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Podcast – GFI MAX Building Blocks to Managed Services

March 10, 2010 – 11:33 am | 2 Comments

Doug Wilson and Chris Martin of GFI MAX describe how it’s easy for you to move towards Managed Services.
(Part 1) This podcast outlines the Building Blocks program and focuses on the provision of a Managed …

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Delivering the Secret to Success in IT Support

Written by Chris Martin on March 24, 2010 – 10:52 amNo Comment

Lately, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in Webinars!  We’ve delivered GFI MAX Building Blocks Webinars to thousands of IT Support Companies worldwide.  These webinars demonstrate an easy way to move towards recurring revenues (assuming that’s what you and your customers need).

This week I caught a minute to reflect on what it was like to be in the ‘hot seat’ running a fast growing IT Support company, doubling in size every year.

I remember it was exciting but hard work, made even harder by my slavish dedication to do the right thing for my customers at all times.  Even, if that meant losing out occasionally in the short term.

I wanted customers to be certain of our integrity.  Anything we suggested to them was because we thought they needed it.  Not because we fancied selling it to them or needed the profit from it.

This reminded me about how it felt when software/hardware vendors were trying to sell us stuff, or pitching to get us to sell on their wares.  Right in the front of my mind was ‘how will this suit our customers?’

Which in turn, caused me to consider our own position as a Software Provider for Support Companies – do we ask them to do something because it suits our mission but puts their reputation for integrity at risk?

You are now entering ‘DoWhatYourCustomerWantsVille’ –Please drive safely!

I got to thinking that ‘no we don’t!’  Our Building Block program basically says – The road to success goes straight through ‘DoWhatYouCustomerWantsVille’.

If your customer wants break fix, we can help you help them.  If they want a fixed cost deal – again, we can help you help them.  We aren’t proscriptive.  Building Blocks are ‘take it or leave it’ ideas and useful material you can use to move as far towards managed services as it suitable for your customer (NB:  use of towards rather than to).

Moreover, our Product and Pricing suits this well!  It’s very possible to use GFI MAX RemoteManagement™ for your break fix customers and reap dividends on extra hours billed, extra equipment sold, etc.  It’s also possible to use GFI MAX RemoteManagement for fixed cost support for huge efficiencies, etc.  And it’s possible to use and pay for different parts of the system (or none at all) for different customers.

Now, considering the same question in relation to our competitors and the ‘Managed Service Industry’; do they ask IT Companies to do something predominantly because it suits their own agenda?

You are now leaving ‘DoWhatYouCustomerWantsVille’ – Thank you for driving safely!

Welcome to ‘TailWaggingTheDogVille’

Regarding the Managed Services Industry – Hmmm, I was a managed service provider (apparently)…  long before I’d even heard of the term. I did what was sensible and delivered what was required to profitably service our customer’s wishes. A whole industry/army of consultants/people with a vested interest in making this seem difficult built up around that?

Regarding our competitors – They package and license their products and programs entirely differently to us.  It’s my contention that they need everybody to be offering Managed Services (Fixed Cost) so that they can shift their software (because of the product design & pricing deal).  So they bang this drum hard.

We ‘tap’ the drum of ‘Managed Services’ and other drums besides, because it’s the right thing for you to do for your customers.

GFI MAX RemoteManagement software and pricing fits all models.  That’s why we can say – do what’s right for your customer and you!!

Or perhaps you’d rather do the right thing for folks with software/consulting/sales programs to sell?

Our conscience and our customer’s conscience are clear.