The only way to escape the cloud nowadays is to be stranded on a deserted island, which makes it puzzling why some MSPs are still skeptical of their ability to sell the cloud and explain the cloud to others. In 2022, a business owner proclaiming that they will “never sell cloud” is signing a death sentence for their business. Is your MSP missing the point of the cloud?
Cloud is not going away. That’s a fact. However, if you think it can be ignored, think again. Are you fooling yourself about the cloud like other MSPs that I have talked to?
Are you the MSP that says, “It isn’t in my client’s best interest, so I ignore it”?
Even if your client isn’t ultimately interested in moving to the cloud, you need to educate them; if you aren’t educating them, your competitors are. If you continually fail to address cloud services, your client will start to wonder why you aren’t talking about it while everyone else is.
Are you the MSP that says, “Cloud is a big rip-off”?
Cloud work differently than traditional IT services in terms of its pricing. If your client is looking at a monthly recurring proposal versus a one-time project cost, it’s easy for them to do the math and determine that the one-time project will be cheaper. It’s vital to educate your client on Total Cost of Ownership and the differences that cloud brings so that they understand where their money is going. With clear communication, your client will realize that cloud is the more cost-effective way to go.
Are you the MSP that says, “My clients are better off using things I can manage because I can control everything myself”?
More often than not, this style of control does not adhere to best-practices solutions and means that your client is in trouble if something happens to you. It is not a great way to control your profitability and productivity.
Are you the MSP that says, “Cloud isn’t secure”?
In reality, securing data in the cloud isn’t much different than securing it on premise. Properly architected cloud solutions can mitigate data security concerns similarly to on premise storage solutions.
The cloud is real and is going to stay. This doesn’t mean that you need to change your MSP business to be entirely about the cloud, but you can’t hide from its influence. Learning how to coexist with the cloud will help your business to grow and succeed going into the foreseeable future.