Have your customers been holding off hardware refreshes? Strata Information Technology, Inc. President Pete Robbins told MSPmentor that customers like this may be prime prospects for backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solutions because they’re more than likely still running their backups on tape. Here’s a look at how to capitalize on this opportunity.

Robbins said reluctance to spend money is the main reason for companies neglecting their hardware. Some business owners are holding back funds for project upgrades or their IT staff would rather put band-aids on systems rather than requesting budget for upgrades. However, this opens the opportunity for MSPs to pitch BDR.

“Pitching BDR as a solution for backing up servers and workstations to a company that has limited backups or no backups is actually fun,” Robbins said, “especially if they have experienced the pain associated with a recovery disaster.”

He said these customers are both new to BDR and MSPs. Some businesses believe their office is perfectly capable of backing up servers, so the challenge becomes educating these businesses on BDR and the importance of contracting with an MSP.

“The client thinks, ‘once I have this great device why do I need you or what do you mean there is a monthly cost, before I just bought my tape drive and Sally changed the tapes,'” he said.

These small and medium-sized businesses are not accustomed to paying a monthly fee, plus the cost of the hardware, plus the cost of installation for a BDR solution.

Robbins advises that the key to overcoming these price objections is to identify a solution that meets their cost requirements.