Managed Services: Are PC Companies Clueless?
Based on a series of phone calls and emails in recent weeks, I’ve reached the following conclusion: Most PC companies don’t understand the managed services market, nor do they understand emerging demand for hardware as a service (HaaS). Here’s why.
Alas, my calls to multiple PC companies in recent weeks have been greeted by polite confusion. With the exception of Dell Inc. and Intel Corp., most PC-centric companies can’t describe how their products fit into a managed services framework.
The net result: I believe Dell has a major advantage over its PC rivals going forward.
On the hardware front, Intel has been working overtime to describe how its vPro technology snaps into a managed services framework and lowers remote administration costs.
Meanwhile, Dell has been digesting its MSP-centric acquisitions — including Silverback Technologies, Everdream and MessageOne. It’s only a matter of time before Dell’s MSP experts coordinate their messages with Dell’s server, desktop and laptop teams.
Somehow, Hewlett-Packard and many other PC companies have completely overlooked the MSP opportunity. Sure, HP has always worked hard to describe how its PCs and services are among the most easily managed devices on a network. However, that messaging has not been reworked for the managed services market.
And HP has also squandered its early expertise with OpenView, failing to rework the management platform for the MSP industry.
It’s still early in the MSP game. But so far, Dell and Intel are the only PC-oriented companies with compelling messaging for managed service providers.
Joe,
Regarding Dell, do you see them setting up to (1)replace MSPs by dealing directly with the client, or (2) do they want to control the MSP market by using the channel?
Or perhaps it would be number 2 first, followed by number 1.
Open question.
thanks,
David Henry
Zirius SureTech
David: I am on the record as being generally upbeat about Dell’s strategy — though I take a beating in the market over that. I believe Dell’s Number One goal is to improve shareholder value. And that REQUIRES the channel.
I need to sign off and catch a flight, but here are my most recent thoughts on Dell in the MSP space.
Hi,
I know this is old news, but just reading it by. Here in Europe MSP market is only begining.
But for those PC vendors, we have been working with Lenovo and some of their tools (ThinkVantage) fit fine in our business. There is tools for local backups and system restore, jsut to say two most important.
Petri Mäkelä
Suomen IT-Tiimi Oy
@Petri: Thank you for sharing some European perspectives with us. I recently visited Lenovo US and they mentioned they are still formulating MSP and hardware as a service (HaaS) strategies. But they are announcing their first servers at Interop in New York next week. We’ll see if more systems management and MSP software follows.