpandYour Managed

Services Offeringand Boost Revenue


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Recurring revenue is in,and IT service providersthat position themselveas a one-stop shop aresetting themselves up f

protable legacy.By offering your clients all the IT service

need under one roof, youll not only inc

revenues, but youll also improve client

retention. Its time to think bigger by ad

new services to your offering that comp

the managed services you already prov

In this eBook, well introduce you to six

must-have services that will boost your

bottom-line and provide far-reaching

benets to your clients:

1. Managed Security

2. Backup and Disaster Recovery

3. Mobile Device Management

4. Cloud Services

5. Managed Print Services

6. Virtualization

Lets take a closer look.


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Managed

Security

Together, these tools can help wage the war

against IT security breaches:

Antivirus & Anti-malware McAfee catalogsmore than 100,000 new malware samples every

day, which translates to about one new threat every

second.iiThis only reinforces the need for integrated,

real-time protection against zero-day attacks.

One View For All Developing aunied view of all endpoints, including

mobile devices is key. The easiest and

most efcient way to do this is with a

single underlying framework.

Patching Keepingsystems up-to-date

with current patches

is the key to keeping

vulnerabilities at bay.

Security AwarenessTraining Whiletechnology tools can help

with IT security, employee

education plays a major

role as well. Companies

should provide education,

training and enforcepolicies to mitigate human

error. Employees are the

root cause of many data

breaches, with over 78%

of IT security practitioners

saying negligent or

malicious employees

or other insiders were

responsible for at least one

data breach within their

organizations over a two-

year period.i

Email Security A well-designed hosted email security

service can block unwanted email

before it reaches a corporate

network. The service should also

audit outbound mail to help

protect the companys brand and

avoid email disruptions.

6 Ways to Expand Your Managed Services Offering and Boost Revenue LabTech Software

As an IT service provider, youre already a trusted memberof your clients teams. Protecting sensitive client data canfurther cement that relationship while increasing yourmonthly recurring revenue. However, its important torealize that it takes more than just one tool to protectsensitive data.


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The consequences of lost data can

be extensive and far-reaching. At the

very least, businesses will experience

decreased productivity and possiblya loss in revenue, depending on the

severity of the data loss. But what if

the data cant be recovered? Can your

clients recreate customer lists, nancial

statements and other mission-critical

les that might be lost as a result of a

disaster? Probably not.

Small businesses are especially

vulnerable, because many lack the

resources and knowledge necessary to

properly assess the risk of a disaster

or develop a comprehensive recovery

plan. By offering backup and disasterrecovery solutions, you can give your

clients assurance their data is protected

and recoverable in the event of a loss,

whether an employee accidentally

deletes a folder or a natural disaster

wipes out their entire infrastructure.

Backup andDisaster Recovery


Accidental or unknowingdata deletion, modication oroverwriting

File corruption

Hard drive failure

Natural disasters

Power outage

Software error

User error

Virus infection

Common Causes of Data Loss:


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3Mobile DeviceManagementFrom smartphones to tablets, mobile devices bring added freedom

to employees, but they also create an additional security risk for IT

networks. Every single time an employee uses an unsecured mobile

device to connect to a corporate IT network, they invite data theft

into the organization. Whether your clients embrace a Bring Your

Own Device (BYOD) model or provide devices to their employees,

its absolutely critical to protect their IT infrastructure against security

breaches and safeguard the condential information that can be

accessed if a mobile device is lost or stolen. That is where mobile device

management (MDM) comes to the rescue.

MDM software enables IT service providers to monitor, secure and

manage mobile devices that connect to their clients corporate IT

networks and store or access sensitive company data. With an

MDM solution, you can safely and remotely apply corporate

settings to mobile devices, enforce safety policies and

restrictions, and dene password complexitylevels. For lost or stolen devices, you can

pinpoint the location of the device with

geographical location lookup or remotely

wipe devices that cannot be recovered.

Some MDM solutions even track data

usage, so you can alert your clients when

activity spikes occur and they can avoid

costly overage charges.

The use of mobile devices in the

workplace will only increase in the

future. Now is the time to add MDM to yourmanaged services offering and give your

clients the additional layer of IT network protection they need

to safeguard against mobile threats.


Unauthorized access tocorporate data via public Wi-Finetworks

Mobile malware infectingcorporate systems

Loss of sensitive company datastored on devices that are lostor stolen

Common Mobility Threats:


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As your clients trusted advisor, youre in a greatposition to add cloud solutions to your portfolio ofservices. Youve already successfully addressed manyof your clients main concerns, such as security, cost,reliability and scalability through your other lines ofbusiness. Youll just have to widen your net to providethe same support to your cloud clients.

Many of your clients are probably familiar with cloudservices such as e-mail, storage, backup and disasterrecovery, but you can make your relationship stickeven more by offering these cloud-related services:

Education: How to use the cloud is still a new conceptfor many businesses, and the more complex it gets,the more you can help clients understand it.

Consulting:Moving to the cloud is less about singleprojects and more about full integration, giving youthe chance to move from a specialist for a singleproject to a trusted advisor for ongoing projects.

