Autotask CEO Talks MSP 2.0

The VAR Guy loves a good sequel. The Godfather Part II. American Pie 2. Oh, and now there’s a talk about MSP 2.0 from Autotask CEO Bob Godgart. The VAR Guy caught up with Godgart earlier today in Las Vegas. As usual, Godgart was thinking big. Really big. And he also had some thoughts about Dell’s move into the managed services market. Here’s the scoop.

During a chat at CompTIA’s Breakaway conference, Godgart said he believes we’ve only scratched the surface of the managed services market. During the first MSP phase — 1.0 — some VARs learned that they need to automate their operations, he asserts. The vast majority of VARs have yet to complete that phase, he concedes.

Even so, Godgart is looking ahead and trying to determine how the MSP 2.0 market will look. A few early observations from the entrepreneur:

• Within the MSP sector, VARs will increasing look toward community building with sub-contractors, customers, and suppliers, among others.
• Godgart expects “co-managed IT” to become a big-time trend, where customers work closely with service providers to continually manage operations.
• What if managed service platforms began to gain social network capabilities? Godgart is kicking around that concept within Autotask. He thinks social capabilities — something akin to Facebook — could help to build community with the Autotask customer ecosystem.
• Dell’s recent acquisition of Silverback Technologies will likely be more of a server play rather than a desktop play, Godgart predicts. “We’ll see more acquisitions,” he adds — though he wasn’t referring specifically to Autotask. Instead, he notes, companies like Hewlett-Packard and Computer Associates may need to make a move into the market.

Intriguing. And The VAR Guy wants to write more. But he’s sipping a margarita at the Las Vegas airport before heading home — wherever that is. Time to sign off, otherwise this blog could get dangerous.