Top 3 Challenges for Managed Service Providers in the Data Storage and Backup Industry

By definition a managed service provider is responsible for providing management of the business’s IT infrastructure. There is a proper subscription procedure which is carried out on the basis of which services are provided to clients.

However, remotely providing managed services pertaining to data storage and backup systems is not an easy ordeal. MSPs working in the data storage and backup industries come across a variety of unique challenges.

In this article, we discuss some of these challenges.

Pricing: It’s Difficult to Put a Price Tag on Managed Services

If a managed service provider charges too much, the customers will not be attracted to buy from them, and if the charges are too low, then running a managed service business becomes the challenge.

Therefore, pricing is important. It has to be kept at a level that is not too much for the customers and is also enough for the MSP to make some profit out of it.
In other words, the MSP has to juggle pricing in a way that it adds value to the customer and retains value for the service provider.

Technology: Choosing the Right One from an MSP Standpoint

This challenge depends on the service the MSP has chosen to offer. In the context of this article, we’re considering storage and backup technologies.
Therefore, choosing the right storage and backup vendor is a challenge. Why? First off, because there are so many options. Secondly, it’s virtually impossible to test every single one of them to decide which one is the right one for them.

So the big question for an MSP in the storage and backup industry is: Which one works for them? And how do they go about choosing the “right” technology?
Again, this varies on service-to-service, and MSP-to-MSP basis. If an MSP is purely offering technical expertise as a service and helping with datacenter installation. Then which storage or backup vendor do they train their staff in? Which one do they choose to market themselves and build their brand?

There’s no perfect solution. One shoe doesn’t fit everyone.
With this challenge, the thing that helps the most is a system. MSPs have to come up with a system that makes the right choice. And a good system is developed by talking to customers and vendors.

Before selecting the vendor they want to market and sell to their clients and add to their portfolio, they should make sure that the technology is good, the solutions fit with their client base, and the support is good too.

Managed Service Provider has to adapt to Cloud Computing

Cloud is not a buzzword. It’s not a trend. It’s a real, tangible, and aggressively adapted enterprise technology now.

Businesses and enterprises are shifting to cloud-based storage, backup, and disaster recovery. A Managed Service Provider also has to take necessary steps of either introducing their own cloud services (private clouds), or to resell other cloud services providers’ features and products.

It is necessary for a MSP to have a hybrid cloud environment option or service for their clients. Without cloud technology as part of their product offerings, Managed Service Providers are risking a huge loss in business. And in doing so, they’re slowly lagging behind the competition and on their way to becoming irrelevant.

Conclusion

The technology world is forever evolving. Managed Service Providers have to learn, adapt and then deliver faster than the technology shifts happen.

MSPs need to learn how to juggle pricing so that they don’t lose business. They need to have a system that helps with the selection of appropriate technologies. And they need to add cloud computing service offerings to their business portfolio in order to stay competitive.