Procurement:As an IT expert, youre in the bestposition to select a cloud service that has a reputationfor data integrity, security and recovery.

Business applications:Software as a service (SaaS)lets you generate additional revenue while offeringsoftware solutions on a subscription basis. SaaSofferings include customer relationship management(CRM) software, email, content management andbusiness operations software, such as Microsoft Ofce365.

Monitoring and management:Expand your currentmonitoring and management activities to includeupgrades, troubleshooting and security for cloudsolutions.

Aggregation/brokering:By providing services froma variety of sources, you can become a one-stop shopfor your clients.

Cloud Services


SaaS revenues will reach $92.8billion by 2016, accountingfor 26% of the total packagedsoftware market.iii

Forrester


7/96 Ways to Expand Your Managed Services Offering and Boost Revenue LabTech Software

Managed print service providers deliver

ongoing management and support for

print, copy and related devices. More

than simply providing printers and toner,

managed print services also include

maintaining printers and supplies, remotely

monitoring them for problems and

conducting preventive maintenance. And

these efforts go beyond dealing with paperjams. Its also about making sure clients are

making efcient use of their print resources.

Clients like managed print because they

dont have to deal with printer repairs

anymore. They get new printers when they

sign the contract and the per page pricing

pays off the printers over the life of the

contract. IT service providers like managed

print because it provides them with another

source of recurring revenue.

Managed Print Services

Managed print is a growing

space because of its impact

on reducing infrastructure

costs associated with printing,

improving productivity and

environmental sustainability.iv

CompTIA


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Virtualization allows multiple operating systemsand applications to run on one physical piece ofhardware, eliminating the need to deploy a separateserver for different operating systems, and therebyreducing the number of servers needed in yourclient environments. With typical server utilizationrates hovering between 5 and 15%, virtualizationis a great way to achieve cost savings and improveresource utilization.v

Getting Started With Virtualizationvi

There are a variety factors to consider when movingto a virtualized environment. These tips can helpyou stay on the path to success.

Understand Your Workloads:Server virtualizationis only effective when your clients have multipleservers with low utilization rates running similarworkloads. To better understand workloads, start

by monitoring performance loads so you have aclear knowledge of resource demand.

Build the Business Case:In order to provide a truecost-benet analysis, youll have to go beyondhardware and software savings. Be sure to includeless tangible items too, such as training, timesavings and improvements to organizationalexibility.

Train the Staff:Once youre ready to moveforward, youll need to invest in training for yourstaff to ensure they have the knowledge and skillsnecessary to manage and maintain a virtualizedenvironment.

Examine IT Policies and Plans:The hypervisorneeded for virtualization adds vulnerabilities toyour clients environments, so policies surroundingsecurity and compliance should be reviewed and

updated. Disaster recovery and business continuityplans may also need to be adjusted.

Start Small:Begin by virtualizing less criticalapplications rather than attempting to virtualizean entire infrastructure the rst time around.Starting small and learning with each additionalimplementation will lead to fewer mistakes andkeep costs from skyrocketing.

Monitor and Adjust as Needed:As with most ITprojects, virtualization is an ongoing process andwill need to be modied and adjusted as needed.Continue to invest in training and make adjustmentsas you uncover better ways to optimize your virtualenvironments.


Virtualization

Load balancing and resilience

Faster PC deployment

Lower power consumption

Centrally managed and backed up

Lower maintenance costs

Benets of Virtualization


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SummaryNow that you know extending your managed services offering is an easy aprotable way to improve stickiness with your clients, give it a try. Managesecurity, backup and disaster recovery, mobile device management, cloudservices, managed print and virtualization are all services that many of youclients need and wantand they will seek out other providers if they cantget the services they need from you. So start expanding your managedservices offering today to improve stickiness with your clients and watch yprotability skyrocket.

About LabTech Software

LabTech Software is the brainchild of a managed service provider (MSP)that struggled with the usual challenges and inefciencies of a reactive ITmaintenance and support model. LabTechits agship solutionwas bornof the urgent need to eliminate technician inefciencies and the desire toprovide preventive and proactive service. Developed with cutting-edge, agtechnology, LabTech is the only remote monitoring and management (RMMplatform created by system administrators for systems administrators toautomate your IT services and eliminate inefciencies. For more informatioplease visit labtechsoftware.com or call 877.522.8323.

4110 George Road, Suite 200 | Tampa, Florida 33877.522.8323 | labtechsoftware.com

i The Human Factor in Data Protection, Ponemon Institute, January 2012.

iiInfographic, The State of Malware 2013, April 1, 2013, http://www.mcafee.com/us/security-awareness/astate-of-malware-2013.aspx.

iiiSizing the Cloud, Forrester, April 2011.ivExamining the Print and Document Management Market, CompTIA, August 2011.vVirtualization Basics, VMware, 2013.viCompTIA Quick Start Guide to Virtualization: A Practical Guide for Solution Providers, CompTIA, Novem

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Boosting Revenue eBook